First-of-its-kind research exposes 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 detailed study of the forms of knowledge that boost education and employment success. They 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: 

Gaps in knowledge to inform study choices  

• 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.  

• Over a quarter of young people did not understand how the student finance system works, with those eligible for free school meals nearly twice as likely to mistakenly believe student loans could lead to bankruptcy. 

Gaps in knowledge of career planning 

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. 

• Private school students were 11 percentage points more likely to have spoken to a careers advisor at school 

Gaps in knowledge about job applications

• Less than half (47%) of young people eligible for free school meals thought salaries could be negotiated, compared to 64% of their more well-off peers.  

• Only 60% of 15-28 year olds whose parents were non-graduates saw value of networking, compared to 81% of respondents with graduate parents  

Gaps in understanding of work culture and integration 

• Young people with connections in prestigious industries such as law, medicine and academia had higher levels of assumed knowledge. 42% of young people eligible for free school meals did not know anyone in a prestigious profession, compared to just 20% of those not eligible.  

Gaps in confidence 

• 65% of those with university-educated parents felt confident speaking with senior professionals. compared to 49% of those with non-graduate parents. 

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.  

Nick Brook, CEO of Speakers for Schools, said: 

“Where you are born and who you are born to can play a pivotal role in determining your life chances in the UK. Ours is a system where the cream does not naturally rise to the top. Raw talent and academic ability are not always enough for young people from more disadvantaged backgrounds to overcome the barriers they face to future success.  

“Today’s report shines a light on the problem but also spotlights the way forward. This problem is fixable, if we ensure that all young people are exposed to rich experiences of the world of work whilst at school, to demystify careers and provide valuable insights.  Young people without access to networks outside of school for advice and guidance need to be able to access this in school, through improved careers advice, mentoring and support. Currently these services are underfunded and overstretched. 

“Encouragingly, this evidence shows that pupils from less advantaged backgrounds draw most benefit from high quality experiences of the world of work. Done well, work experience for all can help level the playing field so that all young people have the knowledge they need to navigate their way through the system with confidence”. 

Dani Payne, Senior Researcher at the Social Market Foundation, said:  

“Disadvantaged young people are navigating the education system and trying to transition into employment with far lower levels of knowledge and support than their affluent peers. Despite decades of work to close attainment and outcomes gaps for those from less privileged backgrounds, these disparities remain and in some cases are widening.  

Our research highlights how having richer parents, with better connections and more experience of the education system gives you access to exclusive knowledge about how to ‘get ahead’ in education and employment, and drives inequalities in opportunity. The findings are stark, and suggest that major changes in the education and career support system are required to reduce gaps in attainment and outcomes.”

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For more information, please contact:  

Regarding Speakers for Schools response: Matthew Kent, Press Officer, Speakers for Schools  
Email: matthew.kent@speakersforschools.org 
Phone: 07730785572 

Regarding the report: Richa Kapoor, Impact Officer, Social Market Foundation  
Email: richa@smf.co.uk 
Phone: 07429219780 

Notes to editors  

1. The SMF report, Things worth knowing, will be published at on 17^th October, 2024 at: https://www.smf.co.uk/publications/assumed-knowledge-in-youth-transitions-from-education-to-employment/ at 5 AM. 

2. The report is sponsored by Speakers for Schools. The SMF retains full editorial independence.  

3. SMF’s full recommendations to increase the main categories of assumed knowledge among those with disadvantaged backgrounds include: embedding Assumed Knowledge into the curriculum, for example by using data on average salaries in maths classes; a more proactive role for the National Careers Service with ‘career check-ins’ starting once young people have left compulsory education, and then at four-year intervals; adding careers provision to key criteria on which schools are graded in Ofsted inspections; universities to structure degrees more flexibly, inspired by US-style ‘minor’ and ‘major’ system, to allow young people to make more informed educational choices at a later stage in their lives than in the current system.  

4. A Speakers for Schools response to the report can be found here: https://www.speakersforschools.org/our-research/ 

5. Research methods: The SMF’s novel approach to measuring assumed knowledge involved two stages.   

• First, a sample of 150 20-29-year-olds were interviewed using AI chatbot to understand the forms of assumed knowledge – by asking them what types of knowledge and skills they wish they had when transitioning from school to early career. This information formed the basis of stage two  

• In stage two, 1,030 15-21-year-olds were surveyed online to understand levels of assumed knowledge among young people of different groups.

About Speakers for Schools  

Speakers for Schools is a social mobility charity, founded in 2010 by ITV’s Political Editor Robert Peston and supported by the Law Family Charitable Foundation. Its mission is to help level the playing field for young people of all backgrounds, increasing access to the same prestigious networks available to the top fee-paying schools in the UK. It provides talks from influential figures as well as work experiences linking state school students to hundreds of the UK’s leading employers.  

About SMF    

The Social Market Foundation (SMF) is a non-partisan think tank. It believes that fair markets, complemented by open public services, increase prosperity and help people to live well. It conducts research and run events looking at a wide range of economic and social policy areas, focusing on economic prosperity, public services and consumer markets. The SMF is resolutely independent, and the range of backgrounds and opinions among our staff, trustees and advisory board reflects this.