Social Mobility and Lifelong Learning

The release of the 2025 English Social Mobility Index (SMI) arrives at a pivotal moment for the UK’s skills landscape, providing a timely reality check amidst Government announcements.

While Whitehall is busy preparing for the implementation of the Lifelong Learning Entitlement and retooling the Growth and Skills Levy with the launch of the first suite of modular apprenticeship units, the SMI reminds us that the true measure of our education and skills system.

Published by the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) and compiled by London South Bank University (LSBU),  the index combines three primary measures for undergraduate students to determine a university's contribution to social mobility:

• Access (Weighted x2): The proportion of students from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds (specifically those from the most deprived areas as defined by the Index of Multiple Deprivation).

• Continuation (Weighted x1): The rate at which these students successfully progress through their degrees.

• Graduate Outcomes (Weighted x1): Based on "Positive Outcomes" (highly skilled employment or further study) and median salaries, which are regionally weighted to account for different pay scales across England.

For the fifth consecutive year the University of Bradford had secured the top spot.

Rank	Institution
1	University of Bradford
2	Aston University
3	University of Wolverhampton
4	Birmingham Newman University
5	University of Salford

The power of place

Place is a significant determinant of life outcomes, influencing educational attainment and economic prospects. It is no coincidence therefore that institutions with an embedded place-based approach to tertiary education and skills development should rank so highly. Many are former Colleges of Advanced Technology (CATs), and sit at the heart of their regional economies, maintaining deep, historical ties to local industry and diverse communities.

By weighting access more heavily than outcomes alone, the HEPI Index acknowledges that the hardest part of the journey is often just getting through the door. However, social mobility is not a one-time event. It is a lifelong trajectory. The SMI shows that graduates from disadvantaged backgrounds are significantly more likely to find success when their education is tied to regional economies. The fact that Wolverhampton and Bradford are leading the way suggests that their curriculum is successfully bridging the gap between academic rigour and local labour market needs.

The apprenticeship data gap

Despite the SMI’s depth, one glaring omission remains: the exclusion of apprenticeship data. HEPI rightly points to a "shortage of comparable data" for apprenticeship outcomes, yet this gap is becoming increasingly problematic in 2026. With the Government’s decision to defund Level 7 management apprenticeships in favour of the new £3,000 Youth Jobs Grant, we are seeing a fundamental shift in focus.

If we are serious about social mobility, we must be able to track it across all pathways. Apprenticeships are often the primary vehicle for social mobility for those whom the traditional UCAS route has failed. By excluding them from national mobility indices, we risk treating them as a second-tier option. A single unified data dashboard is needed to track a learner’s journey from Level 2 through to Level 8, regardless of whether that journey takes place in a lecture hall or on a construction site.

Modularity or fragmentation?

The Chancellor’s recent decision to allow the Growth and Skills Levy to fund apprenticeship units (short-form, credit-bearing modules in areas like AI Leadership and Solar PV Installation) is a move the LEI has advocated for over several years. This modularity is essential for adult learners who need to hop on and off the educational ladder as their lives and the economy demand.

Yet, there is a risk that this new flexibility could inadvertently stifle social mobility if not managed within a tertiary framework. The SMI measures "continuation" and "graduate outcomes", two metrics that rely on a coherent pathway to a degree or higher technical qualification. If the new apprenticeship units become dead-end credentials, we will have created a system of churn rather than journey.

It is our view that the Government’s reforms must be integrated with the Lifelong Learning Entitlement (LLE). These units should not be seen as alternatives to degrees, but as the building blocks of a degree. This is why we have proposed that every Local Skills Improvement Plan should include a mandatory HE Access Improvement Plan. Universities must be active partners in these modular rollouts, ensuring that a learner who starts with an AI unit at an FE college has a clear, mapped-out credit transfer route to a degree-level qualification at a university.

Rebalancing the levy: A false choice?

The most controversial element of the Government’s announcements is the redirection of £200 million from Level 7 apprenticeships to support SMEs and youth employment. While we welcome the focus on cold spots and the moral urgency of tackling the growing number of 16–24-year-olds that are not in education, employment, or training, we must caution against a zero-sum approach to skills.

Social mobility is not just about the first job; it is about the next job. By removing public support for higher-level management training, we are potentially pulling up the ladder for the very graduates the HEPI Index celebrates. A Bradford graduate from a disadvantaged background who enters a local firm in a junior role will benefit from a Level 7 pathway to progress to executive level. Without it, we risk creating a mobility ceiling, where the disadvantaged enter the workforce but remain stuck in middle-management roles.

We reiterate our call for a co-investment model, where the state, the individual and businesses can share the burden of investing in skills through an integrated funding system that enables the Growth and Skills Levy and the Lifelong Learning Entitlement to drive productivity.

Towards an integrated future

The 2025 English Social Mobility Index shows that when we align high-level learning with regional economies, we create a powerful engine for equity. However, as we look toward the 2026/27 rollout of the Lifelong Learning Entitlement, we must ensure these individual successes become the national norm. To achieve this, we must not only tackle youth unemployment but also support career progression through upskilling and reskilling the more mature workforce, especially in relation to key industrial sectors.

Opportunity should not be a postcode lottery. The institutions topping the HEPI list today are those that understand the role of place and have already embraced a tertiary mindset, valuing the vocational as much as the academic. If the Government’s initiatives are to succeed, they must be the first step in a journey that lasts a lifetime, allowing every learner, regardless of their starting point, to reach the highest levels of technical and professional mastery.