“The topic of social mobility appears ever more debated but there’s risk of a lot of talk and ringing of hands and little radical thinking to address the really stark problem of social immobility,” said Professor Becky Francis, Director of the UCL Institute of Education (IOE).

Earlier this week, Francis was joined by a panel of high profile educationalists, and Tes, at the first in a series of debates, titled “What if…”. The opening topic of choice was the educational buzzword of the moment - social mobility.

Debating the issue were Kate Pickett, Professor of Epidemiology in the Department of Health Sciences at the University of York; co-author, The Spirit Level: why equality is better for everyone, Lord Willetts, the Executive Chair of the Resolution Foundation, Diane Reay, Professor of Education at Cambridge University, and James Croft, Chair of the Centre for Education Economics (CfEE).

Thousands of teachers followed the debate live on Facebook and Twitter, but if you missed it, you can watch the full debate below.

The next debate will ask: What if… we really wanted to overcome the academic-vocational divide? and will be hosted on November 28.  Mary Curnock Cook, former chief executive of Ucas and chair, Kensington and Chelsea College, Tony Little, chief academic officer at Global Education Management Systems (GEMS) and former headmaster of Eton, Sir Michael Wilshaw, former chief inspector of schools in England and head of Ofsted and Alison Fuller, professor of vocational education and work and pro-director for research and development at the UCL Institute of Education (IOE), will all join Becky Francis.

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