🚨 NEW: Poorer students have the most to gain from university, but they’re the least likely to go. Our brand-new best practice guide argues universities should redouble efforts to support disadvantaged students 🧵

📣 Join our team! @suttontrust.bsky.social is hiring a new Digital Communications Officer to help level up our content! It’s a really great opportunity to shape online conversations about important subjects and champion our work through digital ⤵️ recruitment.suttontrust.com/jobs/7002678...

Digital Communications Officer - The Sutton Trust

Deadline: 23:59, 21st January 2026 . The Digital Communications Officer reports to the Digital Communications Manager. The post holder plays a key supporting role in communicating the work of the T...

recruitment.suttontrust.com

🫨 Did you know 95% of the remaining hereditary peers in the House of Lords went to private school? Over half went to Eton alone. 52% of all Lords were privately educated. There's a long way to go before the 829 member Upper House is representative of the wider population.

Power and influence in Britain is still wielded by a slither of the population: the 7% who are privately educated and roughly 1% who go to Oxbridge for uni. 6 years after the last rendition of Elitist Britain, and the situation hasn’t really changed! Huge privilege to be involved in this project.

The Sutton Trust@suttontrust.bsky.social · last yr.

🚨 NEW: Britain’s most powerful people are still 5x more likely to have been privately educated than the general population. Our brand-new research reveals that jobs in the media, business, charity, creative and public sectors remain dominated by those from private schools ⤵️🧵

A big (and very welcome) announcement from government today on free school meal eligibilty, widening it to all children on families eligible for UC. A quick thread on these changes, and the remaining challenges 🧵 www.suttontrust.com/news-opinion...

Taking hunger out of the classroom. - The Sutton Trust

Unpacking the Government's decision to widen FSM access to all households on universal credit.

suttontrust.com

🚨 FSM eligibility is being widened! The DfE has announced tonight that every pupil whose family is on Universal Credit will be eligible for free school meals. This is a really important step in tackling child food poverty and combating the impact of hunger in the classroom. Great to see.

The Sutton Trust@suttontrust.bsky.social · last yr.

🚨 The Government has just announced that free school meals eligibility will be expanded to cover all children living in households that receive Universal Credit. This is a very positive move, marking a significant step towards taking hunger out of the classroom 👇🧵

Been lots of debate about what might turn the dial on child poverty. But we hear far less from families in poverty. Our new briefing sets out a blueprint for a successful child poverty strategy, grounded in experiences of hardship changingrealities.org/writings/get... Pls read + share this 🧵

This autumn will see the publication of the first UK child poverty strategy in many years. It is a time-limited and vital opportunity to make real and lasting difference to the lives of the 4.5 million children currently living in poverty. In this new report, co-produced with IPPR, we set out a realistic and targeted agenda for change. Now is the time to take sustainable and effective action on child poverty, working with the everyday experiences of families who know what would make a difference to them and their lives.

changingrealities.org

💬 "We need to bring class into the conversation. If we don’t, DEI initiatives in the UK risk going the same way as their US counterparts." Our Head of Research and Policy, @beckymontacute.bsky.social, on the need to include class in the diversity conversation 👇 www.suttontrust.com/news-opinion...

To save diversity and inclusion, employers need to bring class into the conversation - The Sutton Trust

The importance of including class in the diversity conversation.

suttontrust.com

There’s been a 32% rise in the number of food parcels provided to families with children under 5 since 2019/20 🙁 These numbers cannot be normalised - especially when they affect children who are so young. My @suttontrust.bsky.social blog on child food poverty 👇 www.suttontrust.com/news-opinion...

Without action, rising levels of child food poverty will limit the potential of too many young people - The Sutton Trust

Our Senior Digital Communications Officer, Lewis Tibbs, on the urgent need tackle child food poverty.

suttontrust.com

Bikes have overtaken cars to become the most popular vehicle in central London 🚲 Bad parking habits of Lime bikers aside (which is improving, tbf) it’s great to see so many more casual cyclists. We should invest in cycle parking to capitalise on the biking boom! www.economist.com/britain/2025...

