The Fair Education Alliance

Sometimes stepping away from our laptops can help us to get work done. 💻 Why? Because as Joanna Unthank from @northeast_ca says, it lets us step back and think deeply about what to focus on. 💡 Deep discussion, peer learning and strategic thinking are part of the ethos of our place-based Network retreats. They bring together senior leaders from Mayoral Strategic Authorities to access expert advice, share challenges and insights, and explore ambitious, collective approaches to improving inequity in life outcomes for children and young people. 🌱

Last month, we brought together system leaders from Mayoral Combined Authorities across England for the first retreat of our new place-based Network. 🙌 As power moves closer to communities through devolution, leaders need space to connect, reflect and share what works. That's exactly what this Network is for. "I feel quite honoured to be part of this. This investment in me as a leader will help me do my job more effectively - and hopefully more successfully." – Tina Slater, South Yorkshire Combined Authority This was only the beginning. Over the next two and a half years, this community will grow - and the effects will be felt by children and young people across the country. 💙 #FairEducation #PlaceBasedLeadership #MayoralStrategicAuthorities #CollectiveAction #SystemsLeadership

It has been one of the most rewarding things I've done. I felt really recognised and seen with my experiences." 🙌 That's Jayden, reflecting on two and a half years as a member of our Youth Steering Group - engaging with ministers, attending party conferences, and building skills and confidence alongside a community of young people who genuinely care about educational inequity. Applications for the next cohort are NOW OPEN 📢 Are you aged 14–21? Passionate about making education fairer? Have you faced barriers in your own education journey? We want to hear from you. Deadline: 28 June 2026. 🔗 Link in bio to find out more and apply. #YouthVoice #FairEducation #YoungChangemakers #YouthSteeringGroup #ApplyNow #YouthLeadership

🎉We’re delighted to share that Liz Robinson has been appointed Chair of Trustees of the Fair Education Alliance. Liz brings extensive experience in values-led leadership and system change in education. As a headteacher, trust leader and sector leader for over 20 years, she has championed a broader vision of education - a ‘big’ education that integrates ‘head, heart and hand’, and has worked to support innovation across schools and leadership development programmes. Reflecting on her appointment, Liz shared: “It is a privilege to take on this role at such an important moment for the Alliance. I’m excited to work with Gina, the team and members across the Alliance to deepen collaboration, challenge the conditions that sustain inequity, and improve outcomes for children and young people.” 🙏We would like to thank Dr Vanessa Ogden for her leadership and stewardship of the Alliance over the past seven years. We are deeply grateful for the insight and leadership she has brought to our work. Liz joins the Alliance at an important moment as we continue delivering our Neighbourhood to National strategy, strengthening our collective work, deepening collaboration and working alongside our 300-member coalition to address root causes and improve outcomes for children and young people. Read more about Liz’s appointment via the link in our bio 👆 #FairEducation #NeighbourhoodToNational #SystemsChange #CollectiveAction #Collaboration

📢 Applications are OPEN for the FEA Youth Steering Group! Following an incredible year - presenting to MPs, a roundtable with the Prime Minister, leading our own Youth Summit, and shaping education policy - we're looking for passionate young people to join the next cohort. 🙌 Are you aged 14–21? Do you care about making education fairer? Have you faced barriers in your own education journey? Then this could be for you. 👇 ✅ Lead campaigns and events ✅ Influence policy at the highest levels ✅ Be heard by decision makers ✅ Join a community of young people driving real change Apply by 28th June - link in bio 🔗 #YouthSteeringGroup #FairEducation #YoungChangemakers #EducationEquity #YouthVoice #ApplyNow

"I hope the Literacy Link will change the world." 🌍 That's the vision driving Victoria Gray, Executive Director of @giveabookorg and member of the Literacy Link Steering Group, captured here at our recent annual retreat. 📚One in three children from low-income households don't meet expected reading standards by the end of primary school. Changing that takes more than individual effort. It takes organisations being willing to come together, challenge each other, and build something bigger. That's what the Literacy Link is for. 🤝 Find out more about our Collective Action work in Literacy and how to get involved 👉 link in bio #LiteracyLink #SystemsChange #CollectiveAction #NationalYearOfReading2026 #FairEducation #Literacy #ChildrensLiteracy

