Education, All big ticks

Experian, Teach First

Education Award
Big Tick

Volunteering is a great way to get involved in our community and to make a real difference to the quality of lives of many people in our local areas. Becoming involved gives individuals the opportunity to develop team working, leadership, time management and practical skills whilst building a positive profile of the company.

Rob Hudson Finance Director

The main strand of Experian’s Community programme is Education, through which they aim to raise the attainment level of pupils in disadvantaged communities, an aim which is shared by Teach First a national charity established in 2003 in London. The partnership between Experian and Teach First began in 2008 when Teach First was looking to expand its successful model into the East Midlands. Experian became the founding partner for the East Midlands expansion helping to attract the highest calibre graduates to teach in the region.

The Story

The United Kingdom has the highest correlation between parental income and a child’s life chances in the developed world. The East Midlands has one of the highest correlations in the UK. By focussing only on those schools with high percentages of students living in the poorest households, Teach First aims to directly reduce this relationship between the wealth of a student’s family and their educational attainment in the East Midlands. 

The attainment and success of young people in the region, especially those living in high poverty is a key area of Experian’s Community focus. The injection of talented, enthusiastic and inspirational teachers into the region’s most challenging schools fits squarely within Experian’s chosen remit.

The additional focus of Teach First on developing the leadership skills of their participants also coheres with Experian’s focus on skill development in order to enhance future career development – they are given the tools to succeed in leadership roles in schools as their careers develop or leave to succeed as Ambassadors of the programme in other sectors, remaining focussed on addressing educational disadvantage.

Experian provide Teach First with a wide range of resources including office space, financial support, leadership development, employee volunteering as well as marketing and legal advice. The relationship has consolidated Experian’s reputation as an employer committed to the development of the East Midlands region with a specific focus on the educational attainment of its young people.

Impact

Business Impact

  • Experian volunteers have given over 5,000 hours to schools in the East Midlands and 29% of volunteer respondents stated that they achieved development gains in areas such as communication and project management skills.
  • 95% of Experian employees indicated a positive change in attitude toward Experian as a result of participating in community work.
  • Experian have benefitted from over 140 published articles this year alone with 15% of these linked to the partnership with Teach First.

Social Impact

  • Experian’s support for Teach First in the East Midlands has enabled them to grow from placing 8 teachers in 2008 to placing 64 this year impacting on approximately 9,600 pupils.
  • Over 80% of Teach First teachers in 2009-10 achieved their teacher training qualification in the top two categories of good or outstanding.
  • 36 Teach First teachers in the region have been able to complete a Mater’s level leadership development programme.

See also

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