We would like to thank the Garfield Weston Foundation for making an enormously generous donation towards Baker Dearing’s work providing high-quality, employer-led technical education to young people, helping them to thrive in life and work.

Baker Dearing now reaches over 22,000 young people, giving them access to opportunities which prepare them for the workplace. This includes technical qualifications, work experience, and employer-set projects – each of which develop students’ work-readiness and career plans. By learning with employers, young people also build networks with the organisations that could give them a career.

Our model is proven to work: each year, around a fifth of our Year 13 leavers progress to apprenticeships; over three times the national average. Just five per cent of our leavers immediately become NEET; half the national average.

Our support is hard to find elsewhere in England’s education system and the Garfield Weston Foundation’s contribution to our core costs will allow this provision to continue and be expanded to more young people, through our 45 University Technical Colleges, two UTC Sleeves, and the Baker Award for Employability.

Thanks again to the foundation for this hugely generous and much appreciated donation.