A BRADFORD school has become the first in Yorkshire to have access to a ground breaking new online system to link its graduates.

Bradford Grammar School has signed up to Graduway, a cloud-based online platform and has set up its own branded networking site, BGS-alumni.com.

It encourages Old Bradfordians to set up or import their profiles from LinkedIn, develop professional connections with one another, mentor students or young graduates and invite others to sign up.

Head of Higher Education and Careers, Sarah Flaherty, said: "We want to offer our students and alumni a one-stop-shop of real value.

“Our alumni and careers programme both have a role to play in boosting graduate opportunity, employability and working more closely together.”

The school believes in involving their alumni more innovatively in school activities and providing opportunities for them to support current students. This includes networking lunches, seminars, speaking at or hosting events, and increasingly practical one-to-one or small group mentoring.

Headmaster, Simon Hinchliffe, said: “The affection that Old Bradfordians feel towards their alma mater is palpable and one of our many strengths. We are deeply grateful to those OBs who support the School by donating generously to our fee assistance programme, giving talks, offering work experience, and attending careers events. Many OBs want to give something back.”

The school also hopes the platform will help increase the amount of fee assistance it offers to children from a variety of backgrounds.

Daniel Cohen, Graduway CEO said: “We’re delighted to be partnering with Bradford Grammar School, our first partner school in Yorkshire, to power their alumni network. This is a fantastic opportunity for both their students and alumni to build a world class career network that stretches from Yorkshire across the world.”