Social mobility: a literature review

This report begins with a brief overview of the measurement of social mobility, highlighting key issues as they relate to the policy concerns of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS). It then provides a condensed summary of the key messages from the social mobility literature, with the aim of identifying sources of contention or areas in which the literature has relevant messages for BIS policy priorities. The report concludes with an assessment of the effectiveness of selected policies within each of the key areas of BIS policy responsibility, and offers some concluding remarks. Excluded from the discussion are higher education finance and related topics, such as the recently announced national scholarship program, since these issues have recently been reviewed by Lord Browne in his Independent Review of Higher Education Funding and Student Finance.

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