Harriet Sherwood quotes Sutton Trust Founder and Chairman, Sir Peter Lampl, in an article for the Guardian.

The education secretary, Justine Greening, has accused Labour of offering nothing but “money and slogans” to tackle schools standards, as she announces a national strategy aimed at closing the attainment gap between rich and poor children.

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Peter Lampl, chairman of the Sutton Trust, which aims to boost attainment of pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds, welcomed the government’s strategy, which is called Unlocking Talent, Fulfilling Potential.

But he warned that the government appeared to be ducking reform of schools admissions policies.

“There are areas where more should be done. We need to be sure that the resources are there to match the ambitions of the new plan, particularly to support good teaching in disadvantaged areas. Admissions policy seems to have been put in the ‘too difficult’ box, yet without reforming admissions poorer pupils will continue to miss out on the best schools,” he said.

Lampl also highlighted the need to ensure that disadvantaged pupils had access to the best apprenticeships and did not graduate from university with the largest debts.

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Read the full article here and find Sir Peter Lampl’s response to the government’s Social Mobility Action Plan here.

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