Social mobility has slipped back. If I were 20 now I’d have so much less opportunity than I did. A-stars and the right university have become very important, and nearly all those things eventually come down to money. (Eno, 2016, p 17)

Georgina Jones, 26, who grew up in a council estate in Peckham, southeast London, found her career prospects were transformed when she was given an internship at 16 by the Social Mobility Foundation. She now works as an associate at Taylor Wessing, a law firm, and, although she believes she would have made it this far because of her personal drive, it is time to increase the support offered to others to convert early promise into later success. (Hellen, 2015, p 5)

I … was brought up in a council house…. I made it to an elite 16th Century grammar school in Paisley and then Glasgow University, a world-class 15th Century institution. I was part of the post-World War II meritocracy that slowly began to infiltrate the citadels of power, compete head-to-head against those with the ‘right’ background and connections and – more often than not – win. Britain’s class system seemed to be changing. (Neil, 2011)