The Sutton Trust

Young People’s Subjective Wellbeing in the Wake of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Evidence from a Representative Cohort Study in England - Social Indicators Research The COVID-19 pandemic and the disruption it has caused had substantial short-term effects on young people. These effects have been found to be highly unequal, exacerbating existing inequalities in soc...

Read the research⬇️

This adds to strong evidence that the pandemic has cast a long shadow over many lives, particularly those of disadvantaged young people.

As the UK Covid-19 Inquiry continues, mental wellbeing should be embedded throughout its examination of the pandemic’s wide-ranging effects🧠

🔗The article also identifies a link between adverse life experiences during the pandemic and lower post-pandemic wellbeing.

However, the study does not find evidence that this is mediated by demographic characteristics or social support.

People’s own perceptions of COVID-19’s ongoing impact shaped their subjective wellbeing scores.

Those who thought the impact continues to be negative had lower scores.

Substantial differences in subjective wellbeing were found within the cohort, particularly by gender.

Girls and non-binary respondents reported lower wellbeing than boys.

📣A journal article from the COSMO Study's @jakeanders.uk and @ericaholtwhite.bsky.social has been published in Social Indicators Research!

The article uses COSMO data to highlight inequalities in young people’s subjective wellbeing and mental health in the wake of the pandemic 🧵

Medicine isn’t made for people like us - The Sutton Trust Our alum, Rachel, opens up about her background and social mobility story.

💬"There’s almost no one from the same background as me, and it feels as though all my peers have parents who are doctors."

Careers in the medical profession out of reach for most working-class students.

Working-class representation must be improved.

The stomping ground of the political elite: Why does Oxford produce so many Prime Ministers? - The Sutton Trust Why have so many Prime Ministers been educated at one institution?

Since 1937, every Prime Minister who has attended an English university has attended the University of Oxford - including the current PM, Keir Starmer.

This fact highlights the dominance of social elites at the top of British politics 👇

A reflection on the graduate job hunt in a rural area Graduation Day Finding a graduate job is getting tougher and tougher, and living outside of a major city only complicates matters. ‘Work hard at school,

✍️ "43% of internships and placements are located in London. And, according to data from The Sutton Trust, 61% are unpaid or paid at less than minimum wage."

Our research on unpaid internships cited ⤵️

Are you applying for one of our @cam.ac.uk summer schools? Don't forget that applications for all University of Cambridge programmes close tomorrow. 🚨

summerschools.suttontrust.com/university-p...

Sutton Trust response to DWP's apprenticeship announcement - The Sutton Trust Responding to the Government's announcement during National Apprenticeship Week 2026.

🖇️ Read our full statement on the announcement:
www.suttontrust.com/news-opinion...

🚨 The Department for Work and Pensions has announced plans to set out a clearer path to apprenticeships for young people.

Our Director of Research and Policy,
@carlcullinane.bsky.social, spoke to the BBC about the proposed changes 📻

Access Apprenticeships - The Sutton Trust High-quality apprenticeships not only offer young people the opportunity to earn while they learn but also ensure they gain valuable skills and get a foot on the career ladder.

Access Apprenticeships will next be recruiting in Autumn 2026.

Find out more here ⬇️

www.suttontrust.com/our-programm...

We're thrilled we’ve been able to extend our Law offer to Manchester for the first time in 2025/26!

This unlocks potential for students in the region interested in legal apprenticeships, exposing them to a network of key legal firms who all believe in the Trust's mission 🚀

This year, we're proud to support 200 students across three sectors: Banking and Finance (London), Engineering (Manchester), and Law (London and Manchester) 🥳

Happy #NationalApprenticeshipWeek!

To celebrate the week, we wanted to spotlight our Access Apprenticeships programme.

Access Apprenticeships is a year-long initiative supporting students to meet leading employers, connect with like-minded peers, and learn how to access top apprenticeships 🧵

🗣️ "BAFTA nominated actors are still five times more likely to have attended a fee paying school than the population as a whole."

Great to see Lord Parkinson directly cite our research on the lack of class diversity in creative professions in a debate in the House of Lords ⬇️

School funding needs to be more fairly distributed.

Changes made to the National Funding Formula in 2018 benefited schools in less deprived areas.

These changes should be reversed, in order to rebalance funding back towards schools serving the most disadvantaged communities.

Our Programmes - The Sutton Trust Our programmes are designed to help students from less advantaged backgrounds access top jobs and universities.

Interested in learning more about how we help young people achieve their ambitions?

Head to our website to check out our full range programmes ⤵️

www.suttontrust.com/our-programm...

Alums of the programme have gone on to attend 85 different US colleges and access over $200m in financial aid, embarking on exciting academic journeys across the Atlantic ✈️

We love hearing about our students who have benefitted from our support, and we wish Tina all the best!

Bradford student receives full scholarship to study at Harvard University Tina Chawira from New College Bradford wins a full Harvard scholarship to study government and East Asian studies, inspiring Bradford students’…

An alumni of the Sutton Trust Fulbright US Programme has secured a full scholarship to study at Harvard! 🥳

Tina, who is from Keighley, is set to begin a joint degree in government and East Asian studies at the Ivy League university.

www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/news/2582651...

Double Disadvantage? - The Sutton Trust Uncovering inequalities in access to support within the SEND system.

The Government's proposals for SEND reform are coming soon.

It's crucial that they take action to tackle the huge socio-economic disparities in the system.

Read our full report on the SEND system 👇

www.suttontrust.com/our-research...

🚨 Wide gaps in waiting times for a SEND diagnosis by socio-economic background 🚨

Our research shows how middle-class (ABC1) parents have shorter waiting times for formal SEND diagnoses than working-class (C2DE) parents.

Getting involved in our Careers Plus Tech & Digital programme! - The Sutton Trust Learnings from the first year of our programme to widen access to tech.

Our Careers Plus Tech & Digital programme was set up to give our talented alumni access to one of the most dynamic and rapidly growing industries, while helping to close the tech talent gap.

Read our learnings from the inaugural year of the programme ⬇️

The class crisis in creative HE - The Sutton Trust An author of our work on access to creative professions explores the research in detail.

Creative careers are increasingly out reach for working-class young people.

They're being squeezed out of jobs in music, film, and TV.

Boosting class diversity in creative higher education would be a good place to start to improve access.

These gaps don’t reflect a lack of talent. They reflect barriers to access and opportunity.

We look forward to seeing the BBC pay more attention to geography and class going forward.

Representation isn’t just about who appears on screen, it’s about who gets to create the stories, shape the narratives, and play the roles.

Our research shows how far we need to go to improve working-class representation in the creative sector more widely.

www.suttontrust.com/our-research...

BBC vows to better reflect working-class audiences around UK An independent review also found the BBC can do more to represent the experiences of older women.

We welcome the BBC’s commitment to reflecting the lives of all communities, classes and cultures across the UK.

If working-class people are to be properly represented, then they need to be in the writing room, behind the camera, and on screen ⤵️

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Mind the Coastal Gap: Why Opportunity Still Ebbs on the Kent Coast - The Sutton Trust Careers leader, Katy Tibbles, explores how coastal disadvantage shapes young people’s pathways and impacts their future.

✍️ “Coastal deprivation is often compared to inner-city deprivation, but in many ways it is fundamentally distinct.”

Careers leader, Katy Tibbles, takes a closer look at the connection between coastal disadvantage and young people's future prospects 👇

Wondering what we've been up to this month? 💭

Sign up to our newsletter and you can hear directly about our social mobility research, programmes, and news and opinion ⤵️