Cultural capital and free theatre trips for our beneficiaries

Last year, Tutorfair Foundation piloted its Futures Programme - focused on achieving transformational change for disadvantaged 15-18-year-olds through access to education, employability and enrichment activities.

The structural problem with outreach initiatives

Through classroom teaching, careers provisions and arts enrichment, schools are expected to take sole responsibility for supporting students’ development. But is this a reasonable expectation, given the existing pressures on school’s budgets, staff and facilities?

“The ongoing cost-of-living crisis has led to a reduction in school trips, including theatre visits. When surveyed by SOLT & UK Theatre, 42% of parents reported that their children had fewer school trips in the 2022-2023 academic year than in previous years.”

Our analysis shows that the problem isn’t a lack of appetite from the third- and private-sector organisations who can provide these opportunities. Many companies are actively seeking to engage young people in outreach projects and there is an army of education and employability-focused charities trying to reach the same audience.

Increasingly, the problem is the bottle-neck created by all of these organisations relying on engagement with schools to bring their opportunities to young people.

That’s why we created the Futures Programme. Using our Opportunity Exchange website, we can directly connect young people from marginalised backgrounds with the beneficial activities (such as work experience, sector-specific mentoring, academic tutoring and theatre trips) that are out there for them.

About cultural capital

The arguments for educational and employability initiatives are widely accepted. But why is it valuable to connect young people to cultural spaces like the theatre?

Alongside well-reported educational and employment inequalities, students from low-income backgrounds also face a disparity in what could be called cultural capital. Not only does exposure to arts broaden the horizons - creating a better understanding of the world and our place in it - but familiarity with and opinions about a broad cultural landscape also serve as a price-of-entry to our nation’s ‘ivory towers’ - universities, professions and influential social circles.

This is partly why students from low-income backgrounds who engage in the arts at school are three times more likely to obtain a degree. It’s one thing to support students to gain the grades and hard skills they need to qualify for a place at university. It’s quite another to expect them to go on to thrive in an institutional setting dominated by peers wielding the soft power of cultural capital.

This invisible inequality is one reason why we should take seriously the interests of disadvantaged students with an appetite for the arts and cultural activity whilst continuing to support them with their educational outcomes and employability skills.

Dear England

Are there opportunities for young people to attend theatre shows at low or no cost? Yes. Do those young people know the opportunities exist and know how to access them? No.

During our Futures Programme pilot, we wanted to prove that we could solve this problem. That’s how we ended up sending one of our students to a production of Dear England at the Olivier Theatre. Accompanied by an adult of her choice, she attended the show at no cost to herself and a cost of just £15 to Tutorfair Foundation. Here’s what she thought:

“I absolutely loved it! It was very funny and the cast were constantly engaging with the audience. It was interesting seeing different characters in football engage and speak privately amongst each other (even if it is fictional). The portrayal of the characters were equally as good - especially Harry Kane - which added to the experience and made it seem as though you were seeing the players and other crew in real life. Overall, it was truly a memorable and fun experience and I would like to thank Tutorfair for this opportunity!”

Over the coming years, we aim to greatly increase the number of students using our programme to independently access opportunities like these - without relying on their schools as a gatekeeper.

And we need your help to achieve it. Whether you would like to provide an opportunity to less-advantaged young people, or would like to introduce the young people you work with to the service, get in touch with Joss at joss@tutorfair.org.