The Archbishop of Canterbury hit out at grammar schools on Friday as he warned 'the children of privilege are continuing to inherit privilege'.
Justin Welby said poor white children will be among the worst equipped groups for the future, with only traveller and gypsy Roma communities behind them in GCSE achievements.
Leading a debate on the role of education in the House of Lords Welby, who holds a seat in the second chamber as a result of his status as archbishop, said ministers must not 'waste our time rummaging' in the past for the solutions of tomorrow as he attacked proposals to expand selective schools in the Conservative's manifesto, which have since been abandoned.
'The academic selective approach to education, one which prioritises separation as a necessary precondition of future excellence, makes a statement about the purpose of education that is contrary to the notion of common good,' he said.
It comes after the Church of England affirmed its opposition to grammar schools earlier this year following Theresa May's pledge to allow more to be built.
Welby said Brexit would provide 'unforeseeable challenges, changes and opportunities' and 'we need an education system that can bear the weight of the changes that are coming'.
But he went on: 'We must be sure that while we may find some inspiration in our past we don't waste our time rummaging there for the solutions of tomorrow.'
He added: 'The children of privilege are continuing to inherit privilege. This is true not only in our education institutions but also the whole country. It is also true globally'.
He said there was 'little prospect of remedying this wrong' without a 'cultural change' that saw schools partnering with local businesses and government.
Welby is head of the Church of England which educates more than a million pupils in England, running 26 per cent of primary schools and six per cent of secondary schools.
Himself an Eton alumnus, Welby also warned a secular approach to education without religious input left children vulnerable to 'peddlers of extremism'.
Attacking the 'weak, secular and functional narrative that successive governments have sought to insert in the place of our historic Christian based understanding', Welby said schools were left any sense of shared values.
'It is no surprise to those familiar with church schools that their strong values based approach remains so attractive to those of all faiths and none,' he said.
