Our Commitment

We believe that the radical step to embed completely in a North London Comprehensive School is an act of leadership in the cultural sector’s capacity to engage in the levelling-up agenda. It is a living act of equalisation in society where public and private, arts and education, work together to provide benefit to those in particular need. More organisations can and should follow our example. Quick links: Acland Burghley School, The Five Point Plan, Notes from a Playground, Dreamchasing Young Producers.
"Children born in the UK today can expect to live for as much as one hundred years. They are likely to witness immense change and face great challenges. An education that stimulates their creativity can help them thrive, enjoy, and achieve in their lives, and shape a better future for themselves, as well as for the nation as a whole. "
Sir Nicholas Serota, former chair of Durham Commission

Our ambition for our residency

We heard this emphatic call to action, the key message of the Durham Commission, in a context where, even before the pandemic and downturn in the national and international economies, the education gap between poorer students and their more affluent peers had risen to 18.1 months.

Addressing this disadvantage, surely the fundamental challenge in the levelling-up agenda, fits perfectly with our charitable mission as an orchestra to engage broadly and without prejudice.

Through our residency, we are therefore committed to:

  • raising curricular attainment;
  • promoting wellbeing;
  • improving post-school opportunities;
  • enriching extra-curricular life in multiple strands;
  • offering a new lifeline of reward and expression to young people with additional needs;
  • providing a dependable and accessible cultural focal point for our North London community.
"The gap between poor students and their more affluent peers going to university is at its widest point for more than a decade despite government pressure to boost campus diversity, figures reveal. The proportion of black pupils entering higher education in Britain has also stagnated, Department for Education statistics show, with just a 0.1-percentage-point increase in the last year. "
Eleanor Busby, The Independent, 18 December 2019
"The OAE has always been ahead of its time, and this ground-breaking partnership with Acland Burghley epitomises the orchestra’s pioneering ethos. Join us to make a meaningful investment in this truly enlightened alliance. "
Imogen Overli, OAE Chair

Read next: The Five Point Plan