I’ll never forget one of the first Year 11 boys I taught when I became a head. Bright, funny... the kind of young person you could chat to for hours.
But when it came to schoolwork, he’d checked out. He told me, “Sir, people like me don’t get those grades. That’s for them, not us.”
That broke me. Because he was right in one sense - not about his ability, but about the story he’d been told, silently, his whole life. And he’s not the only one.
Addressing the ‘messy’
For years now, white working-class children have been at the bottom of the attainment tables. We’ve known it. We’ve seen it. But too often, we’ve dodged talking about it.
Maybe it’s because the politics around it feels messy. Maybe it’s because people worry about what headlines might say. Whatever the reason, the end result is the same: silence. And in that silence, too many young people have been written off.
Bridget Phillipson’s decision to make this group a priority matters. It’s not about saying their challenges are worse than anyone else’s, or taking away from others.
It’s about being honest enough to admit that these young people have been allowed to be bottom of the table for too long.
What the data tells us
The statistics are stark, but behind them are children I’ve worked with for most of my career.
White British pupils on Free School Meals have the lowest outcomes of almost any group. An average GCSE grade of a 3 in their best subjects; a 2 in their EBacc.
That’s not just numbers on a sheet; that’s a young person walking into a college interview with doors already closed. That’s a parent/carer who doesn’t know how to help because they didn’t get those chances either. That’s a community that starts to believe education isn’t for them.
And we’ve known this for years. I gave evidence to the Education Select Committee in 2013, and the same committee report in 2021 literally called it.
Poor policy
But in response to all this, policy has been timid. Too much fear of saying the wrong thing, not enough urgency about doing the right thing. And the cost? A generation of wasted potential.
Here’s the thing: this isn’t just about exams. It’s about identity. For too many white working-class children, school feels like somewhere theygo, not somewhere theybelong.
They don’t see people like them in leadership. They don’t feel represented in the stories we celebrate. Aspiration feels like it belongs to somebody else.
And if you’ve ever taught a class where they’ve stopped believing in school, you know how hard that is to turn around.
Hope ahead
But there’s hope. Because I’ve also seen what happens when these children meet teachers and leaders whodoget it.
Staff who grew up on those estates, who know what it’s like to have parents juggling three jobs, who know the pride and resilience in those communities as well as the struggles.
Those colleagues change lives quietly every day. They don’t make headlines, but they’re proof that change is possible. Their voices should be at the heart of policy because they know what actually works.
We also need to get serious about where and when we step in. We can’t just throw money at a handful of “priority schools” and hope for the best. We’ve got to look at the places that need us most - the coastal towns, the old industrial areas, the rural communities miles from anywhere.
The importance of Key Stage 3
We’ve got to stop treating Key Stage 3 like the forgotten years. That’s when boys, especially from these backgrounds, start drifting. If they’re not confident readers by 13, the curriculum becomes a locked door. And the system doesn’t catch them; it just records their failure.
This isn’t about blame. It’s about resolve. It’s about listening to the pupils, parents/carers and staff who’ve lived this story. Not wheeling them out for a token quote in a report, but including them in the change.
And here’s the good news: we know itcanbe done. I’ve seen schools where white working-class children are thriving - where reading is central, where enrichment trips are for everyone, local employers are partners rather than strangers, and aspiration is spoken about every day in ways that feel real.
I’ve seen Year 11s from the same background as that boy I once taught walk proudly into exams believing they can succeed because they’ve been told that message, shown that message - havelivedthat message - from Year 7 onwards.
Time to change the narrative
The story isn’t fixed. It never was.
With the right focus, the right honesty and the right people leading the charge, we can make sure white working-class children stop being “the forgotten” and can achieve the brilliant futures they deserve.
For my part, I want to support the Secretary of State to truly make a lasting difference because, if education really is the great leveller, we’ve got work to do.
And it’s work worth doing. Because if we get it right, those young people who once thought “school isn’t for us” will finally see it always was.
Vic Goddard is executive principal and CEO ofPassmores Cooperative Learning Community
