Posted 28 July 2025

Young men receiving free school meals consistently underperform in their educational careers. The latest insight from the Department for Education shows that only 24.3% achieved a grade 5 or above in GCSE English and Maths. In West Yorkshire, there’s a 16.9-percentage point gap between boys on free school meals and all other boys in Leeds, and in Bradford, between 2019 and 2022, the exclusion rate dramatically increased from 6.92% to 22.35% 

There is also a growing and worrying trend of misogyny in education settings too, exacerbated by the rise of ‘The Manosphere’ and ‘Manfluencer’ content creators. But this isn’t a new situation, we can map this back about fifty years with the significant shift in gender expectations relating to culture, society and the economy.  

Boys’ Impact 

I was proud to attend the Parliamentary launch of Boys’ Impact in July 2025. Hosted by Sam Rushworth MP (who has spoken previously in parliament about the need for specific and targeted programmes to support boys’ attainment), the event celebrated the hard work and dedication of the founding Boys’ Impact Hub in Dorset and the contributions of Arts University Bournemouth and Dr Alex Blower, Senior Research Fellow and Founder of Boys’ Impact.  

Our West Yorkshire Boys’ Impact Hub is now one of 15 Impact Hubs across the UK and shares and contributes to the work happening with our colleagues across the country. Ranging from research and conferences through to innovative pilot projects in schools and multi-academy trusts. We have a broad and diverse membership across the education ecosystem in West Yorkshire, and we’re aiming to influence the policy makers and leaders who can make real and lasting changes to the ways that boys on free school meals access education in our region. There is already a lot of exciting work happening across our members, and the hub is a place to share those victories and tackle the issues further with colleagues.  

The problem with boys? 

The Parliamentary event was also an opportunity to launch the findings of a research project by Dr Blower and Dr Jon Rainford. Their ‘The Problem with Boys?’ paper explores the importance of relationships between young men and their educators and the need for classroom discourse on topics such as masculinity and men’s mental health.  

The research involved 467 schools across the country and took insights from both educators and young men. I strongly recommend a read of this, as Blower and Rainford make some compelling recommendations at the Policy, Whole School, and Classroom level, which could massively support creating stronger and more positive education environments for leaders, teachers and learners.  

References

Chesley, N. (2011). Stay-at-Home Fathers and Breadwinning Mothers: Gender, Couple Dynamics, and Social Change. Gender & Society, 25(5), 642-664.   

Gater, R. (2023). Amalgamated Masculinities: The Masculine Identity of Contemporary Marginalised Working-Class Young Men. Sociology, 58(2), 312-329.      

 

James Rew, Leeds Conservatoire Access and Participation Manager & Chair of the West Yorkshire Boys’ Impact Hub