Baker Dearing Educational Trust welcomes the report by Oxera for The Sutton Trust. We note that a major factor driving the relationship between improving social mobility and economic performance is better matching between people and their jobs. We believe that the destination of students and their employability skills when they leave school should be regarded as important as the exam results they achieve.

Peter Wylie Director of Education, Baker Dearing Educational Trust says:

University Technical Colleges (UTCs) give students exposure to the workplace and contact with employers from the age of 14. We find this helps them develop job confidence, a mature attitude and their own professional contacts.

Students at UTCs are positive about their life chances because they are confident they have the skills employers are looking for. In a recent survey of more than 1500 UTC students 78% said links with business were better at their UTC than their previous school. 68% said the UTC helped them develop employability skills and a similar number (69%) said they are confident of getting a job when they leave education.

Impartial, one to one careers advice is essential to help young people map their education pathway to the careers they want. Students at UTCs choose a technical education that has a clear route to University, an apprenticeships or work. In 2016 97% of UTCs stayed in education, started an apprenticeship or started a job.

If we are to improve social mobility and productivity education providers need to work more closely with employers to ensure students are developing the skills they need and that young people have substantial and well-organised contact with the world of work while they are at school.

You can download a copy of the full Social Mobility 2017 report from The Sutton Trust here: www.suttontrust.com/research-paper/social-mobility-2017-research