The Bursary Foundation is celebrating four years of helping high achieving students from disadvantaged backgrounds achieve places at grammar and independent schools in Greater Manchester, as the charity prepares to support its newest cohort for the complex process of bursary application and 11+ exams.

Jenny Hopkinson, Founder of The Bursary Foundation, said: “The Foundation is a catalyst for social mobility. Our mission is to help bright pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds living in deprived areas, and provide opportunities to realise their potential. There is a frightening inequality of opportunity in our country, and we are wasting talent – at the Foundation, we want to connect children, irrespective of family circumstance, with their brightest possible futures. The gap in achievement between disadvantaged primary school pupils and their advantaged peers has reached a 10-year high, which means it’s more vital than ever that we continue our crucial work mitigating the education gap. We are expanding our reach into Salford, one of the most disadvantaged borough in the country, and are developing our partnerships with primary schools in Trafford, where we look forward to helping Pupil Premium recipients to gain access to the outstanding state-funded grammar schools on their doorstep. Without structured support, these pupils often don’t get a look in when measured against their more affluent counterparts.”

Founded in 2018 by former primary school teacher Jenny Hopkinson, The Bursary Foundation works with primary schools across the Greater Manchester area to connect high achieving pupils from low-income backgrounds with the best educational opportunities – with the ambition of closing the gap between the state and independent sectors. Through a programme of tutoring and mentoring, the Foundation ensures pupils, and their families, are well prepared and informed before sitting the 11+ and entrance exams for schools.

One parent, whose two children now attend independent schools on a full bursary as a result of The Bursary Foundation support, said: “The foundation has set a high standard of learning ability for my children and has given them the platform that they can be the best regardless of any barrier posed against their education. The Bursary Foundation has helped my family to break the financial barrier that could have prevented my children to have good and quality education they deserve.”

Over the past four years, close to 100 pupils have benefitted from the foundation’s support; 55% of those students now attend an independent or state grammar school with 12 starting this term. Over 2,300 hours of support have been delivered, encompassing everything from support for parents and caregivers with the bursary application process and mentorship for pupils making the transition to secondary school, university visits – all supplemented by tuition and support with the 11+ exams through the Bond resources from Oxford University Press.

Samantha Armstrong, Head of Home Learning, at Oxford University Press, said: “Oxford University Press is the go-to expert on preparing for exams, helping instil the confidence and self-belief that are so vital in supporting students to get their best results. As an organisation, we are passionate about revision equity and are proud to provide The Bursary Foundation with our Bond resources to help students from disadvantaged backgrounds prepare for the complex processes of bursary applications and the 11+, and on their journey to unlocking transformational education opportunities.”

Oxford University Press, who acquired Bond in 2013, has been a partner of The Bursary Foundation since 2019; supplying many of the Bond 11+ resources for free – including access to high-quality practice materials in English, Maths, Verbal Reasoning and Non-verbal Reasoning, and subscriptions to the Bond Online platform – to selected pupils in the Manchester area who would otherwise face challenges in accessing this material, to help them prepare for entrance exams.