Our Impact in 2020-21

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In 2020-2021 we worked with more young people, teachers and Widening Participation professionals than ever before. In this blog, CEO and co-founder Sam Holmes discusses our goals and priorities when adapting to online delivery and looking to maximise our work to ensure progression is not determined by privilege.

The below is excerpted from our 2020-2021 Impact Report, released in early January. If you’d like to learn more about our work, click here or at the bottom of the page to download the full report.

When lockdown was announced, our first concern was maintaining effective support for students through the intricate processes of exploration, choices and applications. OSCAR, our tried and tested online platform, ensured we were well-positioned to help thousands of with their applications, in partnership with many universities and the Sutton Trust.

Our next priority was teachers. We knew they were snowed under and facing completely new challenges. We needed to find ways of providing updated strategies and resources which were accessible and realistic. We worked with the Sutton Trust to recraft their Teacher Champions scheme from a regionally focused initiative into an online programme for state schools across the country. This meant we were able to deliver regular webinars to help teachers through the twists and turns of supporting applications during the pandemic.

Finally, we wanted to carry on pushing the debate on what high quality practice in Widening Participation looks like. We developed an alternative conference format and content which met the changing needs of WP professionals. We came up with our “Big Idea, Small Idea” events series, online discussions where participants pitched both immediate tweaks and more structural solutions to entrenched issues.

The pandemic has reinforced the need to balance providing fast, implementable solutions with championing the disruptive radical thinking necessary to ensure progression is not determined by privilege.

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Sam Holmes

Sam is the CEO and co-founder of Causeway Education.

He brings his experience as a secondary school teacher, teacher trainer and school improvement consultant to the design and implementation of our programmes. Previously, Sam has designed education programmes for organisations such as the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, King’s Cultural Institute, Routes into Languages, and Arsenal FC., as well as designing and delivering training for organisations such as London Challenge, Teach First, and the EAL Academy.

Sam has an MA in Education from Goldsmiths, University of London, and recently submitted his PhD in Education at King’s College London; he is also a qualified teacher. He co-founded Translators in Schools, an initiative to train professional translators to deliver workshops to children.