Only 16 parliamentary constituencies in the whole country have worse educational outcomes for children eligible for free school meals than Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven.
The poor outcomes emerged from research carried out by the Sutton Trust, the social mobility charity.
The finding has prompted the campaign group Class Divide to call for a public review into why young people eligible for free school meals in east Brighton were doing so poorly.
An open letter addressed to Brighton and Hove City Council leader Bella Sankey said that the Sutton Trust ranked Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven 527th out of 543 English parliamentary constituencies.
According to the charity, just 4 per cent of young people in east Brighton have a degree by the age of 22. And at 28, fewer than half are in stable employment.
Class Divide founder Carlie Goldsmith said: “Children on free school meals growing up in this constituency have some of the worst rates in the whole country on six measures.”
Those measures included school attainment, access to higher education, employment status and earnings of young people eligible for free school meals (FSM) after secondary school.
She said: “There are only 16 constituencies in the rest of the country that are ranked lower than us and have worse outcomes for the children we force to live in poverty. This is a disgrace and must change.”
Campaign co-founder Curtis James, who grew up in Whitehawk, said that the school system did not help people from his background.
He said: “When I was 14, a teacher told me I wasn’t ‘university material’. I grew up in Whitehawk. No one in my family had been to uni.
“The system we were in made sure we knew our place. I left school with one GCSE — in drama.
“At 17, my twin brother and I got a Prince’s Trust grant to buy some music gear. Just a bit of luck.
“One teacher believed in me and helped us. That tiny chance changed my life.”
In its letter, Class Divide said that the figures reflected a “systemic failure” that could not be explained by national conditions alone.
The letter said that Brighton and Hove thrived in so many areas and asked why were so many children left behind.
Class Divide called for an independent public review to focus on the causes behind the poor outcomes for young people in the constituency which includes some of the most deprived areas of Brighton and Hove, including Moulsecoomb, Bevendean and Whitehawk.
The campaign group said that the review should look at secondary education, post-16 pathways including further and higher education and apprenticeships, youth provision and support services and barriers facing young people from low-income communities.
The group also asked the council to support schools to develop “school equity and inclusion plans”.
So far, 275 people have signed the letter on the Class Divide website. To sign, click here.
The campaign group hopes to present the letter to the council before the end of this month.
How about parents taking some responsibility? The same parents who kick off when smart phones are banned or any discipline is given.
Those who have no money for books from a charity shop but plenty for tattoos, gaming and Temu rubbish.
I grew up poor in Whitehawk but the importance of education was drilled into me. Its the loser parents!
Yes spot on
Expedition 33 was a fantastic piece of storytelling that explores morality, generational duty, and sacrifice. But yeah, gaming bad.
Your comment is really upsetting and actually doesn’t help anybody. 4% from Whitehawk go to University. This isn’t down to the parents. This is down to the lack of opportunity. And this cannot be left like this. It’s totally unfair. The council do realise this and have made steps recently to widen the opportunities available to kids from lower income areas. But work does not stop here until every single child in our city gets the opportunity to go on to do whatever they dream of doing with their lives. And we must allow them the opportunity to aim high. and the parents do. It’s never too late !
‘And the parents too’ i meant
With Whitehawk Inn being revitalised, I’m hoping educational attainment for adults will start trending more positively.
Funny isnt it, all the people who preach left wing ideology and that can afford to buy a £600’000 house to get in a good catchment area were the first ones to massively complain when some people from east brighton were potentially given the chance to get into the same schools. They didnt want these children to ruin their schools…
Disgusting hippocrites
The problem with the council proposal was that it never addressed schools in East Brighton and asked the question why they are underachieving.
Varndean already has a 38% intake with free school meals, so there is already plenty of opportunity there without flooding the one half decent school even more.
Flooding it with what?
‘flooding’ what are you saying ? Do you even realise what you just said !
I’m not left wing but do have a child going to school next year. If they don’t get into a catchment school we will move house if needed. The council think that reducing places at the best schools, located where people live will raise attainment at the under demand schools. They are so wrong. I will always do what is best for my family. It is the people who can’t afford to move who will be impacted. Just terrible policy.
It’s about socioeconomic mix, reading the evidence base, that averages out attainment to an average higher standards than if you had a low socioeconomic variance. A utilitarian approach.
But why is it those that are in Free School Meals in Whitehawk get Priority on those that Pay there 2.50 per day per Child for a Healthy Meal-for there Choice of Secondary School next September 2026
Everyone wants Dorothy Stringer or Varndean yet a lot of Bullying goes on-yet some Children were given schools they didn’t want-they all want the best, that’s why a lot lied on Address to get the Postcode in the Catchment Area, they don’t mind paying there £500 a Year on Bus fare.
There used to be a point that Children came from all of the City to get into Stanley Deason-back then it was under Brighton City before Hove merged.
Yet every child has the same National Exams-all on the same day whatever school you attend.
And those that claim Free School Meals aswell get the Voucher every half term that’s equivalent to them having a healthy meal-but the £100 ( for 6 weeks) goes on nothing Healthy
There’s a strong evidence base that links deprivation with poor attainment. One way we measure deprivation is the eligibility for free school meals.
I quite agree that attainment is more multifaceted than just that, therefore this is but a step in a right direction in a much longer journey.
Didn’t the council specifically ignore an amendment to the school’s admissions consultation to actually carry out this research? Scandalous really to make changes that help nobody without really assessing the root cause of the issue.
Class Divide called for an independent public review
Good luck with that. Simple Sankey is only interested in simple solutions rather than dealing with the root causes of why this divide exists.
You obviously know absolutely nothing and you just enjoy the sound of your own voice !
Haven’t the government changed free school meals from Sept 2026, so that all families who are on UC (even if they only get £10 top up a month) will be getting free school meals, so where does this fit now for the whole school catchment change?? Because I think Brighton and hove probably have a very high percentage of families on UC. Think you will find it’s going to affect this new catchment change.
As an ex-school Governor at a school in this location I am sad but not surprised to see the results of this report. The council should hang their heads in shame. Teachers in many of these schools are just shockingly poor, the schools have zero staff performance management culture and the schools should just be taken over by high performing academies. The schools struggle to even teach reading and writing properly.
I am not convinced so called education attainment of a degree is about lack of educational ability as such, it is a combination of things such as avoiding finacial debt and opportunity to move into more practical options like plumbing. The income available through gaining a degree is becoming less and less advantageous. So many graduate to end up in the gig economy.
It’s an extremely good point. Just thinking about Brighton, one of the major things needed at the moment is plumbers.
And some people just aren’t made to thrive in a university environment, being much better in an vocational learning environment, so having other ways to realise potential and help themselves is so important. I think Whitehawk Inn is going to be fundamental to working that problem, pardon the pun.