Schools Plus is an innovative, high impact initiative connecting university students to local classrooms in Oxford. Volunteer tutors help to raise grades, confidence and aspirations. The project addresses stark educational inequality existing in Oxford City.
It ran from 10:00 AM, 5 December 2011 to 4:00 PM, 22 December 2011
Registered Charity in England and Wales (1122328)
£10,000
£16,063
Donations
31
Despite their elite and wealthy image, Oxford City experiences high levels of educational inequality. In particular, children from disadvantaged backgrounds struggle to achieve good results throughout primary school and at GCSE exams. Such educational disadvantage earlier in life lowers future job prospects, and reduces the number of young people able to consider further and higher education.
Through Schools Plus, university students provide capacity to classrooms by offering one-to-one support to pupils. The project produces positive results. For example, through Oxford's Reading Plus project a literacy inspector reported that the additional support helped the class to increase literacy rates by 10%. In Maths Plus, 12 students on the GCSE C/D grade borderline were supported and at the end of the academic year all achieved a C or above, with two getting Bs and one an A.
It is fantastic that our children get a chance to be listened to when reading daily; it is an opportunity they rarely experience
It is fantastic that our children get a chance to be listened to when reading daily; it is an opportunity they rarely experience