Nick Harrison
@nickharrison73.bsky.social
670 followers 73 following 84 posts
CEO @suttontrust.bsky.social campaigning for social mobility. Ex- business leader and consulting global practice lead. Proud father of three.
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nickharrison73.bsky.social
All new job seekers are struggling, but having a degree still helps! Critical analysis from ⁦‪John Burn-Murdock.
Also why we still support degrees as a great route to social mobility at @suttontrust.bsky.social
nickharrison73.bsky.social
Fully agree @bphillipsonmp.bsky.social - The two child cap has to go if we're to tackle child poverty and improve educational outcomes for disadvantaged kids. We all know that scrapping it is the most cost effective way to do this. Anyone out there disagree ??!!
@suttontrust.bsky.social
nickharrison73.bsky.social
Very good news if true. Child poverty is one of the biggest drivers of lifelong disadvantage. The cap needs to go!
@suttontrust.bsky.social
nickharrison73.bsky.social
Was a great discussion - and if you haven’t seen it, do look up our report Elitist Britain.
suttontrust.bsky.social
Today we are at the Labour Party Conference to explore findings from the Sutton Trust's latest report, Elitist Britain.

We are joined by @lindseymacmillan.bsky.social, @peter4bracknell.bsky.social, @lewisgoodall.com, Lord David Evans, and our own @carlcullinane.bsky.social.

⬇️ Follow updates below
nickharrison73.bsky.social
Very much support bringing back maintenance grants for less well off students. 👇
suttontrust.bsky.social
🚨 Policy win on maintenance grants! 🚨

@bphillipsonmp.bsky.social has announced that the Government will introduce maintenance grants for students from low income households, on priority courses.

This is a very positive step in the right direction, but there's still further to go ⤵️
nickharrison73.bsky.social
Strong speech by Keir Starmer today - and good announcement on support for further education and apprenticeships - and parity with more academic routes.
suttontrust.bsky.social
🗨️ "It’s absolutely the right ambition to aim for greater parity between academic, technical and apprenticeship routes for young people."

Our response to Keir Starmer's speech at #LabourPartyConference in Liverpool ⤵️

www.suttontrust.com/news-opinion...
nickharrison73.bsky.social
It was a great discussion. Thanks to your brilliant panel and everyone who attended :-)
suttontrust.bsky.social
This morning at Labour Party Conference, our panel is looking at the attainment gap and asking why disadvantaged pupils are behind their peers.

Chaired by @nickharrison73.bsky.social, we are joined by @sarahsmithlab.bsky.social, @childrenscomm.bsky.social, and @danielkebedeneu.bsky.social
nickharrison73.bsky.social
The privately educated are hugely over represented in leadership roles in the media. 👇
suttontrust.bsky.social
Careers in the media are highly competitive and widely sought after.

But are the leaders within these sectors representative?

Our research shows that the backgrounds of people in these top jobs look very different to the general population 👎
nickharrison73.bsky.social
Paralympic medallists (73% comprehensive, 20% private school) are more representative of the population than Olympic medallists (52% comp, 33% private).
Anyone know why this is?
Latest @suttontrust.bsky.social research, Elitist Britain.
nickharrison73.bsky.social
Pop stars may have a Diva reputation. But they're actually quite representative of all of us, as 76% went to comprehensive school.
Film and TV stars are much more elitist, with only 41% going to a comp, and 32% to private school.
Latest @suttontrust.bsky.social report, Elitist Britain.
nickharrison73.bsky.social
Police Chiefs and Crime Commissioners are much more representative of the country at large than Army Chiefs.
Police = 60% comprehensive education and "only" 21% private school. Army = 63% went to private school.

Latest @suttontrust.bsky.social report, Elitist Britain.
nickharrison73.bsky.social
Important point. Those with the knowledge and resources more likely to push for a re-mark widening the gap.
@suttontrust.bsky.social
alexjquigley.bsky.social
“Our ability to act was rooted in insider knowledge, access to professional networks, and financial security.”

‘How the GCSE disadvantage gap can widen after results day’

researchschool.org.uk/huntington/n...
nickharrison73.bsky.social
Breaking news: Hereditary peers almost all went to private school, a d half to Eton. 😱
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.
nickharrison73.bsky.social
Cricket is the most elitist sport in Britain, with 50-60% of top players attending private school (vs. 7% of the population). Football is representative. Olympians in the middle with "only" 20-30% private school.
Rugby is split men (elitist) vs. women (representative).

@suttontrust.bsky.social
nickharrison73.bsky.social
Both Labour deputy leader candidates now talking about scrapping the two-child benefit cap. Doing so is the most cost-effective way to reduce child poverty - and if it remains child poverty rises. It has to go + must be a spending priority.
nickharrison73.bsky.social
Special Educational Needs (SEN) just goes up and up. As the parent of a wonderful SEN kid - I can empathise with the the cost and huge family strain mentioned here. The current SEN system is broken. Provision is inadequate and councils are not funded to provide it. Needs to change!
nickharrison73.bsky.social
Senior judges are one of the least representative professions in the country: 62% went to private school (vs. 7% of the population) and 75% attended Oxbridge (vs. 1% of the population). Not good for diversity of thought.

Latest @suttontrust.bsky.social report, Elitist Britain.
Reposted by Nick Harrison
suttontrust.bsky.social
💬 “In 2025 you can still buy advantage, massively increasing your chance of getting into the most powerful roles in the country.” @nickharrison73.bsky.social

Our new research, Elitist Britain, dives deeper into the pathways of the elite, from school to university ⤵️

elitistbritain.suttontrust.com
nickharrison73.bsky.social
Actually it’s not - politicians today are more representative. I’ll post that chart at some pt over the next few days.
nickharrison73.bsky.social
Privilege at the top of British business. Only 9% of FTSE 100 Chairs attended a comprehensive school (compared to 89% of the population).
Whereas 47% went to private school.

New @suttontrust.bsky.social report, Elitist Britain.
nickharrison73.bsky.social
50% of newspaper columnists attended private school. Might explain all the noise in the press about VAT on fees - a policy which only actually affects 7% of the population. @suttontrust.bsky.social latest report: Elitist Britain.
nickharrison73.bsky.social
Private school dominance has actually gone up in some key professions - BBC, Newspaper columnists, Army, Cricket - over the last five years.
Whereas the Cabinet is now representative! New @suttontrust.bsky.social research Elitist Britain.