Too much focus on ‘smart kids’ has stalled social mobility, warns Katharine Birbalsingh

Katharine Birbalsingh gives her first speech as chairman of the Social Mobility Commission - PA Wire

A focus on “smart kids” is one of the reasons social mobility has stalled in some areas, Katharine Birbalsingh has said in the first report of its kind.

The chairman of the Government’s new Social Mobility Commission also warned it could take as long as 30 years for changes that are introduced now to take effect.

Ms Birbalsingh, who has been labelled Britain’s strictest headteacher after founding the Michaela Community School in Wembley as a free school, launched a new Social Mobility Index on Thursday, designed to track short-term and long-term progress.

In her foreword for the report, Mrs Birbalsingh wrote: “We believe cognitive ability is over-emphasised (for example, getting smart kids into top universities and jobs).

“As a commission, we believe that other talents and other jobs should be valued too.

“Too many interventions have focused on getting people to leave the place where they grew up, acquire brilliant academic credentials, and gain entry into an elite professional occupation.”

Improve skills of those at the bottom

Pointing to pockets of “real concern” in disadvantaged areas, Ms Birbalsingh added: “Not enough attention has been paid to improving the skills of those at the bottom – both adults and young people – whose opportunities, because of a lack of basic literacy, numeracy and employability skills, are extremely limited.”

The social mobility tsar also took aim at the New Labour push for half of all British school leavers to go on to degree study, which she said had “diverted attention away” from the 50 per cent of school leavers who pursue other routes.

Her new index will track post-school transitions into work, childhood conditions over time and levels of social capital among Britons leaving education.

While the commission will make a series of annual recommendations based on its findings, its first publication suggests a greater emphasis on non-academic qualifications and how family values influence a child’s learning outcomes.