• 6% of Black school leavers attend a prestigious 'Russell Group' university, compared with 11% of White school leavers (EHRC 2015 Is Britain Fairer?)
• Children with Special Educational Needs or Disabilities (SEND) are seven times as likely to be excluded from school as their peers (EHRC 2015 Is Britain Fairer?)
• 25% of children in the UK have been exposed to domestic abuse (Radford et al, NSPCC 2011)
• Black Caribbean and Mixed White and Black Caribbean children are three times as likely to be permanantly excluded from school than the pupil population as a whole (EHRC 2016, Healing a divided Britain)
• LGBTQ young people report significantly higher levels of mental health problems, including depression and anxiety, self-harm and suicidal thoughts (Metro, 2014, Youth Chances survey)
• 86% secondary school teachers say that pupils in their schools have experienced homophobic bullying but only 17% have received specific training on how to tackle this (Stonewall 2014, The Teachers' Report)

• Nearly 9 out of every 10 children and young people from a Gypsy Roma Traveller (GRT) background have suffered racial abuse, and nearly two thirds have also been bullied or physically attached (The Children's Society 2007) 

Equalities in Education is the trade name of Dr Ruth Wilson, Equalities and English an an Additional Language (EAL) Consultant.

Ruth Wilson is a freelance Equalities and EAL Consultant, specialising in education. She lives in Birmingham and works mainly in the West Midlands and Black Country, but is happy to travel further if required.

She has been working independently since May 2009. In July 2011 she became a Registered Member of the Institute of Equality and Diversity Professionals (IEDP), and was on the IEDP Board from December 2011 to August 2019. During that time she edited the IEDP newsletter.  From February 2014 to June 2015 she also worked for the British Council on their EAL Nexus Project as Website and Resources Co-ordinator. EAL Nexus is a project supporting schools in meeting the needs of children and young people who speak English as an Additional Language (EAL). The content of the EAL Nexus website is now managed by an educational charity, The Bell Foundation. Ruth worked part-time as a Bell Foundation Associate from April 2016 to July 2019.

Since September 2014 she has been a trustee of X2Y LGBT youth group in Wolverhampton, and since April 2017 she has been chair of the trustees. In August 2019 she organised a project called Voices for Equality with Khakan Qureshi and Scott Dance, making a short film showcasing LGBT-inclusive books for use in primary schools. Click here to watch the film.

She is also an associate of a local consultancy partnership, Merida Associates, and has worked for them on a diverse range of projects, including domestic abuse, maternity services, play provision, health and well-being, the Future Jobs Fund, provision for older adults who are mental health service users, Talent Match and, more recently, ROSPA's Stand Up Stay Up project evaluation.

Previously (from 2004 - 2009) she worked as an Equalities Consultant for Wolverhampton City Council services for Children and Young People.                                                                                                                                     Photo by Sofia Ali   

Prior to that (1999 – 2004) she worked as an Ethnic Minority Achievement Manager for Wolverhampton Equalities and Diversity Education Service, during this time she also studied at the University of Birmingham for her doctorate (EdD) in Educational Disadvantage and Special Educational Needs (awarded in 2004). She also has a master's degree (MEd) from the University of Birmingham in Human Rights and Equality (1997).