Over the last 20 years, Quest for Learning has helped more than 5000 disadvantaged primary school children who were struggling with reading and maths to catch up with their classmates. What makes us special is our results. We're proud that we have consistently had a measurable impact on academic outcomes: for example, in just six weeks, children working with our tutors make an average of: 15 months' progress in reading; 9 months' progress in writing; and 20 months' progress in comprehension. We know that the need is still high: research has shown that, nationally, almost half of children from low-income families can't read properly by the time they leave primary school, and that, locally, over a quarter of Oxford's children are living in poverty. Even more worryingly, a recent County Council report found that the attainment gap between children eligible for free school meals and their peers is widening in Oxfordshire, despite decreasing nationally. Simply put, children from the poorest families in Oxfordshire are being left further behind their school friends than elsewhere in the country. We're continuing to play an active part in closing this attainment gap by continuing to expand our teaching across Oxfordshire, targeting schools in areas of inner city and rural deprivation.
