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Lee Elliot Major.

Lee Elliot Major

Associate

Expertise: education, social mobility, opportunity, policy, practice

Telephone:
01392 724768
Email:
l.elliot-major@exeter.ac.uk
Links:
CEP Education
CEP Labour
University of Exeter

Biography

Lee Elliot Major is Britain?s first Professor of Social Mobility, based at the University of Exeter. He advises education, government and business leaders worldwide and was formerly CEO of the Sutton Trust. His award-winning books include Social Mobility and Its Enemies, co-authored with Stephen Machin. His forthcoming book, Cracking the Class Code, examines barriers to opportunity across modern societies and elite workplaces. He was awarded an OBE for services to social mobility.

Current areas of research include:

  • Inequalities in education and the workplace
  • Social mobility
  • Evidence-informed policy and practice

Publications

Blog
Andy Burnham's biggest challenge isn't Britain's old class system - it's the new one

Britain's new Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, is more "Evertonian" than "Etonian", notes Lee Elliot Major: with his working class roots and political identity rooted in North West England, he marks a radical break with the... Read more...

Lee Elliot Major

22 July 2026

Blog
Five myths of meritocracy in the modern workplace

We like to believe that modern workplaces are meritocratic. The best ideas rise to the top. Hard work pays off. The most capable people succeed. But our research reveals a more complicated reality, write Lee Elliot Major... Read more...

Lee Elliot Major and Anne-Marie Sim

09 June 2026

Blog
The unseen ripples of human possibility: how undergraduate tutors could lead a new era of National Service

Lee Elliot Major argues for a national university volunteering service which could involve undergraduates tutoring pupils and spread to other forms of community action.... Read more...

Lee Elliot Major

28 May 2026

Blog
Bred to rule: What a A#180,000 private tutor job reveals about the education arms race

What does a A#180,000 job ad for a private tutor *for a baby* reveal about the global education arms race? It's tempting to put it down to the eccentric indulgence of a tiny global elite. But it in fact points to an expl... Read more...

Lee Elliot Major

29 October 2025

Government consultations
Social mobility policy

This submission argues for a new model of social mobility that recognises and values all forms of talent - academic, vocational, and creative - and helps people to lead decent lives, wherever they live, whatever their ba... Read more...

Aadya Bahl, Lee Elliot Major and Stephen Machin

23 May 2025

Blog
Improving social mobility through education and language with Lee Elliot Major (podcast)

Professor Lee Elliot Major joins Will Hutton to discuss the decline of social mobility in the UK and advocates for a broader understanding of systemic barriers, including arguing for a new approach towards language to im... Read more...

Lee Elliot Major

19 February 2025

Blog
Sliding down the Great Gatsby curve in search of the Scandinavian dream

The new UK government has separate missions to break down the barriers to opportunity and to boost growth - together, the "Scandinavian dream". The problem, write Steve Machin and Lee Elliot Major, is Britain's high leve... Read more...

Lee Elliot Major and Stephen Machin

09 October 2024

CEP election analysis papers
Schools

Schools in England, and the UK as a whole, need greater investment. Failure to do so puts economic growth in jeopardy as well as worsening social mobility.... Read more...

Lee Elliot Major, Stephen Gibbons, Sandra McNally and Shqiponja Telhaj

01 July 2024

CentrePiece - The magazine of the Centre for Economic Performance
A generation scarred by the Covid-19 pandemic

The impact of the pandemic on education means that pupils in England are on course for lower GCSE grades well into the 2030s. Lee Elliot Major, Andrew Eyles, Esme Lillywhite and Stephen Machin say that the school system ... Read more...

Lee Elliot Major, Andrew Eyles, Esme Lillywhite and Stephen Machin

20 June 2024

External reports
A generation at risk: rebalancing education in the post-pandemic era

We present for the first time a model of children's evolving socio-emotional and cognitive skills to assess how the educational and lifetime prospects of children of different ages, genders and socio-economic backgrounds... Read more...

Lee Elliot Major, Andrew Eyles, Esme Lillywhite and Stephen Machin

24 April 2024

Blog
A class apart: prime ministers' origins profoundly impact their political worldviews

The background of our Prime Ministers hugely influences the judgements they make. Yet our leaders are drawn from an astonishingly narrow slice of society: every PM who attended an English university since WW2 went to Oxf... Read more...

Lee Elliot Major

16 April 2024

Blog
The spiralling costs of higher education are hitting stay at home students harder

Since the pandemic, a new divide has emerged in higher education between commuter students, on the one hand, and on-campus students, on the other. Reporting on the findings of a new student money and wellbeing survey, Le... Read more...

Lee Elliot Major

09 April 2024

Blog
The spiralling costs of higher education are hitting stay at home students harder

Commuter students face financial struggle and a growing sense of isolation from campus. Lee Elliot Major introduces the findings of a new student money and wellbeing survey.... Read more...

Lee Elliot Major

27 February 2024

Blog
Confronting higher education's class divide

Lee Elliot Major explains why developing an equity approach in higher education is the only way we will ever level the learning playing field - and lays out three simple steps we can take to achieve this.... Read more...

