Why Do People Pretend to Be Working Class? (Your Radical Questions with Sophie Pender)

2026-07-13

Download

Sophie Pender, founder of The 93% Club, returns to answer your questions on class, privilege and education. In the main episode, Sophie told Amol why she thinks Britain needs to stop talking politely about social mobility and confront the power of private schools. Now, listeners ask whether class identity has become too slippery, whether people downplay their own privilege, and whether support for state-school students risks helping those who are already advantaged. Sophie also discusses oracy, accent and...

Sophie Pender, founder of The 93% Club, returns to answer your questions on class, privilege and education.

In the main episode, Sophie told Amol why she thinks Britain needs to stop talking politely about social mobility and confront the power of private schools. Now, listeners ask whether class identity has become too slippery, whether people downplay their own privilege, and whether support for state-school students risks helping those who are already advantaged.

Sophie also discusses oracy, accent and confidence in the classroom, the culture shock of elite universities, the case for and against grammar schools, and why she thinks vocational education should be about aptitude rather than origin.

GET IN TOUCH:

* WhatsApp: 0330 123 9480

* Email: radical@bbc.co.uk

Episodes of Radical with Amol Rajan are released every Thursday and Monday.

Amol Rajan presents the Today programme on BBC Radio 4 and hosts University Challenge on BBC One. Before that, Amol was the BBC’s media editor and the editor of The Independent newspaper.

Series producer: Rufus Gray

Producers: Oscar Pearson, Julian Paszkiewicz

Digital producers: Leona Gasper, Joe Wilkinson

Technical producer: Jonny Hall

Senior news editor: Sam Bonham

Comments (3)