Social Mobility Commission’s report highlighting the divides between differences between groups centred around geography, income and generations, Petra Wilton, Director of Strategy at the Chartered Management Institute (CMI), calls for a systematic change to the education system to address increasing inequalities.

Today’s new report from the Social Mobility Commission rightly shines the spotlight the lack of progress in closing the divide between rich and poor. Closing this divide has to start with the young, yet our own recent report with the EY Foundation, the “Age of Uncertainty” found that 56 percent were unable to get the work experience they need to secure the job they want, with those from low income households missing out even more.  We need systemic change in the education system through a school-to-work agenda to ensure that no one misses out on early access to the workplace, team leadership and employability skills.

“Access to high quality, degree apprenticeships is increasingly available but there is still an inherent snobbery about apprenticeships. No longer are apprenticeships just an alternative route for those not destined for university. Both young people and those already in the workplace, now have the opportunity to benefit from the best of all worlds: they can gain a degree and earn while they are learning, with no student debt. It is important factors like these that can start closing the divide between the haves and the have nots early enough to make a real difference, but to do so we need to enlighten all those advising young people about the benefits of these new apprenticeships.”