Report shows inequalities in young people’s knowledge of careers and education

New research has shown glaring inequalities in young people’s access to knowledge of the education system and careers, threatening equal opportunity for all.

The Social Market Foundation, on behalf of Speakers for Schools, undertook a study of the forms of knowledge that boost education and employment success.

The research found that access to ‘assumed knowledge’, that is, the things that some might assume everyone instinctively knows about ‘how the system works’, is found to be skewed heavily towards young people from more affluent families, and those with parents that have been to university themselves.  

The report concludes that differing levels of assumed knowledge threatens equality of opportunity because some groups benefit from access to certain information that helps them ‘get ahead’ in education and employment.

Groups with higher assumed knowledge tend to be more affluent, with parents who were graduates, and with valuable social connections. This helps explain why young people from disadvantaged backgrounds with similar grades at school to their more-privileged peers can end up doing less well in higher education and the job market.  

The report found over a third (35%) of young people from less advantaged backgrounds were unable to identify the University of Cambridge as the most prestigious university from a list of institutions. A quarter of all 15-21 year olds surveyed were unable to do the same.  

Nearly half (48%) of young people were unaware that graduates earned more than non-graduates. Young people who are eligible for free school meals are less likely to know this. 

A third of young people (33%) from least advantaged backgrounds did not receive careers advice from family or friends, compared to just 5% of those who have a parent/guardian with a post-graduate degree.

The report recommends the successful roll out of two weeks’ worth of work experience for all young people-a core part of the Government’s educational manifesto commitments, and Speakers for Schools’ flagship organisational mission. Other proposed measures include, embedding Assumed Knowledge into the curriculum, for example by linking subjects to careers, and a more proactive role for the National Careers Service for once young people have left compulsory education.

In response to the report, Speakers for Schools is calling for urgent action to be taken to help level the playing field between pupils from the least advantaged backgrounds and their more affluent peers through the provision of opportunities to connect young people to successful, aspirational figures and role models and mentoring opportunities who can demystify careers and build confidence.