Cricket is the most elitist sport in Britain, with 50-60% of top players attending private school (vs. 7% of the population). Football is representative. Olympians in the middle with "only" 20-30% private school. Rugby is split men (elitist) vs. women (representative). @suttontrust.bsky.social

Power structures in this country are still dominated by a small group of people. 1️⃣ The 7% who go to private schools 2️⃣ The roughly 1% who go to Oxford or Cambridge for university This is especially true for those who attend both private school and Oxbridge 👇

🚨 Data viz on the backgrounds of Britain’s elite 🚨 Our brand-new research offers rich data on the school and university backgrounds of Britain’s most powerful people. Compare sectors and professions for yourself using our interactive tool 📊 elitistbritain.suttontrust.com/compare

Britain's elite are twice as likely to go to university, over 5x times more likely to have gone to a Russell Group university and 21x more likely to have gone to Oxbridge than the general population. Read more data from our research on elitism ⤵️

🗣️ "There is an onus on the state to think about how do we compensate for the private tutoring system through the state system." Our Director of Research and Policy, @carlcullinane.bsky.social, appeared on BBC Radio 2 to speak about tutoring with Jeremy Vine yesterday 📻

🚨 Dedicated microsite on the backgrounds of Britain’s most powerful people 🚨 We published new research on elitism in Britain today. Visit our microsite to read the report, browse case studies, and use our data viz to directly compare professions for yourself 👇 elitistbritain.suttontrust.com

💬 “In 2025 you can still buy advantage, massively increasing your chance of getting into the most powerful roles in the country.” @nickharrison73.bsky.social Our new research, Elitist Britain, dives deeper into the pathways of the elite, from school to university ⤵️ elitistbritain.suttontrust.com

💬 "The importance of making powerful positions in society more accessible to those from different backgrounds and areas of the country has never been more apparent." @ericaholtwhite.bsky.social unpacks our new research on Britain's most influential people 👇

50% of newspaper columnists attended private school. Might explain all the noise in the press about VAT on fees - a policy which only actually affects 7% of the population. @suttontrust.bsky.social latest report: Elitist Britain.

🚨 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 ⤵️🧵

Latest @suttontrust.bsky.social research today on the privately educated They make up 47% of political commentators and 45% of podcasters The research (which I took part in) didn't ask where these professions sent their own kids – which would be interesting. www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

✍️"It’s striking and somewhat depressing that so many of those providing commentary on the issues affecting British people’s lives – columnists, talking heads and podcasters – are from a private school background." @carlcullinane.bsky.social in @theguardian.com 👇 www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Are kids at private school 5x as smart as those in the state sector? Of course not - but they are 5x as likely to end up in the most powerful and influential positions in Britain today. New @suttontrust.bsky.social research - Elitist Britain.

🚨 Dedicated microsite on the backgrounds of Britain’s most powerful people 🚨 We published new research on elitism in Britain today. Visit our microsite to read the report, browse case studies, and use our data viz to directly compare professions for yourself 👇 elitistbritain.suttontrust.com

Pleased to write about working class access to the media industry in @theguardian.com today. Our Elitist Britain research out today shows that almost half of columnists, commentators and top podcast hosts went to private schools. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

🚨 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 ⤵️🧵

🤔 Where do Britain’s most influential people go to school and university? Which professions are the most socially excusive? Tomorrow, we will publish Elitist Britain 2025, a landmark report updating on our previous research on elitism in 2019. Keep your eyes peeled! 👀

📣 We're expanding our Teacher Champions programme for 2025/26! The programme will be delivered in collaboration with Causeway Education and Advancing Access – offering a comprehensive, one-stop shop of CPD for teachers and advisers. Read more ⤵️ www.suttontrust.com/news-opinion...

✍ "In England in 2023/24, just 24% of males who were eligible for Free School Meals attained a grade 9-5 in GCSE Maths and English, compared with 43% who were not." Our latest guest blog discusses the challenges facing working-class boys in education ⤵️ www.suttontrust.com/news-opinion...

🚨 Online workshop 🚨 Where you can afford to live shouldn’t dictate the quality of education you can access. On 18th Sept, we're hosting an online workshop where you can learn about how your school could introduce more inclusive admissions policies ⬇️

💬 "Figures from the Sutton Trust reveal that as of the last election, 23% of our elected representatives were privately schooled, compared to 7% of children across the UK." Our research was mentioned on Nicky Campbell's BBC Radio 5 Live show last week 📻

🆕 We recently polled almost 7,000 teachers with @teachertapp.bsky.social to better understand how the education sector sees the issue of school admissions. Our Senior Schools Engagement Manager, @charleyo.bsky.social, discusses what we learned 👇 www.suttontrust.com/news-opinion...

🆕 Last week, the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Social Mobility marked its return with a panel event exploring regional inequalities and the geography of opportunity. @ryangfrost.bsky.social details what was discussed during the session in our latest blog ⬇️ www.suttontrust.com/news-opinion...

🚨 Interactive map revealing access to opportunity by constituency 🚨 Our research looked closely at how at opportunities for less advantaged young people differ across the country. Use our map to see how each constituency ranks for opportunity 📍 www.suttontrust.com/opportunity-...

