White working class pupils fail in school. White working class boys fail more than anyone else. They can have a severe disconnect with it. Relentless research has told us this for 60 years. They’re failing worse today than ever. Just 32 per cent get the five GCSEs. They’re falling behind students from all other ethnic backgrounds.
Why? Parental neglect is this week’s reason.
I think it’s more complicated. Class lines are not so sharp. Things are more fluid today. Many will do alright. Some will leave their class, some won’t. There’s nothing wrong with that. Lynsey Hanley’s eloquent Respectable shows that changing classes isn’t easy. Some don’t want to join the middle classes. It can be a cold, corporate world, which isn’t welcoming.
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