About us
At The Access Project we support students from disadvantaged backgrounds to access top universities, through a unique combination of tuition and in-school mentoring. We work with them to make good applications, get the grades and transition to university.
What We Do
We support students from disadvantaged backgrounds to access top universities, through a combination of tuition and in-school mentoring. We work with them to make good applications, get the grades and transition to university.
The Access Project was established in 2008 to help talented young people from disadvantaged backgrounds gain access to an education at one of the UK’s top universities. We aim to help our teenagers unlock their potential and transform their future prospects.
Since then we have grown quickly and are now working in 40 schools, with thousands of volunteer tutors supporting over 1,900 students across London, West Midlands, East Midlands, West Yorkshire, Lancashire and Cumbria.
The Access Project has been cited as a sector leader in improving university access:
- Highly Commended, 2018 CSJ Annual Award for Education, Employment and Skills
- Validated at Level 3 on Nesta’s Standards of Evidence (2016).
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“Programmes like The Access Project have repeatedly demonstrated how much difference they make to the students who work with them, in terms of academic outcomes and progression into higher education, tackling poor attainment, and the poor life chances it leads to.”
John Blake, Director of Fair Access and Participation at Office for Students
Programmes like The Access Project have repeatedly demonstrated how much difference they make to the students who work with them, in terms of academic outcomes and progression into higher education, tackling poor attainment, and the poor life chances it leads to.
John Blake, Director of Fair Access and Participation at Office for Students
Our theory of change
Activities in 2021-2022
- Nearly 35,000 hours of tutoring
- More than 700 mentoring workshops
- More than 3,000 hours of one-to-one mentor support
Intermediate outcomes in 2021-2022
- 93% of our students applied to a top university
Short-term outcomes in 2021-2022
- 93% said the programme had given them a better understanding of how to get to a top university
Exit and long-term outcomes in 2021-2022
- 53% of our students placed at a top university
We support students from disadvantaged backgrounds to access top universities. Our theory of change explains how we do that.
Our programme
Our programme combats educational inequality and improves social mobility by raising students’ grades and supporting them to understand the pathway to a top university. In the last 15 years we have provided mentoring and tutoring for more than 10,000 students, changing both their aspirations and life chances. But there is still more work to be done.
Inequality is at its highest in ten years. Exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis, there are currently tens of thousands of under-resourced young people eligible for The Access Project’s support.
How can we reach more young people? Our Accelerate programme
Our Accelerate programme, in line with our growth strategy, will help us reach 500 more students across England in the next two years.
The Accelerate programme model has been designed based on the findings from the team’s extensive research into the most impactful aspects of The Access Project’s model. The Accelerate programme will support students in the following ways:
- There will be a University Access Officer linked to each of our partner schools. They will provide in-person mentoring with 1:1s for students, supplemented with self-serve online content.
- Each student will be provided with a Volunteer Coach. This is a professional who will volunteer to deliver six 1:1 skills sessions with a Year 12 student, helping students to develop essential, transferable skills. These sessions will focus on building communication, problem solving, collaboration and organisational skills: all skills identified as vital for university and career readiness.
- One core university trip per programme (in Year 12).
- There will be targeted group workshops for under-resourced KS3/KS4 students aimed at building aspiration, retaining students to KS5 & supporting GCSE/A-Level choice.
- Group Tuition will be offered as an optional add-on for schools at KS5, under the Accelerate Plus programme.
This programme model is designed to be scalable, allowing us to enter schools at a lower price point while ensuring that we continue to deliver impact to the young people we work with.
Interested in becoming a partner school?
We are looking for new partner schools from September 2024 onwards. For more information, or an informal chat with our Schools Partnership Manager, Dan Aukett, please email schools@theaccessproject.org.uk.
Our programme models
Our three diffferent programme models – Accelerate, Accelerate Plus and Gateway (our current programme model) – provide schools with an opportunity to select a package that works for them, at a time when school budgets are tight.
Volunteer tutoring
Every year we match thousands of volunteer tutors with a 14 to 18-year-old student from one of our partner schools. Through one hour tutorials each week they support our students to achieve their full potential at GCSE or A level. Across the school year, tutors address the topics that students’ teachers think they need most help with. The weekly sessions not only raise grades but improve a young person’s confidence and aspirations.
%
of students surveyed said that they enjoyed being tutored online
In-school mentoring
Mentoring support comes from a dedicated member of The Access Project staff who is based in our partner schools. Our University Access Officers provide expert advice from Year 10 to build students’ knowledge and understanding of universities and courses. They also provide one-to-one support and advice on applications and interviews. As part of our mentoring service we organise visits to top universities and run a Medicine and Dentistry Society and an Oxbridge Society.
%
of students surveyed felt able to approach their University Access Officer for advice
Transition to university
Young people from disadvantaged backgrounds are more likely to face challenges when they get to university. Non-continuation rates among disadvantaged students are higher than those of their more affluent peers.
We have established our transition programme to support our students with the move to university and ensure they get through their first year and place onto their second. We do this through: peer mentoring, information sessions and through the running of our alumni service.
As a person of colour, coming from a deprived area in West Yorkshire, I would like to use my story to motivate other girls and boys like me to follow their dreams and become who they want to become. I have learnt that it takes hard work and the right motivation to reach your goals, but once one goal is met, the rest is just within reach.
Ayesha, a student on The Access Project
Volunteer
Learn new skills, gain useful experience and have a positive impact on a young person’s future.
Partners
Financially supporting our work, setting up an employee volunteering scheme, and providing pro-bono support are just three of the ways organisations and individuals can partner with us.
Schools
Become a partner school. We provide one-to-one tuition and mentoring for up to 40 students from Years 10 to 13.
Donate
Help us raise funds in support of our charity’s vital work.
Get In Touch
Contact info
The Access Project,
First Floor, Canopi-Borough,
7-14 Great Dover Street,
London,
SE1 4YR
020 4513 5999
info@theaccessproject.org.uk
Media enquiries:
line: 020 4513 5999 (available Monday to Friday, 9am to 5:30pm)
media@theaccessproject.org.uk
The Access Project safeguarding line: 020 4513 5999 (available Monday to Friday, 9am to 5:30pm)
NSPCC 24 hour line:
0808 800 5000
Get in touch
Contact info
The Access Project,
First Floor, Canopi-Borough,
7-14 Great Dover Street,
London,
SE1 4YR
020 4513 5999
info@theaccessproject.org.uk
Media enquiries:
line: 020 4513 5999 (available Monday to Friday, 9am to 5:30pm)
media@theaccessproject.org.uk
The Access Project safeguarding line: 020 4513 5999 (available Monday to Friday, 9am to 5:30pm)
NSPCC 24 hour line:
0808 800 5000