Lee Elliot Major

18 January 2024

Blog
Fixing a broken tongue

Lee Elliot Major explains why the language we use in education is important to challenge the divides that scar the education system.... Read more...

Lee Elliot Major

14 November 2023

CentrePiece - The magazine of the Centre for Economic Performance
The rising tide of school absences in the post-pandemic era

New research reveals that school attendance in the UK is still well below the pre-pandemic norm. Andrew Eyles, Esme Lillywhite and Lee Elliot Major outline the scale of continued absenteeism among pupils across the count... Read more...

Lee Elliot Major, Andrew Eyles and Esme Lillywhite

20 October 2023

Books
Equity in education: Levelling the playing field of learning - a practical guide for teachers

Equity in Education sets out a new equity-based approach in education to help teachers improve the prospects of under-resourced and working-class pupils. The equity approach recognises that we must address our own cultu... Read more...

Emily Briant and Lee Elliot Major

06 October 2023

Blog
The childcare revolution: a new opportunity for parental partnerships in child learning

Lee Elliot Major discusses how teacher-parent partnerships can help make the UK's childcare system more effective and provides three policy recommendations the government can implement.... Read more...

Lee Elliot Major

25 July 2023

Blog
The rising tide of school absences in the post-pandemic era

While many presumed school attendance levels would recover rapidly from the impact of the pandemic, new research reveals the scale of continued absenteeism among school pupils across the country. Andrew Eyles, Esme Lilly... Read more...

Lee Elliot Major, Andrew Eyles and Esme Lillywhite

28 June 2023

Blog
Mapping changes in educational achievement across England

As part of the LSE Festival 2023, the Mapping People and Change exhibition visualises data through maps on various socio-economic issues, providing insights into the impact of a rapidly changing world on people and commu... Read more...

Lee Elliot Major, Andrew Eyles and Myung Jin

12 June 2023

Blog
Rising school absences: the post pandemic education divide

The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the equalising power of schooling. Over 28% of primary and 40% of secondary school pupils who qualified for free school meals were persistently absent during the 2021/22 autumn term.... Read more...

Lee Elliot Major and Andrew Eyles

17 October 2022

External reports
Social mobility: past, present and future

Andrew Eyles, Lee Elliot Major and Stephen Machin forecast that relative income mobility levels in the UK could fall by as much as 12%, driven by learning loss in schools.... Read more...

Lee Elliot Major, Andrew Eyles and Stephen Machin

01 June 2022

Blog
Gloomy prospects for social mobility in the pandemic era

Lee Elliot Major and Andrew Eyles explain how a gap in missed education between richer and poorer children was exacerbated by stark home learning divides and the likely consequences for social mobility.... Read more...

Lee Elliot Major and Andrew Eyles

01 June 2022

Blog
Sink or swim time? Social mobility and the 2021 Budget

Lee Elliot Major assesses the prospects for social mobility and economic recovery in Rishi Sunak's 2021 Budget.... Read more...

Lee Elliot Major

28 October 2021

CentrePiece - The magazine of the Centre for Economic Performance
Learning loss since lockdown

Young people in education have lost significant amounts of time in school during the pandemic - and this carries risks of lifetime scars. Lee Elliot Major, Andrew Eyles and Stephen Machin reveal the scale of learning los... Read more...

Lee Elliot Major, Andrew Eyles and Stephen Machin

15 October 2021

Blog
Education's biggest challenge is ensuring consistency in what is being done across the system, within each school, and within each classroom

Lee Elliot Major and Andy Eyles write that when it comes to education reform, it is not so much what you do that counts, but how you do it. Policies need to be implemented well to make a difference and delivery needs to ... Read more...

Lee Elliot Major and Andrew Eyles

22 September 2021

Blog
Why highly selective universities need to demystify admissions for student applicants

In light of Covid-19's impact on A-level results, Lee Elliot Major and Kieran Tompkins dispel misconceptions around university admissions, such as the number of students drawn from private and state schools at Russell Gr... Read more...

Lee Elliot Major and Kieran Tompkins

09 August 2021

CEP Covid-19 analyses
Learning loss since lockdown: variation across the home nations

Empirical analysis of secondary microdata, bespoke social mobility surveys and administrative school attendance data reveal the extent of learning losses that have evolved in the four nations of the UK over the year of t... Read more...

Lee Elliot Major, Andrew Eyles and Stephen Machin

07 July 2021

Blog
Pupils lost a third of their expected learning during Covid, with Wales and Scotland even further behind

Most pupils missed over half of their expected days in the classroom during the pandemic, write Lee Elliot Major, Andrew Eyles and Stephen Machin (LSE). Children in Scotland and Wales lost even more learning than those i... Read more...

Lee Elliot Major, Andrew Eyles and Stephen Machin

07 July 2021

Blog
Book Review: What Do We Know and What Should We Do About Social Mobility? by Lee Elliott Major and Stephen Machin

In What Do We Know and What Should We Do About Social Mobility? Lee Elliott Major and Stephen Machin give an account of the long experience of social mobility in the UK, its barriers and a possible way out. Offering a st... Read more...

