Vox Populi Educational CIC

This was a year in which we continued our activities helping the least advantaged students in secondary schools with over twice the national average levels of free school meals entitlement, a target measure of deprivation. Our success rate at sixth form level was very high with 100% of students receiving an offer from their university of choice, four at Oxbridge. This was a record for the institutions involved. Work involved mentoring, 1 to 1 and small group tutorials with workshops and seminars and incorporated our 'interdisciplinary studies' syllabus to enrich student's education generally, from Jacobean tragedies to particle physics. Universities often reject bright students, especially from underprivileged backgrounds, because of their lack of communication skills and abilities to think 'outside the box' - this especially happens with personal statements and interviews and we concentrated on improving skills in these areas. At secondary level we concentrated on cultural enrichment and promoting university access via direct entry and also via apprenticeships. We are following up students to see how they progress to sixth form. We ran training for teachers on incorporating oracy into the curriculum, which has been a government target for half a century but never realised. This involved setting targets and goals and outlining ways to incorporate an oracy syllabus. Following advice from experts at Oxnet and charities and the government's assessment and syllabus review, we decided to expand into primary education for the first time, writing and delivering a programme of 12, 2 hour workshops to be delivered across a school term. This was designed from scratch after consultation with the school and delivered by 4 of our tutors, the school providing SEN cover to enable full inclusivity. The school had a wide range of ethnicities and cultures and many students had English as a second or even third language. This was a challenge and hard work but was a complete success. It was a year of experimentation and consolidation, preparing us to significantly expand our reach in 2026, subject to receiving funding.