School Shortlisted For The UK Social Mobility Awards

Bolton School has been shortlisted in the School/College of the Year category in the UK Social Mobility Awards 2021.

The awards – now in their fifth year - provide an opportunity to recognise organisations who are making strides and creating initiatives to advance social mobility within their own workforce or beyond their own walls.

The SOMOs were the first national awards dedicated to social mobility, recognising the forward-thinking organisations that are working to progress social mobility. Organised by social justice charity, Making The Leap, this year’s awards have received an impressive array of entries comprising a variety of sectors from across different regions – the shortlist represents those who have best demonstrated the efficacy of their social mobility initiatives.

The winners will be determined by an independent judging panel, made up of leading figures from business, charity and the public sector, and chaired by Sir Ken Olisa OBE.  They will be announced at the awards gala on 14^th October 2021.

Sir Ken Olisa OBE, who is also the HM Lord Lieutenant of London, said: “The war against Covid-19 has shown just how strong our nation is when we pull together.  It has also shown how ‘we’ means people from every walk of life, heritage and ability. There can be no greater proof of the power of social mobility. Now that its value is beyond dispute ‘we’ must pull out all of the stops to make social mobility a reality – even in peacetime.”

Providing social mobility is inter-twined with Bolton School’s history and it was Lord Leverhulme’s vision to offer an education for all capable children when he re-endowed the School in 1915. Last summer, 42 pupils from the Class of 2020 left having received bursarial assistance for their education. Thirty eight went on to university, 32 of whom secured places on courses at prestigious Russell Group institutions. Nineteen went on to study subjects in the medical sciences, including 12 pupils now studying Medicine.

During the same academic year, the School community made pledges and gifts totalling £672,000 to the Bursary Fund for the next intake of students. This enabled 54 Y7 pupils to join the two Senior Schools in September. Overall, the School spent £2.89m on means-tested bursaries, supporting 350 – one in five – girls and boys across the Senior Schools. One third of recipients – 6% of the pupil body – received fully-funded bursaries. 

Other shortlisted schools include Tile Cross Academy, Sedgefield Community College, Christ’s Hospital, Reading School and Reigate Grammar School. The full list of shortlisted finalists is here.