Youth mentoring programmes to share £3.5m to support underachievers

A total of 39 mentoring organisations have been awarded a slice of the funding from The Careers & Enterprise Company, which will be used to target 20,000 students across the country.

The fund will focus on students that are about to begin their GCSEs but risk underachieving and falling behind their peers.

The Prince's Trust is among the beneficiaries and has been awarded £302,595, while the Diana Award has been handed £403,135. Young Enterprise has also received £231,379 and the East London Business Alliance has been handed £191,197.

The investment represents the first tranche of a £12m fund that aims to boost social mobility by creating a new generation of mentors from the business community.

Claudia Harris, chief executive of The Careers & Enterprise Company, said: "Too many young people across England are at risk of not achieving their full potential.
 
"Employer mentoring is a powerful way to address this issue by helping young people get inspired about the world of work.
 
"Our fund will work to unlock this inspiration by scaling up proven mentoring programmes to help boost social mobility and give young people great life-changing experiences.

Apprenticeships and skills minister Robert Halfon added: "A good mentor can be instrumental in unlocking a young person's potential and these grants will help more young people benefit from that, ensuring they are climbing the ladder of opportunity and that there is no limit on their ambition.

"Mentoring helps improve focus and attainment, raises aspirations and provides valuable support - especially for those who are underachieving or at risk of dropping out of education."

The Careers & Enterprise Company also announced that the next round of investment from its Careers and Enterprise Fund is now open for applications, with more than £5m available to support pupils in secondary schools and colleges most in need.

The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) will also launch a £1m fund in partnership with the Careers & Enterprise Company and Bank of America Merrill Lynch as part of the next round to find out which approaches to careers education are the most likely to boost disadvantaged young people's chances of getting a good job after school.

Sir Peter Lampl, chairman of the EEF, said: "High-quality careers advice can make a real difference to young people's outcomes after school, particularly those from disadvantaged homes.

"This important partnership between the EEF, the Careers & Enterprise Company and Bank of America Merrill Lynch will allow us to find out whether work experience, Saturday jobs or digital technology is the best way to help boost poorer young people's employment prospects."