We would like to thank The Peter Cundill Foundation for making an incredibly generous donation to Baker Dearing, which will directly support young people into technical education opportunities that lead to fulfilling work and lives.
The Foundation’s backing will help Baker Dearing and our UTC network to equip more young people from every background with the skills, knowledge, and attitudes to not only take up apprenticeships, higher technical education and employment, but to build promising and well-paid careers in sectors that need innovative young talent.
The University Technical College model – being delivered by 45 UTCs, two UTC Sleeves, and through the Baker Award for Employability – has successfully progressed tens of thousands of young people into work. Each year, around a fifth of our Year 13 leavers progress to apprenticeships; almost three times the national average. Just five per cent of our leavers immediately become NEET; half the national average.
We will continue helping UTCs to expand and improve as part of our vision for them to become a world-renowned technical education programme. We will also help more young people without easy access to a UTC to benefit from high-quality, employer-led technical education through the UTC Sleeve initiative and Baker Award for Employability.
The funding from The Peter Cundill Foundation will make transformative technical education a reality for young people across England. We are incredibly grateful for the Foundation’s generous donation.
