Lewis Tibbs
@lewistibbs.bsky.social
760 followers 650 following 41 posts
Senior Digital Communications Officer @suttontrust.bsky.social 💻 Interested in politics, policy and regional inequality. Dancing nerd. Northerner and perpetually suffering Man United fan. Views my own!
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Reposted by Lewis Tibbs
suttontrust.bsky.social
🫨 Did you know 95% of the remaining hereditary peers in the House of Lords went to private school?

Over half went to Eton alone.

52% of all Lords were privately educated. There's a long way to go before the 829 member Upper House is representative of the wider population.
lewistibbs.bsky.social
Power and influence in Britain is still wielded by a slither of the population: the 7% who are privately educated and roughly 1% who go to Oxbridge for uni.

6 years after the last rendition of Elitist Britain, and the situation hasn’t really changed!

Huge privilege to be involved in this project.
suttontrust.bsky.social
🚨 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 ⤵️🧵
Reposted by Lewis Tibbs
beckymontacute.bsky.social
A big (and very welcome) announcement from government today on free school meal eligibilty, widening it to all children on families eligible for UC.

A quick thread on these changes, and the remaining challenges 🧵

www.suttontrust.com/news-opinion...
Taking hunger out of the classroom. - The Sutton Trust
Unpacking the Government's decision to widen FSM access to all households on universal credit.
www.suttontrust.com
lewistibbs.bsky.social
🚨 FSM eligibility is being widened!

The DfE has announced tonight that every pupil whose family is on Universal Credit will be eligible for free school meals.

This is a really important step in tackling child food poverty and combating the impact of hunger in the classroom. Great to see.
suttontrust.bsky.social
🚨 The Government has just announced that free school meals eligibility will be expanded to cover all children living in households that receive Universal Credit.

This is a very positive move, marking a significant step towards taking hunger out of the classroom 👇🧵
Reposted by Lewis Tibbs
suttontrust.bsky.social
💬 "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."

Our Head of Research and Policy, @beckymontacute.bsky.social, on the need to include class in the diversity conversation 👇

www.suttontrust.com/news-opinion...
To save diversity and inclusion, employers need to bring class into the conversation - The Sutton Trust
The importance of including class in the diversity conversation.
www.suttontrust.com
lewistibbs.bsky.social
There’s been a 32% rise in the number of food parcels provided to families with children under 5 since 2019/20 🙁

These numbers cannot be normalised - especially when they affect children who are so young.

My @suttontrust.bsky.social blog on child food poverty 👇

www.suttontrust.com/news-opinion...
Without action, rising levels of child food poverty will limit the potential of too many young people - The Sutton Trust
Our Senior Digital Communications Officer, Lewis Tibbs, on the urgent need tackle child food poverty.
www.suttontrust.com
lewistibbs.bsky.social
Agree! I assume it’s up to individual boroughs where these spaces are placed? I feel like the strictness and enforcement varies quite a lot between different ones!
lewistibbs.bsky.social
Interesting. The main complaint in London has definitely been the chaotic parking of dock-less, hired bikes (like Lime) rather than personal bikes.

Much better than 100 giant cars, but I guess it’s still tricky to have so many vehicles packed into one space, whatever the size. Perspective is key!
lewistibbs.bsky.social
Bikes have overtaken cars to become the most popular vehicle in central London 🚲

Bad parking habits of Lime bikers aside (which is improving, tbf) it’s great to see so many more casual cyclists.

We should invest in cycle parking to capitalise on the biking boom!

www.economist.com/britain/2025...
London has become a cycling city
It shows how dockless-electric bikes could transform cities
www.economist.com
lewistibbs.bsky.social
Thanks for openly sharing Sunder, it’s awful that it’s a part of your online experience.

It’s baffling to me that people continue to underestimate the scale (and impact) of online racism, despite how blatantly obvious it is. It’s not too hard to see how regression online leaks into real life.
lewistibbs.bsky.social
This kind of stuff is pretty terrifying.

It was the warmest start to May in the UK this year. The last two years have been the hottest on record globally.

Sometimes I find it difficult to actually enjoy the weather when it’s freakishly warm for the time of year. It just feels off 😕
adamvaughan.bsky.social
"Yeah, but global warming will be great for the UK."

Ummmm...Just look at this map of marine heatwaves around the UK and Ireland right now.

Sea surface temperatures are up to 4C warmer than usual for this time of year, reaching about 17C off the Irish coast.

👇
www.thetimes.com/uk/environme...
lewistibbs.bsky.social
It’s great to see more data demonstrating the economic value of children’s centres 👶

They can have hugely positive effects on health, education and social care outcomes for families (especially disadvantaged ones).

It makes both economic and moral sense to invest in more of them!
suttontrust.bsky.social
More evidence of the many benefits of children's centres from @theifs.bsky.social‬.

There is huge value in investing in the early years.

We're calling for a new national strategy for community-based family support, targeted first at the most deprived areas ⬇️
Sure Start centres generated £2 of financial benefits for every £1 spent, study finds
New Labour initiative created ‘remarkably long-lasting’ health and education improvements, says report
www.theguardian.com
lewistibbs.bsky.social
💬 “The least socially mobile areas voted heavily to leave the EU, have few migrants, and more likely to vote Reform...support for Reform is strongly correlated with poor social mobility.”

