Guest Blog: Building Bridges
Why we created Sutton Trust Online
As part of my various roles, I have the privilege of working alongside organisations and individuals who aren’t just tackling inequality but also interrogating it with depth, rigour, and a commitment to shifting the narrative. They contribute to research, datasets, and insight that help us better understand and address the structural forces at play. It takes our work from simply doing, to thinking and doing it better.
The Sutton Trust is a standout example. I’m regularly challenged, inspired, and humbled by the breadth and depth of their work in this space.
So when Jon Datta, Head of University Access & Digital at the Sutton Trust, offered to write a guest blog, I didn’t hesitate… it was an immediate yes!
Jon Datta: Head of University Access & Digital, Sutton Trust
(Jon Datta at the Sutton Trust - complete with caffeine!)
Twelve years ago, I stood in front of my first classes as a new teacher in East London, nervous but hopeful. In those early days, I met a student who told me she wanted to become a doctor but had never met anyone who’d gone to university. That moment stayed with me. It encapsulated the quiet injustice so many young people face: that their ambition can be sky-high, but the opportunities to realise it are often painfully limited. That gap, between potential and access, lit a fire in me.
She got the help she needed. We made sure of it. And, about a year ago, she messaged me to say she’d just passed her finals at UCL and would soon be graduating as a doctor. All those years later, she’d done it - not just dreaming big, but realising it.
(Used with permission from Jon)
When opportunity doesn’t knock…
Talent is spread evenly across the UK, opportunity is not.
This is what has shaped every role I’ve taken since. I’ve worked in schools as a senior leader and Director of School Improvement, and led on widening participation at the University of Cambridge. Today, I head up University Access and Digital at the Sutton Trust, where I oversee our higher education strategy and associated flagship programmes, including our UK Summer Schools, Sutton Trust Fulbright US Programme, and our growing digital platform, Sutton Trust Online (STO). I also serve as Chair of Governors at a local comprehensive school where I continue to see, week in and week out, how hard-working schools are fighting a rising tide of financial and resource constraints to meet their students’ needs.
At the Sutton Trust, the UK’s leading social mobility charity, our mission is simple but urgent: to ensure every young person has a fair chance in life, regardless of their background.
But in 2025, we are still far from that goal.
Too many doors remain closed to students from lower-income homes. The playing field is still skewed. And even with over 10,000 young people supported annually across our in-person and digital programmes, demand far outstrips supply.
Take this year as an example: we received over 29,500 applications for just 4,000 places on our guided programmes. That’s tens of thousands of bright, motivated young people putting their hand up for help. But for the vast majority, we simply don’t have the resources to support through in-person programmes.
That’s why we created Sutton Trust Online.
Digital steps to access
Rapidly scaled at the start of the pandemic and supported by Bloomberg LP, Sutton Trust Online (STO) was a bold step into the digital space.
It’s an ambitious attempt to complement our in-person programmes with a scalable, equitable, tech-enabled offer. And it’s grown rapidly: we’ve now supported over 57,000 students through the platform, with more than 13,000 new participants this year alone and a 60%+ regular engagement rate.
Why does it matter?
Because traditional models of outreach, reliant on geography, physical attendance and the ability of schools to engage, inevitably leave some students behind. STO is designed to change that. It’s free, flexible, and available to all eligible students across the UK, regardless of whether they’ve secured a place on an in-person programme.
At its core, STO offers personalised, guided pathways for students to explore their post-18 options, build key skills, and reflect on their readiness for higher education or apprenticeships. Whether it’s support with UCAS applications through tools like OSCAR, speaking to their peers with lived experience, access to exclusive webinars and events with experts, new content for care-experienced students, or tailored information on student finance – every element is designed to empower students to make informed, ambitious choices. This means we can support thousands of learners who may otherwise fall through the gaps.
And the good news is, it works!
Our evaluation data shows that students who engage with both STO and our residential programmes are more than 2x more likely to progress to a highly competitive university than comparable peers. Higher engagement with STO is also associated with statistically significantly higher success rates at application, offer and acceptance stages compared to less engaged STO students.
Continuing the story
We know that digital outreach needs to keep evolving if it’s going to meet the scale of the challenge. That’s why we’re continuing to develop STO – expanding content, improving personalisation, and refining how we support students to build confidence, skills and direction for the future.
