An education think tank has been launched by a major multi-academy trust and one of the country’s most high-profile independent schools.
Eton College and Star Academies, which runs 33 academies across the country, have announced that their “think and do tank” will focus on ensuring that as many high-achieving young people as possible access courses and qualifications that allow them to fulfil their potential.
It comes after the two organisations joined up to run three new state sixth-form colleges in towns in the North East, North West and West Midlands.
The partnership has published a first report today, which finds that more than 5,000 young people achieved at least an A or A* in English and maths in their GCSEs in 2013 but did not then go on to get a university degree by the age of 25.
The Eton Star Partnership has said it will commission further research, to be conducted both within and beyond its schools.
Much of the think tank’s early work will be focused on three towns that will be home to the new sixth-form colleges being opened by the Eton Star Partnership in the next few years in Dudley, Middlesbrough and Oldham.
The partnership said it aimed to publish research that provides “new insight on the key barriers that hold young people back from realising their potential”.
It added that it will work with “schools, colleges, universities, sector organisations and international partners to ensure that its findings inform policy, investment and school practice”.
It also plans to create a learning exchange to “stimulate best practice and spur growth and development of the sector”.
And it said that an innovation hub will be created that puts research into practice on the ground and incubates initiatives that can be scaled up.
Star Academies chief executive Sir Hamid Patel said: “We are incredibly excited to be working with Eton on this project. Our partnership is an incredibly strong one, with foundations in both a shared vision for education and in tangible delivery.
“This can be seen in the work we are already doing together - developing our plans for three new sixth-form colleges and working with partner schools - and in what we plan to achieve in the future with our new ‘think and do tank’. Today’s research points the way to the kind of projects we will work on in the future.”
Eton College headmaster Simon Henderson said: “The Eton Star Partnership will be a wonderful example of leading players in the state sector and the independent sector working together to increase educational opportunities for young people.”
The partnership’s first report has been produced with Public First and the Education Policy Institute.
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