Voice 21

Voice 21 & Impetus

The need: Young people from disadvantaged backgrounds are significantly more likely to suffer from poor oracy skills from an early age, compared to their peers, which puts them at greater risk of getting no qualifications and failing to get into work or training.

Our portfolio partner: Voice 21 provides a membership offer to help schools develop a high-quality oracy education. They support teachers to become expert oracy practitioners and provide deep support to individual schools to embed oracy across the curriculum and more broadly across school life. Schools then have the opportunity to seek accreditation with Voice 21 as an Oracy Centre of Excellence.

Our impact: We’ve worked with Voice 21 on refining their strategy, building their governance, and developing leadership to deliver better results. They have exceeded their targets and are reaching more than 150,000 young people eligible for free school meals in over 1100 schools across the country.

Our partnership with Impetus has already been transformational for Voice 21 in maximising our impact. Their funding and other support will make an enormous difference as we drive forward in our mission to ensure that every child has access to a high-quality oracy education, in every school, every day. We know we can achieve great things together with Impetus, so that every child can use their voice to thrive in school, work, and life.

Dr Kate Paradine, CEO, Voice 21


Year joined
Year joined
2019
Investment phase
Investment phase 
Grow
Income
Income (2022/23)
£3.0 million
Teachers enrolled
Teachers enrolled
2,030
Young people supported
Young people reached (indirectly)
221,471
Age range
Age range
4-18
Location
Location

Nationwide

Find out more

Educational attainment

Only 43% of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds pass English and maths GCSEs, compared to 73% of their better off peers. This attainment gap is one of the most persistent challenges facing the English education sector, and it’s only grown since the pandemic. But we believe that with the right support, all young people can succeed.
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Sustained employment

Young people from disadvantaged backgrounds are twice as likely to be not in employment, education, or training (NEET) as their better of peers. As co-chairs of the Youth Employment Group, we work to ensure these young people are not forgotten through the ups and downs of the economy.
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