British TV’s Working Class Problem Is At Both Junior & Senior Level — Diamond Report

A new Diamond diversity report finds that working-class people are under-represented across UK television, at both junior and senior levels. The findings provide evidence for long-standing concerns that the industry does not reflect the class make-up of the country.

Working-class people accounted for about a quarter of programme contributions in the year to 31 March 2026, compared with 39% nationally; privately educated people accounted for 13%, nearly twice the national average. Children’s TV had the lowest working-class share on screen, at 16.8%, while current affairs was closest to the national average on screen at 39.1%. Off screen, current affairs had the lowest share, at 19%; the report analysed 180,000 contributions using 12,000 diversity forms.