The Covid-19 pandemic has left a generation of disadvantaged young people at even greater disadvantage. The impact of the pandemic on lost learning, especially for disadvantaged young people, has been well documented by the Sutton Trust, ImpactEd, the Education Endowment Foundation. These findings match what teachers are telling us. The need for interventions to remove the barriers that the pandemic has added to disadvantaged young people realising their potential is urgent.

Our debating programme builds the confidence in public speaking of young people, develops employability skills, and introduces them to other students of different backgrounds around the country. Over 1000 students from 60 schools have benefitted from the debating programme since June 2020. The workshops are collaborative rather than competitive, with the focus on developing confidence and skills. Students learn about and debate controversial historical topics, and receive individual feedback.