A new podcast shining a light on the huge attainment gap and educational inequalities in East Brighton compared to the rest of the city will soon launch.

Class Divide is a podcast series is the culmination of a two year-long documentary process that aims to tell diverse, inside stories about education on the East Brighton estates of Whitehawk, Manor Farm and Bristol Estate.

A freedom of information request from education campaign group Class Divide revealed that only 37 per cent of young people in East Brighton achieved basic GCSE grades, compared with 69 per cent of kids in the rest of the city in 2019.

East Brighton is in the top ten per cent least economically advantaged areas in the country and 43 per cent of children living in the ward live in poverty.

The series will follow the lives of a family, one daughter and three sons from Whitehawk, whose stories will highlight what the difference a good education can make to life chances.

Across the series families, teachers and education experts will talk about the roots of the UK's education, segregation and subsequent attainment gap and why it’s so bad in places like Brighton and Hove.

Guests include Orwell prize winning writer, rapper and TV presenter Darren McGarvey, working class academic and education expert Professor Diane Reay, education writer Fiona Miller and many others.

Writer and presenter of the series Curtis James said: “I grew up in East Brighton and this podcast series has been in the making since I made my first radio programme in 1990.

“The stories I’ll be sharing are rarely told by people like us, and it’s important for people to understand where the issues are, so the city can begin to make things fairer.

“The ideal outcome from this series is that the good people of Brighton get together, work together, to ensure every child gets the support they need to learn and thrive. It’s going to take the whole city to support the education of all of its children.”

The podcast will launch on March 1, also known as “National Offers Day”, when children are typically given their secondary school place offer.

Dr Carlie Goldsmith, who features in the series and grew up in Whitehawk, said: “We are launching the podcast on National Offers Day because as our podcast demonstrates, where a child goes to secondary school and the quality of the education they receive there impacts on the rest of their lives.

“The current admissions process and catchment area process are two of the pillars that prop up our unfair education system, creating a market of schools, all based on imperfect measurement systems.

“It’s a system rigged for the advantaged and works against the children and families in our communities.”

Class Divide is available on all major podcast channels and apps.