Policy paper

Next steps

Published 11 September 2024

Next steps

The innovative composite indices and geographic breakdowns set out in this report bring us one step closer to identifying the specific social mobility challenges across the UK. We aim for this information to be used widely across government and within the broader social mobility community.

One of our main aims in developing the Social Mobility Index was to have a consistent, evidence-based set of indicators, allowing us to track change over time, acknowledge progress where it has been made, and get early warning if any aspects of mobility seem to be regressing. We are now starting to see some examples of this change. 

At university level, the socio-economic background (SEB) enrolment gap has narrowed over time. The earnings gap between young people with different levels of qualifications has also narrowed. Our intermediate (early-life) outcomes at school age show a familiar pattern – children and young people from lower SEBs achieve worse on average, at all ages, but there are notable exceptions to this. For example, children eligible for free school meals (FSM) of Chinese background perform better than the national average for non-FSM children at key stage (KS) 2 and KS4 (age 11 and 16 years). 

Our new geographical analysis has found, in common with other studies, that most local authorities have similar levels of mobility prospects and outcomes, but with some outliers at the top and bottom ends.^{[footnote 31]} The most favourable areas for mobility tend to be either in London or the adjoining Home Counties, meaning that people who grew up in these areas have gone on to experience better mobility than people of similar SEBs who grew up in other areas. 

But these findings are just the first step. Data alone does not prescribe policy solutions. In our forthcoming policy framework, we use the evidence from this report and others to set out the contemporary social mobility challenges that our country must address, and the additional data and analysis we need to develop a coherent approach. We hope that our framework will provide local and national policymakers with advice that helps them to explore how to improve opportunities across the UK, and particularly how a place-based focus, led by devolved authorities when appropriate, can shape good outcomes for all.

The Social Mobility Commission has a significant part to play in delivering on the challenges we raise here, as well as the actions that we outline in our policy framework. That is why we have also committed to new programmes of work to support our local and national partners to drive forward the changes needed. 

It is an exciting time to be part of this change. We hope to rise to the challenge and show how together we can all make a bigger difference.

1. Outliers are values or points that are extreme and different from most other parts of a dataset. ↩