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Futures For All and The Hg Foundation Launch Landmark National Programme to Transform Young People’s Access to Tech Careers for around 16,000 students in state education
Ground-breaking partnership backs one of the UK’s first large-scale, independent evaluations of a programme designed to shift attitudes and aspirations towards Tech careers.
Futures For All and The Hg Foundation today announce a major national partnership to expand IntoTech – a pioneering programme designed to transform how young people from less privileged backgrounds perceive and experience careers in technology earlier in their education.
Jointly funded by Futures For All and The Hg Foundation, IntoTech represents one of the most significant investments of its kind focused on changing attitudes, building confidence, and broadening aspirations towards high-growth digital and technology sectors.
The UK tech sector is a cornerstone of the economy, employing over 1.7 million people and contributing more than £150 billion annually. Yet the sector is changing rapidly because of AI, and diversity remains a persistent challenge. Currently, only 9% of tech employees come from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, and just 29% are female or non-binary, even as 95% of employers report difficulties recruiting skilled talent.
By investing in early intervention and generating high-quality evidence, Futures For All and The Hg Foundation aim to support not only individual young people but also the long-term strength of the UK’s technology talent pipeline.
About IntoTech
The ‘IntoTech’ initiative aims to bridge the representation gap by demystifying careers across the sector, providing high-quality experiences of the workplace and inspiring the next generation of tech talent.
The programme will span five years, having started with a pilot year that delivered 3,800 opportunities for young people last year. Over the next four years, the programme will reach around 16,000 young people, with approximately 3,000 progressing through to work experience at the end of a three-year funnel programme. In total, this will deliver around 36,000 opportunities for state school students across England.
This longitudinal programme will start with an inspirational talk to year 8 students through the Speakers for Schools programme, followed by access to insight days and work experience in year 9-10, and online mentoring to select young people, provided by charity partner, Brightside.
A programme built on evidence
Building on a successful pilot last year, IntoTech is being independently evaluated by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) in partnership with ImpactEd Evaluation through a Randomised Controlled Trial (RCT). The study will robustly assess whether structured exposure to technology careers can measurably improve the following outcomes in the intervention group compared to a control group:
Awareness of career pathways in tech
Confidence in their own suitability for the sector
Aspirations towards digital and technology roles
Understanding of the skills required to thrive in technology careers.
This rigorous evaluation will generate nationally significant evidence on what works in shifting career attitudes at scale – particularly for students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds.
This is a pivotal moment for the UK tech sector. Partnering with The Hg Foundation allows us to deliver a seismic shift in the uptake of tech careers among underrepresented groups. By combining inspirational talks from tech pioneers with meaningful work experiences, we’re not just opening doors, we’re breaking them down.
The tech sector is at the vanguard of how the workplace is changing due to AI. It has never been more important to ensure that young people – especially those from lower income homes – have the latest insights and experiences of the sector so we can positively build the next generation of talent. Through IntoTech we are doing this at scale and have the courage to robustly assess whether it is making a difference.
This hugely interesting programme seeks to support disadvantaged young people to understand and access careers in the technology sector. We look forward conducting a thorough evaluation to assess to what extent it improves outcomes.
We’re proud to be supporting Futures For All to deliver IntoTech. At Brightside, we’ve always believed in the power of tech for good. Programmes like this show how the tech sector can play a vital role in widening access to opportunity and helping the next generation thrive
About Futures For All
Futures For All are the UK’s leading social mobility charity, dedicated to levelling the playing field for all young people in state education, by providing fully funded and free-to-access Work Experience and Speakers for Schools programmes. Founded 15 years ago by ITV’s Political Editor, Robert Peston, Futures For All’s programmes have supported nearly 2 million state-educated young people to access meaningful experiences of work, hear from inspirational speakers, and explore new opportunities. www.futuresforall.org
About The Hg Foundation
The vision of The Hg Foundation is that the tech workforce of the future harnesses the talents of all, regardless of background. To achieve this, it helps underrepresented groups to access high quality jobs in tech by supporting education- and employment-based programmes across the UK, Europe and North America. The Foundation, which is an independent registered charity, is funded by Hg, a leading transatlantic software investor. To date, the Foundation has committed $45m, supported 55 education and employment programmes, and helped more than 80,000 young people and adults access opportunities in the technology sector.
About NFER
The National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) is a leading independent provider of education research in the UK. Our unique position and approach delivers evidence-based insights designed to enable education policy makers and practitioners to take action to improve outcomes for children and young people. Our key topic areas are: accountability, assessment, classroom practice, education to employment, social mobility, school funding, school workforce and systems and structures. As a not-for profit organisation, we re-invest any surplus funds into self-funded research and development to further contribute to the science and knowledge of education research. www.nfer.ac.uk
About ImpactEd
ImpactEd Evaluation (part of ImpactEd Group) is an award-winning social enterprise that exists to help evaluate, understand and improve impact in education. We work with organisations, schools and colleges, using high-quality research and evaluation to generate better evidence on how to support young people. For the IntoTech project, we are supporting NFER using our School Impact Platform to enable school level data collection, tracking and reporting. www.impacted.org
About Brightside
Brightside is the UK’s leading online mentoring charity and has supported more than 160,000 young people since 2003 through its safe and secure digital platform. For over 20 years, Brightside has used technology to break down geographical barriers, connecting young people with mentors who help them make confident and informed decisions about their futures. Through the Brightside app, young people can message a mentor in their pocket – a trusted role model they can access whenever they need guidance. https://brightside.org.uk/
References
Mol Learn: What’s driving rapid growth in the UK tech industry?
Tech Talent Charter: Diversity in Tech – An annual report tracking diversity in technology across the UK
