It doesn’t take much to be marginalised by society. Without the right foundations students can very easily slip into crime, not continue education, or struggle to find a fulfilling career and the right support needed to become a valuable community member.

Beneficiaries:

One Degree is a personal and academic journey designed to support, guide and inspire struggling youth. But at the heart of this are mentors from all over London.

One Degree works directly with youth who are at the margins of society. A focus on building stronger communities by overcoming isolation and fragmentation and encouraging inclusion, connection and integration. We have become embedded in some of London's most deprived communities and can identify and channel the potential within students of struggling schools.

We do this by creating a personal and academic journey designed to support, guide and inspire our struggling youth.

Services:

We believe an A-C grade in GCSE Maths and English are the "passports" that will change our student’s life direction.

Working with qualified teachers, we need the help of mentors to work with small groups of students for anything from 3 to 25 sessions per year. Our 25 annual sessions include 10 sessions over Autumn (Sep, Oct, Nov) and 15 sessions over Winter/Spring (Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May). These sessions are on Saturdays and Sundays.

Impact:

Students - 

Improve the GCSE grades of 40-60 students per programme to C/B grades.

Success: Grade improvements will demonstrate our success. Through more than 22 375 hours of mentoring 275 students since 2009 we have improved an average predicted 25% pass rate in English and Maths to over 65%.

Aim: Improve the confidence, well-being and self-esteem of 40-60 students per programme.

Success: Our surveys demonstrate student improvements along with independent psychological evaluations conducted at the start and the end of each programme which record improvements in self-esteem, confidence, resilience and well-being.

Fulfilling these two aims, namely an academic and personal improvement, creates a practical and measurable chance for our students lay a solid foundation on their future. From there they can choose the direction they want to take. But for starters it gives them options for A-Levels and university, followed by careers not before considered.

Volunteer Mentors - Our dynamic programme makes volunteering at One Degree a fun and stimulating way to spend your weekend. You will be able to interact with people who share your passion and have the opportunity to listen to fantastic, inspiring speakers. Participating in this environment will broaden your personal horizons as you make a meaningful impact and help to develop tomorrow’s leaders. You will also gain new communication skills that can be used in your business and personal relationships.