London has become a cycling city

It shows how dockless-electric bikes could transform cities

economist.com

This kind of stuff is pretty terrifying. It was the warmest start to May in the UK this year. The last two years have been the hottest on record globally. Sometimes I find it difficult to actually enjoy the weather when it’s freakishly warm for the time of year. It just feels off 😕

Adam Vaughan@adamvaughan.bsky.social · last yr.

"Yeah, but global warming will be great for the UK." Ummmm...Just look at this map of marine heatwaves around the UK and Ireland right now. Sea surface temperatures are up to 4C warmer than usual for this time of year, reaching about 17C off the Irish coast. 👇 www.thetimes.com/uk/environme...

It’s great to see more data demonstrating the economic value of children’s centres 👶 They can have hugely positive effects on health, education and social care outcomes for families (especially disadvantaged ones). It makes both economic and moral sense to invest in more of them!

The Sutton Trust@suttontrust.bsky.social · last yr.

More evidence of the many benefits of children's centres from @theifs.bsky.social‬. There is huge value in investing in the early years. We're calling for a new national strategy for community-based family support, targeted first at the most deprived areas ⬇️

💬 “The least socially mobile areas voted heavily to leave the EU, have few migrants, and more likely to vote Reform...support for Reform is strongly correlated with poor social mobility.” Interesting analysis in @financialtimes.com using data from our new research ⤵️ www.ft.com/content/d1aa...

In charts: Reform stands to gain in England’s ‘left behind’ areas

Towns and cities with the lowest social mobility offer the party the most electoral promise, analysis shows

ft.com

🚨 NEW: Opportunities for the poorest young people in London far outstrip the rest of England, we have found. Our new Opportunity Index reveals how the area young people grow up in shapes their life chances, with huge differences between constituencies across the country 🧵⬇️

😲 Just 5% of medical students come from the lowest socio-economic backgrounds, with 75% coming from wealthier backgrounds. Great work from my colleague @kevinlatham.bsky.social highlighting the big problems with access to the medical profession. Some really shocking stats. Have a read ⬇️

The Sutton Trust@suttontrust.bsky.social · 2y ago

🚨 NEW: Only a fraction of medical students come from working class backgrounds, despite recent efforts to widen access. Our new research finds persistent issues with access to careers in medicine, as working-class people remain hugely underrepresented in the profession 🧵⬇️

👋 Come and work with our team! Interesting work and great colleagues (I promise!) ⤵️

Rebecca Montacute@beckymontacute.bsky.social · 2y ago

🚨 Freelance research opportunity 🚨 We're looking for a researcher to help us with data collection for our major report, Elitist Britain 2025 - looking at the backgrounds of those making up the country's elites - please do share in your networks 🙂 recruitment.suttontrust.com/jobs/5596434...

Great to hear government re-affirm their commitment to ending unpaid internships - this is an issue the @suttontrust.bsky.social have been highlighting for years as an unfair barrier for working class young people.

The Sutton Trust@suttontrust.bsky.social · 2y ago

🗣️ "We remain committed to banning unpaid internships so that young people are paid fairly." Positive to hear Education Secretary, Bridget Phillipson, reaffirm the Government's pledge to ban unpaid internships. Thank you to @chionwurah.bsky.social for mentioning our research in Parliament!

“This year, the constituency’s child poverty levels hit 54 per cent” This is why local news is so important. Excellent, on-the-ground reporting from @charlotteliviahall.bsky.social highlighting the reality of life for lots of people in Oldham. www.oldham-chronicle.co.uk/news-feature...

The streets where it’s too expensive to work

A young woman is pushing a pram across Featherstall Road.

oldham-chronicle.co.uk

💬 "Two thirds (66%) of senior teachers say their school provided food for pupils to eat outside school hours in the last 12 months." Worrying new @teachertapp.bsky.social data reveals more about the level of extra support schools are having to provide for pupils. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Nearly half of schools give families financial help, teachers say

A survey of teachers in England suggests lots of schools are having to provide extra help for families.

bbc.co.uk

#SaveThePCC Some of you may have read about the situation regarding our new landlord wishing to add a new redevelopment break clause, with only 6 months notice to our lease. For now, we're simply asking you all to share & sign the petition below; you.38degrees.org.uk/p/princechar...

