Chairman's Statement

This was a year of growth for the Trust -- not only in terms of the scope and reach of our work, but also the support we have received from our expanding network of friends and supporters. In fact during our first full year of fund-raising, we received almost £5 million in pledges of support. Our aim remains the same: to promote social mobility by extending educational opportunities to young people from non-privileged backgrounds. It has become increasingly clear that this challenge represents a huge uphill struggle. There have been some great strides made during the first decade of the Trust. But we will need to redouble our efforts to try and counter-balance the powerful forces that continue to excerbate the ever-widening inequalities in society.

The major feature on the educational policy landscape in 2006 was the introduction of the Government's Education and Inspections Bill to Parliament. This eventually became law in the autumn. But the Trust had made its voice heard in some of the hotly contested debates surrounding the Bill since the October 2005 White Paper, Higher Standards, Better Schools for All. Our research revealing how few children from less privileged homes are taught in top performing comprehensive schools, released in February, once again placed us at the heart of the debate.

The 2006 Act went some way to securing more equitable access to state schools by addressing a number of the issues the Trust has been highlighting over the last few years. Among the Bill's provisions were an extension of school transport rights to children from low income homes, the introduction of choice advisers to help parents make the best school choices for their children, and a strengthened school admissions code, aimed at giving children from less privileged backgrounds genuine choice (please see page X). Of course, there is much more we would like to see happen in all these areas, but these measures represent a positive step forward by Government and are evidence of the impact of our policy work.

2006 also saw the release of the five year evaluation of our innovative Open Access Scheme at the Belvedere School, Liverpool, run in conjunction with the Girls' Day School Trust. The scheme has opened up a high-performing independent day school to girls of all backgrounds on the basis of merit alone, with parents paying a sliding scale of fees according to their needs. Professor Alan Smithers' review could not have been more positive.

The first cohort of girls under the arrangements produced the school's best ever GCSE results; not only this, the social make-up of the school now reflects the Liverpool area at large. Interviews with the girls, teachers and parents revealed that the scheme has worked socially as well as academically.

Despite the reluctance of the Government to support an expansion of the scheme to other schools, we remain convinced that Open Access is the only way to bridge the independent-state divide in education. This will only happen when the private sector opens up to able children from non-privileged backgrounds.

Despite the laudable aspirations of many of our most prestigious private schools - and the efforts of the Independent Schools Council - fee support reaches far too few pupils from non-privileged backgrounds. As our pilot shows, Open Access would provide tremendous value for money: the average Open Access place costing less than a state school place. I am delighted that David Willetts, the Shadow Secretary of State for Education, supported an expansion of the pilot scheme to ten or more independent schools, and that a number of senior figures in education backed our call for an expansion of the scheme in a letter to The Times.

A number of reviews of widening participation were also published in 2006. These prompted accusations that many university access schemes have not been cost-effective. Some commentators claimed that there was little evidence that the results of such initiatives warranted the resources devoted to them, and called for a reassessment of priorities. I agree that progress on some fronts has been far too slow. However, I am convinced that the investment over the last ten years or so has been worthwhile. Even at selective, research-led institutions, there are now greater numbers of university students from state schools, poor neighbourhoods and the lower social classes -- although progress has stalled more recently. We would surely be in an even worse situation if the work that we and others (including the Government) had not taken place.

Rather than turning our back on university access, we need to forge ahead. For our part, the Trust is looking to intervene earlier in a young person's school career and for longer, through a sustained series of interventions which supports them through their sixth form studies and into university.

The challenge we face was highlighted by our research study this year analyzing the educational backgrounds of the hundred leading news journalists today compared with their equivalents in 1986. Building on similar studies we have undertaken on politicians and lawyers, the survey found that over half the leading figures in journalism had attended independent schools, an increase on twenty years before. Not only are these findings symptomatic of the inequalities in our education system - which mean that a fortunate few enjoy significantly better life chances than the majority - but it also poses difficult questions about the nature of the media's relationship with society. Is it right, for instance, that those who comment on and set the news agenda have such different backgrounds to the vast majority of the population?

2007 looks set to be another exciting and busy year as the Trust celebrates its tenth anniversary. Many of our flagship initiatives will be rolled out to reach more young children. I am particularly delighted to be working in partnership with the Goldman Sachs Foundation on the expansion of our Academic Enrichment Programme, and with the College of Law on our Pathways to Law initiative. Our Strategic Philanthropy Fund also continues to grow, and the combined investment of its members is allowing us to fund more innovative projects and research which we hope will have real leverage with Government and policymakers.

But for the time being I would like to extend my sincere thanks to all those who help to make the Trust such a success. That includes those who run the projects we fund in schools, universities and community organisations; the academics who undertake research on our behalf; the civil servants and policymakers with whom we discuss and debate our ideas; the supporters and donors who are so critical to the expansion of our work; and, of course, the small, highly effective and dedicated team of Sutton Trust staff.

Sir Peter Lampl
Chairman

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