Too often you can predict a child’s relative academic and social success based on their household income and postcode, rather than their ability.

Put simply, Team Up exists to tackle this problem: the personal, academic and professional future of too many school-aged children in the UK is still unduly shaped by the income of their parents or where they live, rather than their ability or work ethic.

In recent years, it’s been reported that:

• 75% of the highest-income quintile of pupils gain 5 ‘good’ GCSEs (A*-C), compared to 21% of the lowest-income quintile (ESRC)

• Average-ability children from wealthy families on average overtake high-ability children from low-income families by the time they sit their GCSEs (Social Mobility & Child Poverty Commission)

• Only 1 in 3 children from low-income backgrounds leave school with basic qualifications

Education is the key to social mobility, and research from the DfE and the Sutton Trust suggests that regular small-group tuition is one of the most effective ways of accelerating a child’s academic progress.

Our programme extends the benefits of rigorous and inspirational academic tuition to all children - regardless of their family income - to better allow those from low-income backgrounds to realise their full potential.

To do this, we recruit exceptional people to join our voluntary leadership programme, where they learn leadership and teaching skills which they apply tutoring children from low-income backgrounds. We’re also committed to developing our tutors, who use the demonstrable work experience, training and networks we offer to strengthen their own employment prospects.