The Sutton Trust is aiming to reconnect with over 20,000 alumni of its summer schools and other programmes as it launches a new online platform to link recent participants with those who have benefitted over the foundation’s 19 years of work to improve social mobility.

The platform was launched today and will allow beneficiaries of the Sutton Trust to reconnect with fellow alumni to find out what they have been up to and stay in touch.

Alumni who are further on in their career will be able to offer support to younger members who are looking for advice on a particular industry or career path. Members will also be able to browse a jobs board for opportunities posted by businesses

Since 1997, the Sutton Trust has run programmes to support talented young people from low and middle homes to access selective universities. Its flagship Summer Schools programme has provided support to over 17,000 16 and 17 year olds through subject-specific residential courses at leading universities. This year almost 2,000 bright teenagers from low and middle income backgrounds attended a UK Summer School.

Sir Peter Lampl, Founder and Chairman of the Sutton Trust and Chairman of the Education Endowment, said today:

“It’s always wonderful to hear about the great things that our alumni go on to do. Our older beneficiaries are now in great positions to offer advice and support to our more recent alumni, many of whom will be making decisions about university courses and career paths.

“I’m delighted that we’ll be able to reconnect with our alumni through our new network and allow them to share their considerable expertise.”

The Trust is grateful to Justin Bull, a Sutton Trust Board member, who has contributed both time and funding towards this project, and to the management consultants Bain & Co for their pro support on this new work.

Alumni can sign up to the network at: https://suttontrustnetwork.com/

NOTES TO EDITORS

  1. The Sutton Trust is a foundation set up in 1997, dedicated to improving social mobility through education. It has published over 170 research studies and funded and evaluated programmes that have helped hundreds of thousands of young people of all ages, from early years through to access to the professions.
  2. The first Sutton Trust summer school was at Oxford in 1997. Today’s some 4,000 young people a year benefit from Sutton Trust programmes including UK and US university-based summer schools, Pathways programmes into Law, and Sutton Scholars, for highly able teenagers.