Privately educated still have ‘vice-like grip’ on most powerful UK jobs

The privately educated are tightening their “vice-like grip” on some of the most powerful and influential roles in British society, such as FTSE 100 chairs, newspaper columnists and BBC executives, a report has found.Those in the most important positions are five times as likely to have attended private school than the general population, showing it is still possible to “buy advantage”, according to the Sutton Trust.Since 2019, the number of privately educated elites has barely changed and in some fields is growing, the report found. The social mobility charity said it was a “disgrace” that most of the country’s top jobs were still dominated by privileged people.Overall, senior armed forces personnel were the most likely to be privately educated, with 63% of officers of two-star rank (major generals and equivalents in other services) and above attending a fee-paying school, a rise of 14% compared with six years ago

One in three GPs in England do not work in NHS, says BMJ study

One in three GPs in England do not work in the NHS, with increasing numbers seeking to move abroad or becoming a private contractor, deepening patients’ difficulties in getting appointments.The proportion of family doctors who, although qualified, do not provide care through the NHS has risen from 27% in 2015 to 34% last year, according to a study published in the BMJ.That means almost 20,000 GPs who could be working in the health service are “lost” to it and are not doing so, despite unprecedented demand for care and many government initiatives to try to increase GP numbers.While a total of 58,548 GPs in England were on the General Medical Council (GMC) register at the end of last year, only 38,626 of them were in general practice there – a difference of 19,922.The Patients Association said the findings were “deeply distressing” for patients who are often left frustrated by the time it takes to get a consultation with a GP

An image of sport for girls that lacks diversity | Letter

Your report highlights the life-changing impact of sport for girls (Girls who play after-school sport in UK 50% more likely to later get top jobs, study finds 11 September). But not all girls have equal opportunities, and representation plays a key role: two-thirds of young people say seeing diverse athletes helps them believe sport is for everyone. Yet our study of more than 4,000 online images of sport settings found that of 8,559 women pictured, just 117 were Black or south Asian. Entire communities are missing from view.If girls don’t see themselves reflected, they are more likely to miss out

‘Broken’ after the deaths of three women, Ballarat embarks on an Australian-first trial to combat gender-based violence

In the weeks after the deaths of three women in quick succession in Ballarat last year, the principals of three of the regional Victorian city’s high schools brought their students together for a joint forum.“The community was feeling pretty broken,” Stephan Fields, the principal of Ballarat high school, says.“Ballarat – like many regional centres – is highly interconnected. There was so many connections across so many schools, sport establishments and friendship groups. So it had a really profound ripple effect

Sephora workers on the rise of chaotic child shoppers: ‘She looked 10 years old and her skin was burning’

Preteens are parroting influencer speak and demanding anti-ageing products as the pressure to fit in intensifiesJessica, 25, was working a shift at Sephora when a little girl who looked about 10 ran up to one of her colleagues, crying. “Her skin was burning,” Jessica said, “it was tomato red. She had been running around, putting every acid you can think of on the palm of her hand, then all over her face. One of our estheticians had to tend to her skin. Her parents were nowhere to be seen

Systemic racism affects maternity care for black women in England, say MPs

Black women in England are still facing poorer outcomes in their maternity care due to systemic racism, alongside failures in leadership and data collection, according to a group of MPs.Across the UK, black women are more than twice as likely to die in childbirth compared with their white counterparts, while babies born to black mothers are at an increased risk of stillbirth.A report by the health and social care committee found that these disproportionately poor outcomes in maternity care for black women were due to a combination of factors including systemic failures in accountability and leadership, with black women’s concerns “not taken seriously” due to bias, stereotyping and racist assumptions.“Safe maternal care for Black women depends on a workforce that listens to, understands and respects their needs,” according to Paulette Hamilton, Labour’s MP for Birmingham Erdington and acting chair of the committee. “Leadership must be effective but it must also be accountable