WEST Somerset will be one of six social mobility ‘cold spots’ to receive funding to increase young people’s opportunities in a £60 million move announced at the Conservative Party Conference this week by Secretary of State for Education Justine Greening.

She announced six ‘opportunity areas’, including West Somerset, where a new approach will be trialled to bring about real change in educational attainment and job prospects for disadvantaged children.

The six will have access to £60m funding to address the biggest challenges disadvantaged children face, with local partnerships formed with early years providers, schools, colleges, businesses, universities, charities and local authorities to ensure all children have the opportunity to reach their full potential.

Exactly how much of the £60m will be allocated to West Somerset and for what projects has not yet been announced.

Earlier this year, a major new piece of research showed disadvantaged children from West Somerset have the lowest chance in England of achieving a good level of development in their early years and of getting a good job in adulthood.

The Social Mobility Index set out the differences between where disadvantaged children grow up and the chances they have of doing well in adult life – and West Somerset was ranked bottom of 324 local authorities.

The six opportunity areas, which as well as West Somerset include Norwich, Blackpool, Scarborough, Oldham and Derby, will also be given prioritised access in applying for a wider support package helping young people from nursery right through to starting work.

This includes a teaching and leadership innovation fund worth £75m over three years, focused on supporting teachers and school leaders in challenging areas to develop.

“I talked about our education system needing to give children and young people three things - knowledge and skills; the right advice and great life experiences -

opportunity areas will have an extra push on all of these,” Ms Greening said.

“It’s going to take teachers and schools, communities - and it’s going to take business,” she said.

For teachers and schools in these opportunity areas, there will be extra support, partnering them up with the schools and teachers who have already raised standards and turned around schools elsewhere in the country.

Full report in the Free Press