14th February 2024 Sharing our 2022-23 impact
Our Chair and CEO introduce our 2022-23 Annual Report.
Social mobility is the difference between your life outcome and those of your parents.
For young people growing up in underserved communities and attending the schools we work in, the opportunity to have a different future to their parents is becoming increasingly out of reach.
The disadvantage gap – the difference in educational attainment between socio-economic groups – is the widest it has been for a decade, with the pandemic disruption to learning exacerbating existing inequalities.
Your background, your hometown, your skills, and your network all factor in your chances of a successful future.
This is why The Talent Foundry exists.
We envisage a more diverse, equal society, where young people, through inspiring and fun experiences can build their skills and confidence and connect to exciting employers who value talent over background.
This year we are proud to have supported 45,792 young people across England, Wales and Scotland discover what they are amazing at and inspire them to think big about their futures.
Improving social mobility is a team effort.
Our impact is only possible through the funding and volunteer support from the 21 businesses and the public sector organisations that partnered with us this year. This allows all our opportunities to be offered to teachers or schools at no cost to them.
With young people aged 16+ from a lower working-class background much more likely to be not in employment, education or training (NEET) than those of any other background, early intervention is key.
Launching our new three-year strategy in September 2022 we focused on expanding and diversifying our offer to combine curriculum and career-linked activities with essential skills development opportunities.
This included a new activity framework consisting of Lightbulb Moments, Building Skills and Career Insights, and Intensive Connections aimed at Key Stage 3-5 (P7-S6) and contributing to Gatsby Benchmarks.
We also piloted several place-based programmes to celebrate local talent and highlight to young people that they do not need to leave their hometown to find meaningful employment. Worryingly, only 12.4% of young people think there are quality opportunities available where they live. Yet, during our work in Middlesbrough and the Tees Valley, we were encouraged by the businesses and organisations who jumped at the chance to meet young people and present a way to ‘stay local and go far.’
Responding to demand, we also piloted several of our programmes with primary school pupils to start career conversations and practice skills such as creativity and problem-solving. We are excited to be extending this opportunity to more primary schools in 2023-24.
You cannot be, what you cannot see.
Teachers are under immense pressure to help their students ‘catch-up’ post-pandemic. Attendance, behaviour, staff capacity and budget pressures make it increasingly difficult for them to identify and offer extra-curricular activities to showcase meaningful careers and connect them to employers. With only 38.6% of young people with an understanding of the skills employers were looking for there is a disconnect between education and work.
Feedback from our programmes demonstrate that the engagement of role models from industry is fundamental to inspiring and connecting young people to the world of work. Industry volunteers bring their own unique, career story into the classroom. This reassures young people that they do not need their futures mapped out and helps them to recognise the skills and strengths that are valuable in the workplace.
This year our industry volunteers donated over 6,365 hours to support young people build their skills and confidence.
Thank you to our partners, team, facilitators and the teachers who we work with to support young people across the UK.
Sir David Bell, Chair Jenni Anderson, Chief Executive
Read our annual report here [pdf] and more of our highlights from the year via our news pages.