Sir Peter Lampl’s response to the Ofsted annual report was included in an article in the Guardian  by Richard Adams and Sally Weale.

Sir Michael Wilshaw has called for “golden handcuffs” to help keep teachers in state schools, and said the government needed to urgently tackle the shortage of teaching staff across England.

The Ofsted chief inspector, in his annual report on education and skills in England, highlighted the difficulty struggling schools had recruiting staff, and said the government’s teacher training reforms – pushing initial teacher training into schools – were allowing good schools to monopolise hiring.

Sir Peter Lampl, chair of the Sutton Trust education charity, said Wilshaw was right to highlight England’s north-south divide. “Today’s report confirms our own research which has consistently shown that your chances of getting good GCSEs, attending a good university and accessing a professional job aren’t just a matter of ability, but are linked to where you live.”

He said the findings showed an urgent national drive was needed to reduce educational inequalities and improve social mobility. “All young people, regardless of where they live or their family background, should have access to great teaching as well as the chance to go to the best schools.”

Sir Kevan Collins, chief executive of the Education Endowment Foundation, said the EEF had launched a £15m drive in Yorkshire and the north-east aimed at improving attainment for disadvantaged pupils over the next five years.

“As today’s report shows, inconsistency between similar schools in different parts of the country is one of the biggest challenges we face in our drive to improve standards. Not only are educational outcomes linked to family income, but they’re also linked to where you live.

“If young people are all to have the same chance of doing well regardless of where they live, schools need to make better use of what we know about what works and view evidence as a crucial tool to help them decide on the ‘best bets’ for spending limited resources.

“We need to see greater collaboration between schools too and a concerted effort to reach those in the ‘cold spots’ that today’s report identifies.”

Read the full article here.

The quote was also included in an article in the Financial Times(£).

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