Recent additions include new content tailored for care-experienced students, support around applying to competitive courses and institutions (including Oxbridge), and tools aligned to the latest UCAS reforms. We’ve also been working closely with alumni and teachers to ensure the platform reflects real student journeys and responds to changing needs.
Our ambition is simple: to make Sutton Trust Online the most effective digital tool in the UK for supporting high-potential students from low-income backgrounds to navigate their next steps.
Part of the solution, not the whole story…
Let me be clear: STO will not fix social mobility.
Like many of you, we know systemic change is needed. Our programmes don’t replace that work, and they never will.
But we also believe we can’t wait for the perfect system to arrive before doing something meaningful now. STO and our other programmes help to bridge the gap, offering real support, right now, to thousands of students who might otherwise fall through the cracks.
‘They help open your eyes to all options that's are out there and help you be able to achieve them, it keeps you open minded and stops you feeling overwhelmed with all the choices and things to do.’
Sutton Trust Online: User feedback
Higher education remains the surest route to social mobility. Research consistently shows that disadvantaged young people who attend university are more likely to move into higher income brackets, with those attending selective universities seeing the greatest economic benefits. The numbers paint a concerning picture. Each year, around 4,700 state school students and 1,000 students from areas of historically low university participation are ‘missing’ from the UK's top 30 universities. These students have the required grades but don’t secure places.
That’s why our focus on high-attaining students from low socio-economic backgrounds isn’t about suggesting others don’t need help. It’s about recognising that with finite resources, we must focus where we can make the biggest difference. And even then, the need remains enormous.
Be part of the story
For me, this work is deeply personal. Professionally and personally, I’ve seen how systems can fail young people. But I’ve also seen what happens when these students are given the right support. They thrive. They succeed. They transform their futures. Now, let’s make sure that opportunity reaches young people, in every corner of the UK.
This only works if students know about the support that’s on offer.
'It made me feel SO much more confident about applying instead of inferior to those who’s parents had already explained and helped them with applications. I had no idea how to write a personal statement before, and now I’ve been accepted in all my choices’
Sutton Trust Online: User feedback
Applications for STO are now open. If you work with Year 12 students, please encourage those from lower-income backgrounds who meet our criteria to apply. It’s free, flexible, and designed to complement, not replace, the brilliant work happening in schools and colleges every day.
If you're working in programmes, policy, philanthropy or tech in the social mobility space, and you're interested in partnering on STO or learning more about our digital innovation in access, please do get in touch.
Opportunity matters
To finish, here’s a brief story to show you again why all of this matters.
Yasmin Baker is a medical student at Imperial College London and Co-Founder of More Than Medics, a non-profit helping students explore alternative careers in medicine. Yasmin is also Chief Research Officer for the Aspiring Medics.
Raised in a low-income, single-parent household in Liverpool, Yasmin overcame systemic barriers, such as financial hurdles, to secure a place at medical school.
(A young Yasmin with beliefs about the future)
Her journey was shaped by opportunities like the Sutton Trust Summer School, which boosted her confidence and sense of belonging. Yasmin’s story is a great example of how the Sutton Trust is helping to facilitate real-world stories of transformation; supporting young people with talent, tenacity, and limited opportunity to thrive.
Sean (aka That Poverty Guy) knows Yasmin through the Fair Education Alliance, where both are Innovation Award winners, highlighting the value of peer-led change in education an through the work of organisations such as the FEA and Sutton Trust. You can read more about Yasmin’s story here.
This is what Yasmin says about how the Sutton Trust have supported her:
“The Sutton Trust didn’t just open doors - it helped me believe I deserved to walk through them. Attending the Sutton Trust Summer School gave me the confidence, connections and clarity I needed to turn my dream into my reality.”
Yasmin Baker
5h year Imperial Medical Student with iBSc Management
Imperial College School of Medicine Students’ Union Deputy President
Imperial College Business School Management Society President
(Yasmin achieving dreams and ambition)
A huge thanks to Jon, Yasmin and the brilliant team at the Sutton Trust for this insightful and thought-provoking guest blog.
If you’re interested in contributing a guest piece, and in helping to spotlight ideas, resources, or initiatives that support those of us working to understand and address inequality, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.