If you speak with a Northern, regional or working-class accent in Britain, you may still be judged before you’ve even finished your sentence.
A new book by The University of Manchester’s Dr Alex Baratta has revealed how deeply ingrained accent prejudice remains in British society – from classrooms to job interviews – and why it’s time to challenge it.
Key insights
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Accent bias remains widespread across British society, including in education
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People are routinely stereotyped based on how they sound
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No accent is inherently ‘better’, ‘worse’ or more ‘professional’ than another
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Linguistic science contradicts many common assumptions about accents
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Practical steps are needed to tackle accent bias
Why this matters
From the way we pronounce words like ‘bath’ or ‘bus’ to whether we use a glottal stop in ‘water’, accents continue to carry powerful – and often unfair – social meanings.
Baratta’s new book, Putting an Accent on British Accents, explores what he calls the ‘social reality’ of accents – the knee-jerk judgments people make about others based on their speech. These can include assumptions about intelligence, trustworthiness, class and even personality.
But the ‘linguistic reality’ tells a very different story.
“There is nothing inherent in any accent,” Baratta argues. “No sound can ever be ‘stupid’, ‘sexy’ or ‘unprofessional’ – these are social judgements we attach to speech, not properties of the speech itself.”
A hidden prejudice in plain sight
Drawing on a study of British teachers, the book uncovers striking examples of accent bias in professional settings.
One teacher reported that his interview for a PGCE course was nearly terminated unless he modified his Rossendale accent, which was deemed ‘unprofessional’ for teaching English.
A secondary school Art teacher from Croydon was instructed to write the word ‘water’ with a capital ‘T’ to discourage pupils from using a glottal stop – a common feature of many British accents.
Another teacher from Nottingham, working in primary phonics in the South of England, was told it would be ‘best to go back to where you come from’ if she could not adopt Southern pronunciation.
These examples, Baratta argues, show that accent bias is not only persistent, but can directly affect careers and opportunities.
The sound of inequality
At the heart of the book is the simple but powerful idea that we interpret accents rather than just hearing them. A particular pronunciation can trigger assumptions about class, education, behaviour and even lifestyle, and these assumptions can then shape how individuals are treated in everyday life.
In this way, accent becomes a form of social inequality that often goes unrecognised.
What needs to change
Rather than accepting accent bias as inevitable, Baratta calls for a more informed and inclusive approach – particularly within education.
The book outlines practical steps to challenge accent prejudice, including greater awareness of linguistic diversity, changes in teacher training, and a shift away from the idea that one way of speaking is more ‘correct’ than another.
Ultimately, the aim is to move towards a society where people are judged by what they say, not how they say it.
“Accent bias isn’t about language at all – it’s about the social meanings we attach to it,” said Dr Baratta. “When we hear an accent, we’re not just processing sounds – we’re making assumptions shaped by history, class and culture.”
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