Children's University

The Children’s University aims to provide high quality out of school hours activities for 7 – 14 year olds, particularly in areas of socio-economic deprivation.  Children’s University activities take a variety of forms, and are delivered in a variety of locations – theatres, offices, shops, museums and galleries, as well as the more conventional settings of classrooms and lecture halls.  The work touches on a wide range of subjects too, from astronomy to dance, languages to sport and story-telling to IT, all underpinned by a commitment to providing meaningful and enriching experiences.

Although the Children’s University has been in existence for some years, the Trust – in partnership with the JP Morgan Foundation and the DCSF – has funded the creation of a national organisation to oversee the expansion of the initiative to reach many more young people from disadvantaged backgrounds, as well as putting in place a range of quality assurance mechanisms and a national evaluation led by Cambridge University.

By April 2009 40 centres were active in areas of deprivation, delivering 585, 000 hours of activities to 50,000 children.  The Children’s University Trust will also have awarded £1.05 million in grants to 34 local centres providing either start-up, expansion or rescue funding.