Lee Elliot Major and Stephen Machin

10 June 2021

Government consultations
Covid-19: Education

Submission to the House of Commons Select Committee.... Read more...

Lee Elliot Major and Andrew Eyles

25 March 2021

Government consultations
The impact of Covid-19 on education and children's services

Submission to the House of Commons Select Committee.... Read more...

Lee Elliot Major and Andrew Eyles

23 March 2021

CEP discussion papers
Unequal learning and labour market losses in the crisis: consequences for social mobility

The unequal learning and labour market losses arising in the UK due to the Covid-19 pandemic are used to assess the consequences for social mobility. Labour market and learning losses have been more pronounced for people... Read more...

Lee Elliot Major, Andrew Eyles and Stephen Machin

25 February 2021

Blog
Further school closures mean bleak prospects for the young

Further closures of schools, while necessary to contain the spread of COVID-19, are likely to exacerbate educational inequalities. Learning losses could have long-term consequences for the life chances of children from d... Read more...

Lee Elliot Major and Andrew Eyles

08 January 2021

Blog
Covid-19 and social mobility: the public support key policies that will help limit widening inequalities in employment and education

Lee Elliot Major, Andrew Eyles, and Stephen Machin present new data around public support behind the implementation of job guarantees, the reform of A-level and GCSE exams in 2021, and the abolition of predicted grades f... Read more...

Lee Elliot Major, Andrew Eyles and Stephen Machin

04 November 2020

CEP Covid-19 analyses
Generation COVID: emerging work and education inequalities

The purpose of this brief paper is to present initial findings from the recently collected LSE-CEP Social Mobility survey, which was undertaken as part of our UKRI project `Generation COVID and Social Mobility: Evidence ... Read more...

Lee Elliot Major, Andrew Eyles and Stephen Machin

26 October 2020

Blog
Denied jobs and schooling, 'Generation Covid' faces a struggle to catch up

More than a tenth of young people have lost their jobs during the pandemic, and only 38% of pupils were getting the equivalent of a full day's schooling in lockdown. Lee Elliot Major (University of Exeter), Andrew Eyles ... Read more...

Lee Elliot Major, Andrew Eyles and Stephen Machin

01 October 2020

Books
What Do We Know and What Should We Do About Social Mobility?

In this vital new book, Britain's first Professor of Social Mobility Lee Elliot Major and Stephen Machin, reveal the causes of the UK's low social mobility, explain why it's getting worse, and outline how we reverse this... Read more...

Lee Elliot Major and Stephen Machin

30 September 2020

Blog
The Covid Generation social mobility test: how to level up an even more unequal playing field created by the pandemic

Lee Elliot Major and Stephen Machin explain just how badly those aged under 25 appear to be faring in the labour market. They outline five proposals through which the government can help address both the classroom and wo... Read more...

Lee Elliot Major and Stephen Machin

13 August 2020

Blog
How to stop UK's declining social mobility amid Covid-19

COVID-19 is increasing the divide in life chances between rich and poor. Lee Elliot Major and Stephen Machin (LSE) propose urgent actions to tackle economic and educational inequalities in Britain. Social distancing meas... Read more...

Lee Elliot Major and Stephen Machin

17 July 2020

CentrePiece - The magazine of the Centre for Economic Performance
Covid-19 and social mobility

Lee Elliot Major and Stephen Machin propose urgent actions to tackle economic and educational inequalities in Britain... Read more...

Lee Elliot Major and Stephen Machin

15 July 2020

CEP Covid-19 analyses
Covid-19 and social mobility

Governments are having to balance short- and long-term interests, and the trade-offs they generate, as they try to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic. Social distancing measures may limit the number of immediate deaths f... Read more...

Lee Elliot Major and Stephen Machin

28 May 2020

Blog
Covid-19 is increasing the divide in life chances between rich and poor

Covid-19 is increasing the divide in life chances between rich and poor Lee Elliot Major and Stephen Machin propose reforms and urgent actions to tackle economic and educational inequalities in the UK.... Read more...

Lee Elliot Major and Stephen Machin

24 April 2020

CEP election analysis papers
Social mobility

Debates over how to improve life prospects for people irrespective of their family background promise to be a key theme in the run-up to the 2019 General Election. This briefing summarises evidence on social mobility fro... Read more...

Lee Elliot Major and Stephen Machin

20 November 2019

CentrePiece - The magazine of the Centre for Economic Performance
Social mobility and its enemies

Increasingly it seems that the rich and poor of Britain are destined to stay on the same rungs of the economic or social ladder for successive generations. A new book by Lee Elliot Major and Stephen Machin calls for an a... Read more...

Lee Elliot Major and Stephen Machin

02 November 2018

Books
Social Mobility and its Enemies

Read more...

Lee Elliot Major and Stephen Machin

27 September 2018

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