BRADFORD has been labelled as a “cold spot” for social mobility, and will be one of the target areas dealt with by a new government “champion.”

The “evidence champion” was appointed by education secretary Justine Greening earlier today to help boost the results and prospects of all young people.

Mrs Greening said it was a move away from the “punitive” approach to struggling schools and that there needed to be “the right support, in the right places, at the right time”.

Sir Kevan Collins, chief executive of the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), was appointed to the role, and will be working with the government’s “opportunity areas.” Bradford was appointed as one of these areas earlier this year along with Doncaster, Hastings, Ipswich, Stoke and Scarborough.

Ms Greening said: “We do need to move away from a perception of a reliance on a pure punitive intervention approach. We need to, moreover, move towards a culture of having the right support in the right places at the right time, and I think for too long our strategy hasn't had that breadth to it, and perhaps that clarity around it.

"My approach is to much more target and support and lift up those areas. It's about having a clear plan to improve the schools in these areas, a plan that everyone can buy into at a local and the national level."