The Access Project supports young people from under-resourced backgrounds to raise their aspirations, access top universities and achieve social mobility.

Empower a young person to overcome barriers to education.

Volunteer

Give back to a good cause. Join our community of volunteer coaches and help a young person develop skills to set them up for success in school and beyond.

Donate

The Access Project is a not-for-profit organisation. We rely on donations from generous people like you to support young people in the UK to thrive.

Success stories

We work with the young people who need our help the most, and they go on to achieve great things. Read more about our students and alumni here.

Our mission

Talent is everywhere, but opportunity is not.

The Access Project is an education charity with a mission to help under-resourced young people place at top UK universities. This gives them the best chance of social mobility, enhancing their future prospects.

We work with students in some of the most under-resourced areas of the country. We place dedicated mentors in school to help students navigate and overcome barriers to education, and provide personalised one-to-one or group tuition with students to help them raise their GCSE and A level grades.

Since 2008, we’ve worked with thousands of young people, transforming the lives of students as we help them raise their confidence, achieve in their exams, and successfully transition to university.

Donate

Young people from the most disadvantaged backgrounds are almost three times less likely to get a place at a top university compared to their better-off peers. We want to make sure all young people have the same opportunities to make the most of their education.

We are passionate about reducing the educational barriers our students face so that they can follow their dreams. We support students from under-resourced backgrounds to access top universities through a programme of tuition, coaching and in-school mentoring. We work with our students to make strong applications, get the grades and transition to university.

Around 25% of our programme is paid for by schools. The rest is funded by university partners, corporate sponsorships, and donations from people like you.

The Access Project News

  • Is university worth it? Higher education and social mobility

    Is university worth it? Higher education and social mobility

    According to the British Social Attitudes Survey, a third of British people now think that university isn’t worth it, as reported by the BBC today.  Here at The Access Project, our mission is to support young people to access top universities in order to achieve social mobility. This has always been our core focus as we strive… read more

  • New partnership announced with Kaizen Reporting

    New partnership announced with Kaizen Reporting

    The Access Project today announced a new partnership with Kaizen Reporting, a leading provider of regulatory compliance solutions for global financial institutions, to launch an employee volunteering programme focused on coaching young people from under-resourced backgrounds. The partnership will provide Kaizen employees with opportunities to volunteer as skills coaches, supporting… read more

  • From Ancient Egyptian art to women in leadership: Learning at Work Week

    From Ancient Egyptian art to women in leadership: Learning at Work Week

    As an education charity, learning plays a pivotal role in our programmes. Students learn about the university experience, how to submit a quality application, they develop key transferable skills, and they are supported to raise their academic attainment. But learning is not just for our students! Alongside a formal Learning… read more