Fixing education’s “rigged race” requires a fundamental reset of the school system, social mobility expert tells leaders

School systems need a fundamental reset because children are facing a “rigged race” amid a widening opportunity divide across the globe, a leading expert has warned.

Speaking at the Atlantic Rim Collaboratory, a global network of education leaders and policymakers, Lee Elliot Major, Professor of Social Mobility at the University of Exeter, called for a new language that doesn’t belittle children from under-resourced backgrounds, more focus on genuinely celebrating non-academic measures of success, and a national strategy to rebuild broken relationships between parents and schools.

“Global crises in school absenteeism, belonging and under-achievement are being driven by a collision of historical forces and future trends,” Professor Elliot Major argued. “Many families have lost confidence in education because successive generations have all had negative experiences in school. At the same time, the people and creative skills needed for future jobs have been squeezed out of school curricula due to the obsession with academic grades.”

Countries across the world face a long term ‘megatrend’ of downward mobility amid a global class gap between insulated elites, making up 20 per cent of populations, and most people who are struggling to live decent lives. Professor Elliot Major told those at the event he was concerned any failure to create more equitable education systems and address wider inequalities means society could unravel in the coming years.

Professor Elliot Major’s work is informed by his own life experiences. He lived alone from 15 and worked as a bin man before studying at university and eventually becoming the Chief Executive of the Sutton Trust. He is the country’s first Professor of Social Mobility, advising governments, education leaders and global companies across the world, and was awarded an OBE for his work.

In his speech he warned “American dream narratives”, which suggest anything is possible, can be a “dangerous lie” because they rely on a deficit mindset and suggest people just need to work harder to get on, and it is their fault if they don’t make it.

Professor Elliot Major said: “It’s taken me a lifetime to realise that in fact it is the systems that need changing. We live in a world where a race for opportunities is rigged towards those who are already advantaged. The rules of this race are defined by elites so they can keep winning – ensuring their children and grand-children retain their positions at the top of society. We judge children on academic tests that are eminently gameable.

“The principle we should adhere to is that background shouldn’t determine what you do whatever you choose to do in life.

“The race has got so one-sided for people around the world growing up today that we have reached a tipping point – this is reflected in crises in school attendance, belonging and behaviour and millions of children leaving school without basic skills feeling like failures, and millions of families unable to make a basic living. And the education system has unwittingly contributed to this.

“Teachers can transform individual lives, but it’s an impossible job to solve societal divides on their own. The only way to change things is to fundamentally change the race – what we value, our cultural norms, and the way we measure schools.”

Professor Elliot Major called for teachers to receive more training on working with children from under-resourced backgrounds, including how to confront cultural biases in classrooms and curricula. He also called for a “new language of equity”: replacing terms such as ‘disadvantaged pupils’ with pupils from under-resourced backgrounds, and a national campaign to celebrate non-academic career paths.

Professor Elliot Major said: “Keeping the status quo is not an option. Attendance and education divides are getting worse. Covid merely accelerated trends which were already there. We also face a cost-of-living crisis and have a divisive and polarised politics with politicians making empty promises.

“This rigged race needs to change, with different values, if we are ever to level the education playing field. If we don’t change – I really believe we could see society unravelling.”