GT Scholars was set up to give young people the support, skills and strategies they need to achieve their aspirations. Our courses, workshops and programmes have helped hundreds of young people aged 11-18 achieve better grades at school, get into top universities, access top tier apprenticeships and reach their academic and career aspirations.

In addition to the work we do with young people, we offer bursaries to young people from lower income homes. This is fuelled by our passion and belief that every young person deserves a chance and choice to succeed in life, regardless of their background. Every year, we seek to offer bursaries to as many people as possible. However, the number of free places we provide in each term is based on our earnings. This means that we are only able to give a very limited number of free places each year. Thankfully, there are many other organisations working hard to support some of the young people that need it most.

In this blog, we discuss various organisations that provide support to young people aged 11-18 from low income homes.

The National Tutoring Programme is a £350 Million government funded programme which schools are using to provide free one to one and small group tutoring to young people. It was set up as a response to the 2020 pandemic and has been designed to help thousands of young people in England to ensure that they can catch up on learning that was missed during the lockdown and school closure period. Many schools have signed up to this and you may be able to access free tutoring through this programme.

IntoUniversity provides local learning centres where young people are inspired to achieve. At each local centre, IntoUniversity offers an innovative programme that supports young people from disadvantaged backgrounds to attain either a university place or another chosen aspiration. Their programme provides children and young people from disadvantaged backgrounds academic support, FOCUS activities, and mentoring.

The Access Project works with bright students from disadvantaged backgrounds, providing in-school support and personalised tuition, to help them gain access to top universities. Their programme comprises both tutoring and mentoring as the combination of these interventions maximises their students’ likelihood of going to a top university. They also organise visits to top universities and run a Law Society, a Medicine and Dentistry Society and an Oxbridge Society.

The Brilliant Club is a university access charity that works with schools and universities across the UK. The organisation aims to increase the number of pupils from under-represented backgrounds progressing to highly selective universities. They do this by mobilising the PhD community to share its academic expertise with state schools through programmes of university-style tutorials, which are supplemented by two university trips.

Coach Bright: This is an organisation that provides tutoring and mentoring to young people aged 10-30 from low-income backgrounds. They work with volunteer coaches who support young people through their coaching programmes and academic programmes. Their mission is to improve social mobility for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds and they have helped thousands of young people to achieve this goals.

Action Tutoring is a national charity that provides one-to-one and small group tutoring to young people from low income disadvantaged backgrounds. It is also one of the largest tutoring organisations providing free tutoring to young people in England. They work with schools across the country, providing schools with access to volunteer graduates and professionals who volunteer 1-2 hours every week to help young people improve their grades.

Team Up is a social venture charity that runs a voluntary leadership programme. They use tuition, delivered by inspirational role models, to enable pupils from low-income backgrounds to meaningfully increase their academic attainment, in order to improve the choices open to them. They also work with schools, universities and employers in order to increase social mobility in the UK.

Tutors United is a non-profit organisation that trains current university students and hires them to tutor English and Maths. They specialise in providing affordable private tutoring to the children and families who need it most, operating multiple tutoring services at various sites across the UK with plans to expand further. They are committed to tackling educational inequality and always recruit the very best undergraduates to tutor the pupils who need it most.

SEO London has three programmes that prepare talented students from ethnic minority or low socioeconomic backgrounds for career success. Their SEO Schools programme helps high-achieving students in Years 11-13 to broaden their horizons through access to academic, professional and enrichment opportunities. They organise events such as insight days and work experience placements with their world-class sponsor firms, comprehensive skills sessions to develop your commercial awareness and technical skills, bespoke open days at the UK’s top universities, and mentoring from experienced SEO alumni and industry professionals.

TalentEd is a charity that offers high-ability young people a year-long programme of weekly small group sessions. They believe that every young person should have the support, skills and aspirations to realise their potential. Their programmes are tailored to the needs of the individual by expert teachers. Their partner schools identify the needs of their cohort and choose a programme theme. TalentEd tutors then provide individual support to their small group of students, tailoring sessions to help them reach their potential.

UpReach is a charity that helps disadvantaged students from across the UK to realise their potential. They provide a highly personalised programme of support to students who they call UpReach Associates. They partner with employers and universities, and offer access to a comprehensive range of opportunities and activities to broaden their associate’s horizons, understand career pathways and develop the skills, networks and experiences needed for career success.

Sutton Trust is a foundation which improves social mobility in the UK through evidence-based programmes, research and policy advocacy. From early years’ through school, college and university to the workplace, they work to combat educational inequality and prevent the subsequent waste of talent. Their programmes, working in partnership with top universities and industry professionals, are designed to support students to make informed decisions about their next steps and leave young people feeling inspired.

Hackney Pirates is an enterprising charity working to develop the literacy, confidence and perseverance of young people so that they achieve both in school and in the world beyond. They believe that providing support outside of school can really help young people to do better in the classroom, while also developing broader skills. They work together with local schools, families and volunteers to deliver unique real-world learning projects in their own unconventional learning environment, the Ship of Adventures.

GT Scholars: We run after-school and weekend programmes that help young people achieve their academic and career aspirations. Our programmes are open to all young people regardless of their background, school or income. Our tutoring, mentoring and enrichment programmes give young people aged 11-18, the strategies, skills and support that they need to achieve their aspirations in life. Contact us if you would like to know more about any of our programmes and courses.