How, I thought, could we tolerate such grotesque unfairness? How, after ten years of a government committed to education reform, did we still have a school in the European City of Culture where 99 out of 100 16-year-olds had effectively been robbed of their future? How could we as a society allow ourselves to entertain such low expectations of our children?  

The fact that the school was on Merseyside struck another chord with me. I'm a fan of Liverpool — its vibrancy, its humour, its resilience. And one of my favourite films — Willy Russell's Educating Rita — is set in the city. Rita, played by Julie Walters, is a working-class woman who wants to better herself and so signs up for an Open University course. She bewitches her lecturer Frank — played by Michael Caine — who sees in her a love of learning he'd almost entirely lost. 

Frank's desire to help Rita extends to inviting her into his life. But Rita finds that a step too far. In an — almost unbearably poignant — scene at the heart of the film, Rita is invited to a dinner party at Frank's. When she arrives at his door she can hear the bookish chatter from inside — but she can't bear to cross the threshold because she fears she isn't sophisticated enough for his middle-class world. 

Instead, she returns to the warmth and intimacy of her family's local. There she joins in a boozy sing-song to a cheap jukebox hit. She loves everyone around the table — and there is no doubt that there is a solidarity and a sense of humour in the pub that is absent from Frank's dining table. But Rita knows, nevertheless, that she has gone back to square one. She feels she may have missed out — perhaps forever — on the chance to choose her own life rather than accept the hand she's been dealt. Her mother instinctively knows Rita deserves better and, mid sing-song, turns to her and says, "There must be better songs to sing." And at that point you weep for her.

But Rita, determined to find those better songs to sing, returns to university. Willy Russell gives her a second chance to achieve her full potential. But what of all the contemporary Ritas who were at that Liverpool school where just 1 per cent got the qualifications which even allowed them to think of university? What songs are they going to have the chance to sing?

Those two stories — one fact, one fiction; one tragic, one poignant — are all you really need to know about this government's education policy. We are angered by the waste of talent in an education system where hundreds of thousands of children leave school without worthwhile qualifications. We are ashamed that the poorest in our society have been those most likely to lose out. We are convinced that the level of ambition in our education system has been far too low for far too long. And we want to give all children the chance to choose their own future.