YELP Students

Only 16% of students from disadvantaged backgrounds go on to study at university, and only 1% will study at a Russell Group university. This is despite 80% of these students living within 40 minutes of a top university. YELP Students’ mission is to significantly increase access to leading universities by harnessing the power of their students to raise the aspirations and improve the attainment of local disadvantaged school pupils. These undergraduates build valuable relationships with the pupils through tutoring, mentoring and enrichment activities – equipping the pupils with the academic and social tools they need to access top universities.

YELP Students was founded in 2007 by Sharla Duncan, a Biochemistry undergraduate at King’s College London, who had succeeded in her academic career despite coming from a disadvantaged background herself. The aspirations that led to this success were built through a friendship with a friend from a more education-focussed background – and this powerful ‘social capital’ effect underpins the model of YELP Students.