The entire cabinet is to be ordered to go back to school to talk to children about social mobility.
David Cameron, who was educated at Eton and Oxford, and Nick Clegg, his deputy, educated at Westminster and Cambridge, are among those who will visit state schools to help boost social aspirations among teenagers. Eric Pickles, the communities secretary and one of the few cabinet ministers not to have come from a privileged home, was educated at a grammar school and a polytechnic college.
Whitehall mandarins will also be asked to spend a day in a school to offer career guidance to children.
The drive to boost social mobility will seek to help teenagers make the best decisions between the ages of 16 and 19 to improve their chances in later life.
Clegg will float plans for a new higher baccalaureate qualification that will encompass both academic and vocational subjects.
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Universities will be asked to count apprenticeships as a qualification so that pupils who decided to pursue a vocational route get the chance to enter higher education.