Freshers' week at university is a big enough deal for students leaving home for the first time without having to feel self-conscious about their accent.
And it didn't take Ben Jones from Stockport long to realise how it influenced people’s first impressions of him, as he told a new report examining the impact someone’s accent has on their journey through education and into the workplace.
He said: “I was hyper-aware of my accent at university. It is certainly something that people judge you on, they assume that it means you are not well-educated or cultured. The minute you open your mouth – literally – you have a disadvantage.
