About Futureversity

In 1994, Lord Young of Darlington, one of the great post-war influences on social policy, asked two local 18 year olds in Tower Hamlets, to find out why youth crime increased each summer. Over 6 weeks, his two researchers, Rushanara Ali and Tom Lawson, asked as many young people in Tower Hamlets as possible:

• What they were doing during the summer holiday
• What they knew was available to them
• What stopped them from taking advantage of these things

And if they could do anything, what they would like to do

The overwhelming feedback was that young people wanted accessible, free courses that they could choose for themselves, where they could learn new skills and find out how to enter the world of work. From this idea, and following a successful pilot in 1995, Tower Hamlets Summer University was born, the model quickly spreading to 9 other London Boroughs and, thanks to Government support, expanded to all 32 London Boroughs in 1998.

Rebranded as Futureversity, the model of free aspirational courses, delivered by experts with young people at the core of planning, decision making and evaluations, has won awards, gained wide recognition and met local and national policies year on year, irrespective of the political party in power. The model remains relevant today because of the way we engage young people and act on what they tell us.  

The Futureversity Partnership Agreement

We believe that all young people should be able to access a Futureversity programme wherever they live. The Futureversity Partnership Agreement allows for an external organisation, or group of organisations, to deliver a Futureversity Programme in their area, benefiting from all our learning since 1994. We provide all the resources, training and support to plan, deliver and evaluate your local Futureversity Programme. Find out more about the many benefits of working with Futureversity and delivering a Futureversity Programme.

Quality and Futureversity

Futureversity Programmes are viewed by young people, and those who fund/run programmes, as activities of exceptional quality. To demonstrate this and to ensure consistency across the Futureversity Network each year, programmes are reviewed against the Quality Assurance Framework and visited by a team of Youth Assessors.

The Futureversity Quality Assurance Fundamentals

• Accessibility
• Breadth
• Celebration of Achievement
• Partnerships
• Quality
• Volunteers
• Worth
• Youth Participation