💬"When people think of social mobility, some may think of rags to riches, or long-range mobility from the bottom of the economic ladder to the top." What does social mobility really mean? Our blog explores the various definitions of the term ⬇️

👶 Early education and childcare is essential for working families, vital for the economy, and life-changing for children. We're proud to have signed this open letter to @bphillipsonmp.bsky.social emphasising the need to build a better funded childcare system ⬇️

Medicine remains one of the most elitist professions in this country. Our research has shown that working-class people are hugely underrepresented, with a tiny proportion of medical school entrants coming from lower socio-economic backgrounds. www.suttontrust.com/our-research...

How 'prestigious' is your accent? 🗣️ Our research revealed that a pervasive hierarchy of accent prestige remains in this country. Accents associated with industrial cities and ethnic minority accents are seen as the least prestigious, while Received Pronunciation is considered most prestigious.

✍️ "We already know what works: high-quality early education and childcare is one of the smartest, most cost-effective investments a government can make." Read more about the need to reform the childcare system and widen access to support ⤵️

💭 How can I stay up to date with the Sutton Trust? Sign up to our monthly newsletter! 📧 Each month, we provide the latest updates on our research, programmes, and news and opinion ⤵️ confirmsubscription.com/h/j/C2E2F623...

✍️ "A majority state-schooled national football team sends a powerful message: elite sport doesn’t have to be the playground of the privileged." Our research on the education backgrounds of the Lionesses covered ⤵️

Under the current childcare system in England, many families are missing out on extra childcare support from government. @coalitionedcare.bsky.social Director Sarah Ronan reiterates the importance of ensuring the system delivers for all in our latest guest blog ⤵️ www.suttontrust.com/news-opinion...

💬 "To me, social mobility is about having access to opportunity wherever you come from, being able to succeed in whichever place you call home." Our alum, Beth, writes about why we need to challenge popular ideas of success and social mobility👇

🚨 Wide regional gaps in top grades at GCSE 🚨 In 2019, the gap between the region with the highest proportion of top grades and the lowest proportion was 9.3pp (London versus North East). That gap has now increased to 10.6pp, with London still leading on top grades.

📣 We held our summer Alumni Leadership Board meeting last weekend! It was another great day of discussion, with conversations covering topics such as data and eligibility for our programmes, how we look after our volunteer community, and the future of the group itself.

"Unless the government is prepared to tackle the thorny issue of low pay, it will never grow the early years workforce to meet demand, let alone improve its status or diversity." Our director, Sarah Ronan, writes for Tes magazine 👇 www.tes.com/magazine/ana...

🗨️ "However, a picture of stability also means persistent inequalities remain." Our Research and Policy Manager, @kevinlatham.bsky.social, looks at this year’s GCSE results in more detail to highlight persistent inequalities within the education system ⬇️ www.suttontrust.com/news-opinion...

Today is #GCSEResultsDay! Here’s what we know about the results as of yet ⤵️ 🧵

📣 Earlier this month saw our annual careers panel and networking event take place, supported by our partners at Goldman Sachs, who kindly hosted over 50 students in their offices. A big thank you to Goldman Sachs for hosting - we can't wait to see where the students go next 👏

A large proportion of our MPs went to a narrow set of elite universities 🎓 We found that 20% attended Oxford and Cambridge, compared to just 1% of the UK population. 55% of MPs went to Russell Group universities, versus 19% of the population.

🚨 Bring back maintenance grants 🚨 England is the only country in the UK to not provide maintenance grants to lower income students 💰 Since they were abolished, poorer students have been leaving university with more debt than their wealthier peers.

🚨 Wide regional gaps in top grades at A Level 🚨 In 2024, the gap between the region with the highest proportion of top grades and the lowest was 8.8pp (London vs East Midlands). That gap has now grown to 9.2pp (London vs North East) #ResultsDay2025

💬 "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." More on why class must be included in conversations about diversity 👇

📢 #ResultsDay2025 for Level 3 qualifications (A Level and equivalent) is here! Students receiving their results today have endured significant disruption to their education since Year 8. Here’s our analysis of what we know about the results so far ⤵️🧵

📸 Three of our alums were invited to Silverstone for the 2025 British Grand Prix by our fantastic partner Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team last month! We'd like to thank them for hosting our students and offering them such an exciting experience 🏎️

Social mobility in Britain is low 👎 The majority of the public feel that this country is unfair and unequal. And our research shows that chances of success are heavily shaped by socio-economic background. But lots can be done to change this ⬇️

✍️ "There’s almost no one from the same background as me, and it feels as though all my peers have parents who are doctors." Careers in the medical profession out of reach for most working class students. Working class representation must be improved.

Our alum, Neil, has studied and worked in 7 different countries, works for a translation firm, and sits on our Alumni Leadership Board 👏 Read about his journey from a state school in Chester to various countries around the world 🗺️

💬 "The truth is that experience isn’t free. It costs time, travel, and sometimes even your own equipment. It costs the shift at your paid job that you had to give up." More on why the prominence of unpaid work is an issue in creative professions 👇

🥳 Congratulations to all our Scottish participants who received their results yesterday! These students faced considerable disruption to their education due to the pandemic, so every young person receiving their results should be proud of themselves.