A PROGRAMME set up to support young people after a year of disruption has provided 90 young people in Bradford with access to specialist GCSE tutors.

The Bradford Opportunity Area, which aims to boost social mobility and educational standards for young people in Bradford, has helped students at Bradford College to get back on track after missing out on their education due to the pandemic.

Bradford is one of 12 Opportunity Areas (OAs) in England chosen by the Department for Education to help unlock the potential of England’s young people. Each OA is government funded but led locally.

The programme, which started in 2017, works with partners in local government, employers, the voluntary sector, researchers, schools, nurseries and colleges to develop an ambitious plan, backed by over £10m of new funding to overcome the challenges facing children and young people and those who support them.

Tuition is provided by the charity Get Further, which works directly with schools and colleges to match students in need of additional help in maths or English with specialist tutors to deliver personalised, small-group tuition.

Bradford Opportunity Area hopes that the funding will further enhance social mobility amongst the most disadvantaged groups in Bradford.

Students at Bradford College have already benefitted from the successful GCSE resit programme run by Get Further.

The Get Further programme has a proven track record, with students more likely to gain a grade C/4 at GCSE and have greater opportunities for progression in their chosen career. Research has found that after just 12 sessions with a Get Further tutor, the proportion of students making at least one grade of progress is 12 per cent higher than the national average and 92 per cent of students reported an increase in confidence towards the subject.

Kathryn Loftus, programme director at Bradford Opportunity Area said: “Every year, thousands of children from disadvantaged areas miss out on gateway qualifications which enable them to enter further education or the world of work.

“We’re delighted to be able to provide Bradford College students access to the highly successful Get Further programme which provides the additional support needed to succeed in maths and English. Without these vital qualifications, young people are much more likely to drop out of education and not have access to university courses, apprenticeships or other key professions.”

Four students from Bradford College have been selected to receive prizes for their engagement and dedication to the Get Further programme.

Each student will receive an iPad for their hard work throughout the programme and their 100 per cent attendance rate. Stephanie Baker, who achieved 100 per cent attendance, commented: “The Get Further tuition so far has been really helpful. The small group support has really helped me better understand English. Ed is a great tutor and I’m feeling more confident than I was before.”

Another student who achieved perfect attendance, Muhammadbaqir Malik, added: “I have learnt so much from my Get Further tuition. I now feel that I understand so much more, for example how to analyse language. The tuition booklets are really useful and clearly explain how to answer questions.”

For more information on Bradford Opportunity Area visit bradfordopportunityarea.co.uk