Willetts plays snakes and ladders

Social mobility has become something of a hot topic for the coalition. February’s Social Mobility White Paper made it the government’s number one social policy goal. Yet arguments over tuition fees have rather drowned out much of what they have to say on the topic, particularly when it comes to education and skills. So it was interesting to hear Higher Education Minister David Willetts restate the government’s case with a speech at the Resolution Foundation yesterday.

Willetts, who has been called the poster boy of the think tank community, was as thoughtful as ever – and he didn’t mince his words. In a dig at much of the research on social mobility, he called for an end to “early years determinism” – the idea that people’s lives are set by what happens to them in their first five years. He also called for more opportunities for adults to improve their prospects during their own working lives, in particular through more adult training.