Ed Miliband attacks university route 'snobbery' Ed Miliband has attacked the "snobbery" which views university education as the only route to social mobility. The Labour leader said it was important to "celebrate" vocational qualifications such as apprenticeships and other training opportunities for young people who do not go to university. "I think there has been a certain snobbery in this country," he told ITV Daybreak. Of course it is important that we get lots of people into university, I support more people going to university but I don't think we have talked enough in the last few years about how we help those who don't go to university, maybe who don't want to do that, who aren't academically inclined, how we help them to get on and succeed. Our message to the 50% of people who don't go to university at the moment, can't be 'Well, there is nothing here in our country for you'. We have got to show them that they can do well and do better for themselves and their families and get on in life. Mr Miliband's remarks were made as he was due to attack the coalition Government for allowing social mobility to go into reverse in Britain. He will insist in a speech to the Sutton Trust conference in London that more must be done to open the "closed circles" in many careers by improving access to university and vocational training. "Tackling social mobility is a huge mountain to climb and the last Labour government took some important steps," Mr Miliband will tell the conference. But now Britain is sliding backwards. This Government seems to think we can let those at the top take whatever rewards they think fit and somehow everyone else can just play catch-up. You can't claim the mantle of social mobility and then make your priority cutting taxes for millionaires while raising taxes for everyone else. Mr Miliband will stress that allowing young people from poorer backgrounds to reach university is crucial to improving the situation. I know how much more there is to be done to open those closed circles of Britain. Not just to the universities, but to journalism, law, finance - and politics too," he is to say. But he will also insist that there must be options for people who choose not to go to university. "The debate has been too narrowly focused," he will say. We should reject the snobbery that assumes the only route to social mobility runs through university - as if there is only one pathway to success. Mr Miliband will say that a Labour government would include a requirement for companies bidding for major government contracts to offer apprenticeships. However, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg will dismiss Mr Miliband's criticism in a speech to the same conference tomorrow. He will insist that social mobility is the "impulse" that lies behind the Government's education reforms, including the pupil premium. And he will promise to address the "corrosive" rift in Britain's education system, citing new government data showing that children who are educated privately are three times more likely than state pupils to attain top A-level grades. Indeed, that aspiration on behalf of children is one of the most precious ingredients of parenthood. The Liberal Democrat leader will go on: "But we do need to ensure that our school system as a whole promotes fairness and mobility, that heals the rift in opportunities. He is expected to reaffirm the coalition's drive on reforming the pre-16 curriculum, plus improve teacher and school quality.