Reflections from my appearance on LBC Breakfast Show, 21 August 2025
This morning I appeared on LBC’s breakfast show (with a stand-in presenter, as Nick Ferrari was away) to discuss GCSE results day, educational inequality, and what parents can do. You can listen back via LBC’s Catch-Up page.
The show began with the presenter talking about the familiar nerves of results day: “That nervous bead of sweat… will you get the numbers that you really, really wanted?”
As the conversation turned to downward trends in attainment, the presenter asked: “Who is to blame for that? Why is this continuing to happen?”
Dr Rebecca Montacute, Research Director at the Social Market Foundation, responded powerfully:
“At every stage of a young person’s educational journey, those who are living in poverty… fall behind their peers. It starts even before they ever set foot in the school gate.” (LBC, 2025)
I agreed on the show that what’s often called “white working-class underachievement” is, in fact, poverty. As I put it: “It is about the socioeconomic conditions in which you grow up.”
That afternoon the Education Secretary’s claim—that only 19 percent of white British pupils eligible for free school meals achieved a strong pass in both English and maths in 2024—was widely reported (e.g. in The Telegraph) and corresponds with data from the Department for Education’s Key Stage 4 performance statistics. You can explore attainment gaps in more depth via the Department’s own ethnicity facts and figures portal.
Five things parents should know
1. Your support at home matters — whatever your background
“Irrespective of social class… if a parent is supportive of the school, supportive of the child’s education, that child will do well.”
Longstanding research shows parental engagement at home matters more than most school-based interventions. The 2003 government review The Impact of Parental Involvement… still stands as a landmark, and Goodall & Montgomery’s influential study reframes involvement as meaningful engagement. The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) also reinforces this in its Toolkit entry on parental engagement.
2. Poverty, not “class”, is the real barrier
Dr Montacute said:
“If you have not been able to eat properly, if you are worried and stressed… that will impact how you can perform in the classroom.”
Independent organisations like the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (see UK Poverty 2024) and the Social Mobility Commission (their State of the Nation 2023 report) provide clear evidence: poverty is the single most consistent predictor of poorer educational attainment. The Education Policy Institute tracks disadvantage trends specifically.
3. Work with schools — teachers are not the enemy
The presenter wondered whether headlines that blame the system feel unfair to teachers. He put it bluntly: “If I were a teacher… I feel that that was rather a bit of a punch down. Somehow it’s my fault. I’ve failed this cohort of children” (LBC, 2025).
Dr Montacute reassured that:
“This is not about the performance of teachers… teachers in schools with high proportions of children living in poverty absolutely go above and beyond.” (LBC, 2025)
Working collaboratively with schools is powerful. The EEF’s guidance report on supporting parents lays out four practical ways to do this effectively.
4. Build routines — don’t just focus on exam results
True, exams matter—but habits matter more. Having regular routines for sleep, reading, and homework supports better performance. The EEF’s Toolkit reinforces this, and UK research on adolescent sleep sheds light on why it matters for cognition (see Schools Week summary and NCBI review on teen sleep).
5. Encourage resilience and self-belief
Starting with the high-stress scene of results day, parents can reframe setbacks: “Your worth is not defined by numbers.”
EEF research on metacognition and self-regulated learning and OECD reports on child well-being emphasise how resilience is central—not extra.
Final thought
I said on air:
“It is a lot of people’s responsibility, not just the parents.”
While poverty and institutional inequality must be tackled by government and society, parents still wield immense influence through daily love, routines, and partnership with schools.
References & Further Reading
- Department for Education (DfE) 2024, Key stage 4 performance, academic year 2023 to 2024.
Available at: gov.uk - Department for Education, Ethnicity facts and figures: GCSE English and maths.
Available at: ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk - The Telegraph 2025, Education Secretary commentary on GCSE outcomes (reporting the 19 percent statistic).
Available at: telegraph.co.uk - Desforges, C. and Abouchaar, A. 2003, The impact of parental involvement…, DfES Research Report 433.
Available at: dera.ioe.ac.uk - Goodall, J. and Montgomery, C. 2014, ‘Parental involvement to parental engagement: a continuum’, Educational Review 66(4), pp. 399–410.
Available at: purehost.bath.ac.uk - Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), Teaching and Learning Toolkit: Parental engagement.
Available at: educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk - Education Endowment Foundation, Working with parents to support children’s learning: guidance report.
Available at: educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk - Joseph Rowntree Foundation 2024, UK Poverty 2024.
Available at: jrf.org.uk - LBC (21st August 2025) LBC Breakfast show: 8am-8.15am.
- Social Mobility Commission 2023, State of the Nation 2023: People and Places.
Available at: gov.uk - Education Policy Institute 2023, Annual report on disadvantage.
Available at: epi.org.uk - Schools Week, Overview of adolescent sleep research.
Available at: schoolsweek.co.uk PDF - NCBI 2019, review on adolescent sleep and achievement.
Available at: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov - Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), Metacognition and self-regulated learning: guidance report.
Available at: educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk - OECD 2021, Securing the recovery… ambition and resilience for the well-being of children.
Available at: oecd.org