UK: Working class white boys failed

Article here. Excerpt:

Last week David Willetts proposed that Universities should put working class white boys in the same bracket as other disadvantaged groups, claiming that the talent of white working class boys was being wasted due to underachievement and that Universities should provide more outreach to potential students.

The sad reality is that this is too little, too late for these boys. The real issue is not that Universities do not do enough to promote themselves, it is that our society fails these boys before they are even at an age to consider University.
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This is not merely a ‘quick-fix’ problem; it is not an issue that can be solved by more white working class boys going to University, it is a deep embedded part of our society and whilst I agree whole-heartedly that better education would improve the problem of social mobility; better education does not necessarily mean more students at University.'