Interesting analysis in @financialtimes.com using data from our new research ⤵️

www.ft.com/content/d1aa...
In charts: Reform stands to gain in England’s ‘left behind’ areas
Towns and cities with the lowest social mobility offer the party the most electoral promise, analysis shows
www.ft.com
Reposted by Lewis Tibbs
suttontrust.bsky.social
🚨 NEW: Opportunities for the poorest young people in London far outstrip the rest of England, we have found.

Our new Opportunity Index reveals how the area young people grow up in shapes their life chances, with huge differences between constituencies across the country 🧵⬇️
lewistibbs.bsky.social
😲 Just 5% of medical students come from the lowest socio-economic backgrounds, with 75% coming from wealthier backgrounds.

Great work from my colleague @kevinlatham.bsky.social highlighting the big problems with access to the medical profession. Some really shocking stats.

Have a read ⬇️
suttontrust.bsky.social
🚨 NEW: Only a fraction of medical students come from working class backgrounds, despite recent efforts to widen access.

Our new research finds persistent issues with access to careers in medicine, as working-class people remain hugely underrepresented in the profession 🧵⬇️
lewistibbs.bsky.social
👋 Come and work with our team!

Interesting work and great colleagues (I promise!) ⤵️
beckymontacute.bsky.social
🚨 Freelance research opportunity 🚨

We're looking for a researcher to help us with data collection for our major report, Elitist Britain 2025 - looking at the backgrounds of those making up the country's elites - please do share in your networks 🙂

recruitment.suttontrust.com/jobs/5596434...
Research Contractor (Elitist Britain 2025) - The Sutton Trust
We’re looking for a freelance researcher to carry out work for our landmark report, Elitist Britain 2025
recruitment.suttontrust.com
Reposted by Lewis Tibbs
beckymontacute.bsky.social
Great to hear government re-affirm their commitment to ending unpaid internships - this is an issue the @suttontrust.bsky.social have been highlighting for years as an unfair barrier for working class young people.
suttontrust.bsky.social
🗣️ "We remain committed to banning unpaid internships so that young people are paid fairly."

Positive to hear Education Secretary, Bridget Phillipson, reaffirm the Government's pledge to ban unpaid internships.

Thank you to @chionwurah.bsky.social for mentioning our research in Parliament!
Reposted by Lewis Tibbs
suttontrust.bsky.social
💬 "Two thirds (66%) of senior teachers say their school provided food for pupils to eat outside school hours in the last 12 months."

Worrying new @teachertapp.bsky.social data reveals more about the level of extra support schools are having to provide for pupils.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Nearly half of schools give families financial help, teachers say
A survey of teachers in England suggests lots of schools are having to provide extra help for families.
www.bbc.co.uk
Reposted by Lewis Tibbs
princecharlescinema.com
#SaveThePCC

Some of you may have read about the situation regarding our new landlord wishing to add a new redevelopment break clause, with only 6 months notice to our lease.

For now, we're simply asking you all to share & sign the petition below;

you.38degrees.org.uk/p/princechar...
Save The Prince Charles Cinema
The iconic Prince Charles Cinema in London’s West End future is under serious threat! We are beyond disappointed that our landlords Zedwell LSQ Ltd and their ultimate parent company Criterion Capital...
you.38degrees.org.uk
Reposted by Lewis Tibbs
beckymontacute.bsky.social
Reminder you can follow all of the Sutton Trust's staff on Bluesky here 😊 a brilliant team with expertise across the early years, schools and colleges, apprenticeships, higher education and access to the workplace (both from a research/policy perspective and our programmatic work with young people)
suttontrust.bsky.social
Hello Bluesky 👋

If you want to find members of the Sutton Trust team on Bluesky, use our starter pack!

Follow our team: go.bsky.app/D2CHsRr
Reposted by Lewis Tibbs
omaromalleykhan.bsky.social
Agree that unpaid internships are bad for social mobility. Given that getting an internship helps future employment prospects, and the competition for roles, inequality in access to internships also leads to medium- and longer-term inequalities in the labour market (and in wages).
suttontrust.bsky.social
🚨 NEW: The gap in access to internships between working-class and middle-class graduates has almost doubled since 2018.

Our new research reveals a growing gap in access to increasingly important internship routes, with many opportunities under and unpaid 🧵⬇️
Reposted by Lewis Tibbs
suttontrust.bsky.social
"The Sutton Trust wants unpaid internships lasting four weeks or longer to be banned, alongside enforcement of current minimum wage legislation."

Unpaid internships are acting as a major barrier to social mobility.

Our new research in @theguardian.com ⤵️

www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
Unpaid internships ‘locking out’ young working-class people from careers
UK charity calls for positions of four weeks or longer to be banned to help close social mobility gap
www.theguardian.com
Reposted by Lewis Tibbs
ericaholtwhite.bsky.social
Taking an unpaid role is just not an option for many young people. Imagine working full time, unpaid, but having to fund even the minimum living costs...without savings or help from family, this is near impossible! Indeed, 2 in 5 say their unpaid role was funded by family...