Is social mobility really about school cash?

If you took a list of the top 20 places in England where schools have the most funding, 18 of them would be in London.

And if you took another list, of the top 20 places with the highest level of social mobility, 17 of them would also be in London.

Is that a coincidence?

Head teachers in the Worth Less? campaign over school funding shortages say that if the government is serious about promoting social mobility in education, then it needs to look at how low funding seems to mirror low mobility.

West Somerset has the lowest place on the government's social mobility index - and is also one of the lowest-funded areas.

The Worth Less? campaign, which has brought together about 5,000 schools over the issue of fair funding, has produced an analysis showing that a secondary school in West Somerset would receive £2m less per year than a similar sized school in Westminster.

Westminster, in the top 10 for funding, is rated as giving its disadvantaged young people the highest chance of social mobility in the country.

And a key aspect of the success of London's schools has been that poorer youngsters, such as those eligible for free school meals, do much better in the capital than elsewhere.

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