A person experiences social mobility when they have different life outcomes from their parents, for example, in income, occupation, housing, education or wealth.
It is also well established that access to the best possible education is crucial to attainment in life – and that those from disadvantaged backgrounds also have much greater difficulty in accessing the right education to enable them to achieve their best potential. The inequalities which have been felt for decades were accentuated by the Coronavirus Pandemic – and the disruption to education caused to many by the pandemic are still being felt.
For a child born in the UK today, it's recognised that their educational opportunities and life chances are strongly linked to their parents’ socio-economic background. The difficulties for many lower income families have been magnified since the pandemic and its effects are a real threat to social mobility.
Our mission is to facilitate access to top education for those who otherwise would be unable to gain the life changing transformative experience that this provides. Not only for school aged children but also for students about to make the decision to go to University or train in a vocational course. Access to universities is a crucial component for individuals’ social mobility prospects.
The Collins Educational Trust has been funding the education journey for disadvantaged people with talent for 20 years and is helping create the opportunities for them to achieve. In our first 20 years we have facilitated this journey for 75 individuals, with total grants paid out now totalling almost £750,000 with a further £160,000 committed.
The recent changes to the taxation of independent schools have increased the challenges but in liaison with the schools we work with we have ensured that none of the students who we are supporting have been disadvantaged from the changes.
The Social Mobility Barometer 2021 gives a timely snapshot of perceptions of where the coronavirus pandemic has impacted most, who has suffered and what needs to be done by government and others.
Some key findings from the poll on how the public thinks the COVID-19 outbreak has impacted social mobility include:
The current difficulties felt across the most disadvantaged parts of society is why Collins Educational Trust feel passionate about creating access to the best education and courses for talented young people who face these considerable barriers.
To date we have funded over £900,000 in school bursaries, specialised vocational courses and student’s studying the arts. We want to champion and support students across all of the educational spectrum, from science to animation, engineering to music.
Whilst we join others in trying to influence change in government policy we will continue to make a positive impact on the lives of each of our beneficiaries we can directly support.
