Our
Educational
Programmes

Working together with national policy makers, local government, schools and industry leaders, we’ve created a UK-wide suite of educational programmes to tackle inequality, improve young people’s life chances, and help the UK compete on the world stage.

Through our educational programmes, we connect girls with real life industry role models, providing them with the opportunity to interact with leading employers and learn new digital skills.

Our educational programmes are industry led. The content of the programme is designed in collaboration with our partners, who represent some of the largest digital employers in the UK. This not only means our course content is current, but also improves the life chances of those who attend.

Girls at AlderHey hospital having fun

The InnovateHer programme is currently delivered within schools across the North West as an after school enrichment programme, and from April 2020 it is available online.

We began by delivering our innovative, informal educational programme at FACT in Liverpool City Centre. The programme was application based and we quickly established that demand for places far outstripped what we could provide; we received 90 applications for just 15 places in the first cohort in October 2016.

Since then we have built a thriving community of girls aged 13-16, who regularly engage with us and each other. We realised that we needed to take our model into schools to enable us to reach many more girls from a broader range of backgrounds, and to remove any barriers to them attending. We’re passionate about reaching those who need it most, which is why we work in some of the most disadvantaged communities across the North West.

We’ve since reached over 1,000 girls across the UK, from over 50 schools.

In 2020 we launched our new online educational programmes to expand our reach to girls all over the UK. We have provided free access to girls in receipt of free school meals, and we prioritise applications from BAME communities. We have partnered with the Princes Trust to provide devices to those who need them.

Our programme aims to:

  • Inspire girls to take STEM related subjects at GCSE and A-Level, presenting them with a broad range of options and routes into industry.
  • Educate teachers and parents why girls should be aspiring to work in digital or technology and inform them about the wide range of opportunities available.
  • Address the gap between the skills the industry requires and those taught in formal education settings, by involving key stakeholders from industry to inform our programmes and evolving the content to keep pace with changes. Our programmes are taught and led by industry role models.
  • Influence policy makers to create a strategic model for lasting and systemic change in education and careers services.
  • Level the playing field – we’re passionate about providing access to our programmes to girls from all backgrounds and identities.

How is our programme funded?

The programme is funded through a mixture of private and public sector funding. We work with partners to enable the course to remain at a low cost, keeping our education programme free for the individual girls.

If you want to help us make a difference, get in touch today!