Sarah is the Founder and Chief Executive of Get Further – a new social enterprise boosting the English and maths skills of students facing challenges in further education. Get Further matches students studying GCSE English or maths in further education with a first-rate tutor, for weekly tuition and mentoring – at no cost to the student. Get Further tutors are exceptional volunteers with a background in teaching, who utilise their skills and experience to increase the students’ chances of success in their exams and to support them to realise their aspirations for their education or career.
Sarah began her career teaching maths, seeing first-hand the difference that gaining GCSE maths and English can have on the opportunities that are available to young people. She has also worked as a Political Advisor to the Shadow Education Secretary and as Head of Policy at the Social Mobility Commission – where she started developing the idea for Get Further, recognising that improving levels of basic skills is a key social mobility challenge for our country. In 2016, she was shortlisted for the inaugural Virago/New Statesman Women’s Prize for Politics and Economics.
Get Further won the 2018 Teach First Innovation Award – a nationwide competition to find the next big ideas to tackle education inequality – and later that year, Sarah launched the maths pilot in London. Now, with support from the Shackleton Foundation, Sarah will be able to grow in capacity and reach more students, with plans to launch an pilot for English in 2019.