Inequalities 'baked in' to England's education system, Phillipson warns

The education secretary, Bridget Phillipson, has warned of "massive" inequality in England's education system as students brace themselves for this week's A-level results.

- Sally Weale

After 14 years of Conservative government educational inequalities were "baked in", Phillipson said, citing regional disparities in results and attainment gaps between children at state and private schools.

On Thursday, hundreds of thousands of 18-year-olds in England, Wales and Northern Ireland will collect grades that, for many, will decide whether they get into their university of choice. But experts warn that England's north-south attainment gap is likely to persist, while privately educated students are expected to continue to outperform their state-educated peers.

Amid fears that some students are being deterred from progressing into higher education because of financial concerns, Phillipson did not rule out bringing back the maintenance grant for poorer students that was cut by the Conservatives in 2016.

She said the task of reversing the last government's legacy of educational inequality was "enormous", but promised reform of the system, with fewer children living in poverty and better support for schools.