Save The Prince Charles Cinema

The iconic Prince Charles Cinema in London’s West End future is under serious threat! We are beyond disappointed that our landlords Zedwell LSQ Ltd and their ultimate parent company Criterion Capital...

you.38degrees.org.uk

Reminder you can follow all of the Sutton Trust's staff on Bluesky here 😊 a brilliant team with expertise across the early years, schools and colleges, apprenticeships, higher education and access to the workplace (both from a research/policy perspective and our programmatic work with young people)

The Sutton Trust@suttontrust.bsky.social · 2y ago

Hello Bluesky 👋 If you want to find members of the Sutton Trust team on Bluesky, use our starter pack! Follow our team: go.bsky.app/D2CHsRr

Agree that unpaid internships are bad for social mobility. Given that getting an internship helps future employment prospects, and the competition for roles, inequality in access to internships also leads to medium- and longer-term inequalities in the labour market (and in wages).

The Sutton Trust@suttontrust.bsky.social · 2y ago

🚨 NEW: The gap in access to internships between working-class and middle-class graduates has almost doubled since 2018. Our new research reveals a growing gap in access to increasingly important internship routes, with many opportunities under and unpaid 🧵⬇️

"The Sutton Trust wants unpaid internships lasting four weeks or longer to be banned, alongside enforcement of current minimum wage legislation." Unpaid internships are acting as a major barrier to social mobility. Our new research in @theguardian.com ⤵️ www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

Unpaid internships ‘locking out’ young working-class people from careers

UK charity calls for positions of four weeks or longer to be banned to help close social mobility gap

theguardian.com

Taking an unpaid role is just not an option for many young people. Imagine working full time, unpaid, but having to fund even the minimum living costs...without savings or help from family, this is near impossible! Indeed, 2 in 5 say their unpaid role was funded by family...

61% of internships are unpaid or underpaid 🤯 I graduated in 2021 and the amount of unpaid roles on offer was crazy. Being working class and working for free in this economy (especially in London!) is simply not possible for most. Free ☕️ doesn’t pay the bills! www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

Unpaid internships ‘locking out’ young working-class people from careers

UK charity calls for positions of four weeks or longer to be banned to help close social mobility gap

theguardian.com

🎺 New research out from the team today on unpaid internships! @ericaholtwhite.bsky.social & @carlcullinane.bsky.social doing excellent work as usual 👏

The Sutton Trust@suttontrust.bsky.social · 2y ago

🚨 NEW: The gap in access to internships between working-class and middle-class graduates has almost doubled since 2018. Our new research reveals a growing gap in access to increasingly important internship routes, with many opportunities under and unpaid 🧵⬇️

Hard to overstate how brutal the London rental market is. Finding a room means enduring an X-Factor style process where you basically have to market yourself lol. If you're one of the lucky few to get through, you’re rewarded with a nice box room for a small fee of ~£800 (or more). It’s great!

🗣️"We absolutely should not be having a situation where some families and some children are locked out of certain schools because of the high cost of uniforms." @beckymontacute.bsky.social discussed the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill with @cathkemi.bsky.social on BBC News this morning ⤵️ 📺

Great reporting on Greater Manchester as usual by @jenwilliamsft.bsky.social! People in Oldham (and the Eastern side of Greater Manc more broadly) had to deal with naff services and high fares for ages. Hopefully the franchised network changes that. I like seeing the yellow buses around town 🚌

Jennifer Williams@jenwilliamsft.bsky.social · 2y ago

🚌 news: Greater Manchester is preparing to take the last of its network in after a successful - if complex - franchising process. Ridership is up, reliability is up. As the government’s buses bill aims to replicate that everywhere, I’ve looked at if and how that can be done on.ft.com/3BLCl26

No child should be going hungry. Sadly, our research has shown that more and more pupils are now coming to school on an empty stomach. One way to tackle this problem is by widening access to Free School Meals so that it covers all families who receive Universal Credit ⤵️