Big moment for one of our Youth Steering Group members this week 🙌 Amelia spoke at a Westminster APPG meeting on the proposed social media ban - and she was the first young person in the room to speak. She talked about what the YSG has been discussing: 👉 holding social media companies accountable for harm 👉 not blaming young people for navigating systems designed to keep them hooked 👉 social media as a "third space" for connection - it's even how she found us 💬 She got a big round of applause. And on the way in? A surprise run-in with Rosie Wrighting - the youngest female MP in the House 🏛️ This is what the YSG is all about. ✨ Want to be part of it? Recruitment opens end of April. #YouthVoice #YouthEngagement #FairEducation #OnlineSafety #MakeYourVoiceHeard

Exciting news - we're welcoming Rob Doble to the FEA team as our new Director of Collective Voice! 👋🎉 Rob is a passionate advocate and campaigner for children and young people, with a career spanning philanthropic foundations, NGOs, multilateral institutions and academia - most recently at Porticus, an international philanthropic organisation. He joins at a really significant moment for our work. With the Schools White Paper now published, our focus shifts from making the case for change to making sure that change actually delivers for children from low-income households. We can't wait to see what Rob brings to that mission. 🤩 #WelcomeToTheTeam #FairEducation #CollectiveVoice #EducationPolicy

What books or podcasts will you Go All In on this year? 📖 Watch Thomas from the FEA Youth Steering Group talk to attendees at the Fair Education Youth Summit about the National Year of Reading and find out what they're enjoying 🎤 #NationalYearOfReading2026 #GoAllIn2026 #FairEducation

Are you a young person who wants to change the education system (or do you know someone who is)? 🙋 Applications for our Youth Steering Group will be opening very soon to young people aged 14–21 who have experienced barriers in education ✏️ Over the past year, the YSG has: 🎤 Taken part in a Ministerial roundtable on SEND inclusion and spoke at party conferences 📝 Shaped our policy responses to the National Youth Strategy and the Curriculum and Assessment Review 💡 Designed and led the Fair Education Youth Summit, where 180 young people from across the UK connected, learned and engaged with decision makers Think you or the young people in your network might want to get involved? Sign up to our Youth Bulletin to be the first to hear and find out more about our youth engagement work via the link in our bio. #YouthEngagement #FairEducation #YouthVoice #NeighbourhoodToNational

Rome wasn't built in a day. And neither is a founder. 🏛️ Last week, we gathered at the London Mithraeum Bloomberg SPACE to mark the end of the Bloomberg mentoring programme with the 2025 Innovation Award cohort - and it was a reminder of just how much the right mentor relationship can mean. This programme was designed to support our award winners beyond the incubator: to give them someone in their corner, someone who'd been there, who could offer honest perspective, open doors, and ask the questions that matter. Hearing our cohort reflect on the conversations that stuck, the moments that shifted something, and the confidence they'd built - it was clear that mentoring isn't a nice-to-have. It's foundational. A huge thank you to the incredible @Bloomberg mentors for showing up so wholeheartedly. And to the @LondonMithraeum Bloomberg SPACE - there's something quietly powerful about reflecting on progress in a space with such rich history, that's survived 2,000 years. #TeamBloomberg #LondonMithraeum @bloombergconnects #Mentoring #FairEducation

This #WorldAutismAwarenessDay, we’re spotlighting the incredible @neurodivergent_lou 🎤 We caught up with Lou at the Fair Education Youth Summit, where she led a brilliant workshop on how to create content that drives social change - sharing skills with other young changemakers who believe in a fairer education system ✏️ Here are her thoughts on how social media can help young people get their voices heard 📢 #YouthVoice #FairEdYouthSummit #FairEducation #NeighbourhoodToNational