LEE MORGAN (pictured), formerly of Teignmouth, is the Parliamentary Assistant to Dehenna Davison. MP for Bishop Auckland.

In this piece he argues we must be much more ambitious when it comes to promoting social mobility.

He says of himself: ‘My parents have not been to university.  I am the son of the local postie and my grandparents were publicans.  I suppose you could say expectations for my future were low.

‘But I am lucky.  I work hard, have great mentors, and ended up securing a First-Class law degree.’

WE must be more ambitious and think bigger when it comes to promoting social mobility.

As we move back towards the pre-pandemic norm for schools and colleges across the country, the Sutton Trust has this month published its report on the disruption to education caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The report found a fifth of university applicants missed more than 20 days of school or college this academic year.

Furthermore, 72 per cent of teachers believe the attainment gap will widen at their school as a direct result.  And regrettably, it has.

A-level entries awarded top grades (A* – A) increased in London from 26.9 per cent in 2019 to 39 per cent this year.  In the North East of England, they rose from 23 per cent to 30.8 per cent.

These regional disparities in attainment show that the Government must work to ensure students from all backgrounds – in all areas of the country – have the opportunity to succeed.

Clearly, we must transform education and unleash the potential of every child.  We can no longer continue with business as usual.  Our education system is tired and requires bold and compelling reforms.

The Social Mobility Commission has concluded that COVID-19 has erased up to two-thirds of the last decade’s progress on closing the educational attainment gap.

The changing world of work, stalled social mobility, and new technology means a radical reset is more important than ever to capitalise on our country’s talent.

Some have proposed returning to the old methods, with longer school days and school terms. But returning to a failed past is not the recipe for a successful future.

We must be more ambitious and think bigger.

For the sake of future generations, we cannot afford to ignore technology’s potential to improve the delivery of teaching and learning in the classroom.

As more and more people feel like they are losing out, social mobility matters now more than ever. The result?  Upward mobility becomes a rallying point. Proving that modern, capitalist economies are capable of creating better, fairer, and more inclusive societies.

The United Kingdom is the world’s fifth-largest economy. Yet, we have one of the poorest rates of social mobility in the developed world – ranking 21st on the World’s Social Mobility Index.

Young people from underprivileged backgrounds face significant barriers to achieving their potential, and the pandemic has blown this gap wider still.

Disadvantaged pupils in primary schools are now a total of seven months – on top of the existing gap – behind their more privileged peers by autumn alone.

By the time they leave secondary school, the poorest students are now 22.7 months behind their more prosperous peers.

In short, schools with higher rates of disadvantaged pupils suffer greater losses. For example, Yorkshire and the Humber had more than double the learning loss of the South West.

By the age of 11, only 51 per cent of disadvantaged pupils reach the expected standard in reading, writing, and mathematics, compared to 71 per cent of all other pupils.

The result is what starts as a small problem for an eleven-year-old in maths, goes unaddressed and becomes an ingrained problem that later affects their abilities in other subjects such as physics, chemistry, and technology.

GUIDANCE

Without tailored guidance that teachers cannot afford because of time constraints and parents cannot afford because of financial constraints, the child falls short of their potential.

Indeed, by the age of sixteen, the gap has widened further still. Only 25 per cent of disadvantaged pupils get a good pass in GCSE English or Maths, compared to 50 per cent of their classmates.

The system is failing pupils, but we see pupils as failing in the system.

When the pandemic hit, only 51 per cent of households earning between £6,000 to £10,000 had home internet access, compared with 99 per cent of households with an income over £40,000.

Even when poorer households had access to equipment and internet, they are less likely to have the skills to utilise it.

To correct this injustice, we must embrace innovation by harnessing the power of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the same way that we use it in our workplaces and in our homes.

AI has the power to change the role of the teacher, making them less responsible for the delivery of content and more of a mentor to their students.  This is something competitor countries – particularly in East Asia – are already doing well.

China is among a group of countries that have invested substantially in AI education. By 2030, AI in education is projected to become a market worth almost $80 billion, dominated by the United States and China.

However, we do not need to go to the other side of the world for an example of innovation in the classroom.

British-based Century Tech is an industry leader when it comes to deploying AI in the classroom. Century Tech’s platform gathers data as students learn, revealing their learning patterns.

The company analyses the data so parents, teachers, and schools have vital insights into individual educational needs.

According to Century Tech Founder CEO, Priya Lakhani OBE, teachers spend 60 per cent of their week assessing and marking – leaving little time for interventions correcting a student’s misunderstanding or ensuring a deeper level of learning.

Century Tech’s automated data collection saves valuable time and gives teachers the freedom to spend more time making those strategic interventions.

The technology is better for students and better for teachers. There should be no reasonable objections to implementing this technology, particularly as our children are entering an increasingly global labour market that will have the choice of the very best minds.

Co-Chair of the Social Mobility Commission – Steven Cooper – has warned that the Government is ‘nowhere near’ delivering on its aspirational agenda to narrow the country’s yawning inequalities that have been deepened by COVID-19.

He is right.

Today, it is very difficult for gifted students from poorer areas to thrive academically and challenge their privately educated peers for a place at a top university or at a top job.

INEQUALITY

This structural inequality is made plain when we consider that only 7 per cent of the population is privately educated, yet they make up 65 per cent of our senior judges, 59 per cent of our senior civil servants, and 52 per cent of our diplomats.

In Britain today, the myth of meritocracy is alive and well.

The most important factors in determining academic success are not personal character, intellect, and work ethic, it is class, geography and parental income.

If we are serious about improving the life chances of our young people and becoming an aspiration nation, returning to failed methods will surely produce failed results.

We may never get another opportunity like this.

COVID-19 has highlighted the importance and complexity of promoting social mobility, and the UK will only succeed if we unlock talent and fulfil potential for all.

By using AI tools, we can innovate and overhaul our tired education system.  Together, these bold ideas can help guide students to maximise their potential and give our children – and our country – the best possible future.

As we move back towards the pre-pandemic norm, the new Conservative leader and Prime Minister must lead the country into an optimistic and upbeat future.

But to achieve that future – and not just talk about it – we need to engineer it, and we need to do it now.