The current school system has a narrow academic focus that fails to recognise the talents of all children, the outgoing chief executive of a social mobility charity has warned.

Lee Elliot Major told Tes that it was a scandal that the children who most needed help were being let down.

He is leaving his post at the Sutton Trust next year to become professor of social mobility at Exeter University - believed to be the first post of its kind in the country.

Mr Elliot Major said his role would involve working with schools to ensure that, amid efforts to improve outcomes for disadvantaged pupils, evidence of what works is then applied in the real world.

But he also called for a broader debate about how the school system worked for some children from deprived backgrounds.

He said: “I think there needs to be a national debate about how we recognise the talent of all children, whether it is vocational or being creative, and create a school system that meets the needs of all young people and not just the current narrow academic focus we have now.

“I think for a significant number of pupils, around 20 per cent, the current curriculum and accountability system is not fit for purpose.

“We need a national debate about this. I think it is a scandal that we are not helping children who are most in need.”

Mr Elliot Major has worked for the Sutton Trust for 12 years and is the charity’s first chief executive - a post he has held for the past four years.

He told Tes that his new role would allow him to continue to champion the importance of social mobility to schools and policymakers.

Growing up in Feltham in London, he was the first member of his family to go to university.

Having dropped out of school, he retook his A levels and has since gone on to earn three university degrees.

He said: “Social mobility is important to me. It is not just about catapulting young people from poor backgrounds to the top of society.

“I will still be looking at how many young people from deprived backgrounds get into elite universities, but I am interested in the notion of improving people’s prospects more generally.

“Social mobility means giving people a choice irrespective of their background.”

He added: “I am interested in changing behaviour in schools. We have come a long way in terms of teachers talking about evidence-based practice, compared with what they would have been doing seven years ago

“The focus needs to be on how schools are using that evidence in the real world.”

However, he added that recognition was needed that schools could only achieve so much.

“Education hasn’t been able to be that great social leveller because there are such big inequality gaps outside the school gate. Tackling inequality and promoting social mobility are inextricably linked,” he said.

He added that the current school admissions system was a barrier to social mobility, as middle-class parents could use their resources to improve their children’s chances of getting into the strongest schools.

Mr Elliot Major will be taking up his post at Exeter University in February next year.

In a message to Sutton Trust staff, the charity’s founder and executive chairman, Sir Peter Lampl, said: “It is hard to sum up in words how much Lee has contributed to the trust over the past 12 years.

“He was our first research director, then spearheaded our hugely successful fundraising efforts, before serving as the trust’s first chief executive for the past four years. He’s accomplished so much and we’ve had lots of fun along the way.

“In his new position, Lee will remain focused on the practical impact of research - writing more books, but also working closely with schools, universities and policymakers to improve social mobility.

“Much of his work will still be based in London. We wish him all the best.”