Nesta, the innovation foundation, today launches a new grant fund to support projects that develop social and emotional skills- in particular interpersonal skills and resilience- in 11 to 18 year-olds. Previous Nesta research, including the Future of Skills report, has shown that these skills will not only be important for future employment in the face of increased automation, but also to tackle some of the biggest challenges facing society.

The £250,000 Future Ready Fund will support high-potential interventions that promote these wider skills in secondary-age young people. Between £35,000 and £50,000 is available for between five and seven grantees alongside non-financial support focusing on evaluation.

Individual schools, school networks, social enterprises and charities, or for-profit companies are being called on to apply. Relevant interventions could be delivered by teachers through existing curriculum content, such as encouraging collaboration skills through science projects, or external projects, such as those that link employers with young people to help them acquire the interpersonal skills needed for the workplace.

There are some indications that the UK is waking up to the need to develop social and emotional skills amongst young people. Ofsted has announced changes to the way schools are inspected to look beyond exams and league tables - which might involve the development of wider skills and attitudes. The Secretary of State for Education, Damian Hinds, said in a July 2018 speech that ‘you won’t crack social mobility by only focusing on exam results,’ and stated the importance of ‘soft skills’.

Despite this, provision to develop wider skills and capabilities in the UK is inconsistent and there are few funders explicitly seeking interventions that intentionally and directly target them. The current debate about how the education system should develop wider skills and capabilities is limited to the periphery, and discussions are often not backed by practical action and funding.

The Future Ready Fund aims to change this by supporting interventions focused on non-cognitive skills, as specified in the Education Endowment Fund’s SPECTRUM framework This includes:-

• Emotional intelligence, in particular how to build good relationships and collaborate effectively
• Social and emotional competence, particularly in relation to collaboration
• Resilience and coping
• Perceptions of self (self-confidence and self-efficacy)
• Motivation, goal orientation and perseverance

Jed Cinnamon, programme manager on the education team at Nesta says, “The development of wider skills and capabilities - alongside academic attainment - is often difficult to prioritise in schools today, especially within the context of funding pressures, high teacher workload and accountability pressures. Intentional, well-designed provision to improve such skills in schools is limited, especially for students from a lower income background. That’s why we are looking for pioneering interventions that develop these crucial skills. We have a responsibility to not just talk about preparing young people for the future, but to take practical action. This includes finding cost-effective ways of supporting these skills, and improving our understanding of how best to measure impact.

You can read more about the fund here (insert link). Eligible projects are invited to submit a short expression of interest (EOI) by 9am on the 10th December 2018. Submit your application here.

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For more information contact Juliet Grant in Nesta’s press office on 020 7438 2668 , [email protected]

Notes to editors:

About Nesta

Nesta is a global innovation foundation. We back new ideas to tackle the big challenges of our time, making use of our knowledge, networks, funding and skills. We work in partnership with others, including governments, businesses and charities. We are a UK charity that works all over the world, supported by a financial endowment. To find out more visit www.nesta.org.uk

Nesta is a registered charity in England and Wales 1144091 and Scotland SC042833.