00:00Today is a fantastic day for our young people as they have collected their results and I
00:03just want to say congratulations to all of them and to thank the amazing people working
00:08in education for all they've done for our young people. We do sadly know that there
00:12are big gaps that have opened up and are widening where it comes to outcomes for students from
00:18places like the North East compared to say London. I'm determined to turn that around.
00:22That means driving high and rising standards in our schools and more teachers there to
00:26support our young people but alongside that we have to respond to the wider pressures
00:30that families are under at the moment and that's why taking action on child poverty
00:34in particular is so important. We do see big gaps in terms of rates of admission to university
00:41and the numbers of young people who are applying from regions like the North East compared
00:44to say London. I'm determined to change that because I don't think young people in the
00:48North East are any less talented than young people in say London. Part of that is about
00:53making sure we've got brilliant teachers. It's also about the wider challenges that
00:57families are facing at the moment and over the last 14 years we've seen those problems
01:02get worse and worse.
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