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| Subject | Higher Education |
| Type | Skill, Attainment Raising |
| Audience | Young Person |
| Location | In-School, On Campus |
| Year Group | Year 9, Year 10, Year 11, Year 12, Year 13, L3 Y1, L3 Y2 |
| Term | Spring, Summer, Autumn |
| Sign Up | Teacher |
Future Forward runs in a select list of our partner schools where we know we can have the most impact.
If you’re working at City Academy Norwich, Hewett Academy, Open Academy, Sewell Park Academy, or City College Norwich (Media, Health and Social Care students only) then we’d love to talk to you more about Future Forward.
The benefits of Future Forward can be seen in the classroom and beyond. You can expect to see increased confidence, higher motivation and, ultimately, better outcomes for your students. We believe success is whatever your students define it to be. Through a combination of mentoring and events over the course of two to three years, we’ll work with your students to develop skills including:
Our learning mentors will tailor sessions to your students’ individual needs and, like all of our outreach activities, everything is totally free. We need your help to select the students who would benefit the most from taking part.
How can my students take part?
You need to nominate students who fit the eligibility criteria below, and who you think would benefit from dedicated mentoring support. Nominations will open in the autumn term, and your dedicated Student Learning Mentor will be on hand to answer any questions you may have. Then it’s as simple as 1, 2, 3…
Nominations will be open for students who will be in Year 9 or Year 12/Level 3 Year 1 at the start of the 2025-26 academic year.
Who is eligible?
Future Forward eligibility criteria are changing for 2025-26. We’ll provide further information in September 2025 – watch this space!
How many spaces are available?
Getting a place on Future Forward starts with a teacher nomination – you need to let us know which of your students would be best suited to take part.
Your school’s Learning Mentor will let you know how many students to nominate. Places will be randomly allocated based on the eligibility criteria.
Nominations will open in the autumn term of the 2025-26 academic year.
Sounds great, how do I nominate my students?
We will share a simple form with you; just let us know when you have consent from the students and we’ll make the arrangements via email.
When and where do sessions take place?
Students will meet with their Student Learning Mentor in school or college, in a room that you provide. Sessions will take place at different frequencies depending on the time of year.
Sixth form and college students can be mentored in free or study periods. For Year 9 – 11 students, we’ll work with you to identify classes that students can miss and catch up with later.
Additional events will take place at UEA or at other organisations. Events change each year but Student Learning Mentors will be able to share all the details with plenty of notice.
What impact does Future Forward have?
Our previous work has shown significant impact. For example, 86% of Year 13s who took part in Future Forward applied to university in 2021 versus the national average of 43.2% of 18 year olds domiciled in England (source: UCAS).
Our young people have progressed to a wide range of universities across the county and overseas – from the University of Cambridge to Radboud University Nijmegen (The Netherlands) to the University of York. And lots in between! And it’s not just about university, lots of our students have successfully secured higher apprenticeships at Aviva and other similar organisations.
Don’t just take our word for it…
“I have found mentoring to be very helpful at finishing tasks, talking about problems and discussing ideas” Year 11 student
“It gives me a chance to reflect on the things I’m doing and to focus on anything I’ve got questions for.” Year 13 student
“My son has enjoyed it and received a lot from his time on residentials. The fact that this has been at no costs to parents has been fantastic. We have really appreciated the input from UEA. Thank you!” Parent of student
Got more questions? Chat to your Student Learning Mentor or contact our team – we’ll find the answers you’re looking for.
