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Joe Seddon

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Joe Seddon
Born
Joseph Seddon

4 June 1997 (22 years old)
Leeds, West Yorkshire, England
NationalityBritish
EducationUniversity of Oxford
OccupationSocial Entrepreneur

Joe Seddon (born June 1997) is a British social entrepreneur and the founder of Zero Gravity, a digital social enterprise which connects students with mentors, universities and employers. He is previously the founder of Access Oxbridge, a non-profit organisation which provides mentorship to students from low-income backgrounds who wish to apply to the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge.[1]

Early life

Seddon was born in Leeds, West Yorkshire in June 1997. He was raised in Morley, West Yorkshire by his mother, Catherine, who works as a speech therapist in the National Health Service.[2]

Seddon was educated at Heckmondwike Grammar School, a state school in Kirklees, West Yorkshire.[3] In his later years at school, Seddon was involved in competitive debating, where he qualified for England's National Debating Team.[4]

After leaving school, Seddon read Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at Mansfield College, Oxford, graduating with first class honours.[5] During university, Seddon was an occasional contributor to the education section of The Daily Telegraph, where he wrote articles about Britain's higher education system.[6]

Career

Access Oxbridge

Upon graduating from the University of Oxford, Seddon founded Access Oxbridge,[7] a non-profit organisation which connects students from low-income backgrounds with undergraduate mentors studying at the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge.[8] The mentoring sessions take place in hour-long video calls via an app once a week.[9]

Seddon founded the organisation at the age of 21 and initially funded the initiative from the remnants of his university maintenance grant.[10] In 2018, Access Oxbridge recruited over 500 undergraduate volunteers to mentor 200 students in Year 12 and 13 from low-income backgrounds. 50 of those students achieved offers to study at Oxford and Cambridge.[11]

In 2019, Seddon relaunched Access Oxbridge as a mobile app.[12] That year, 60 students from the program achieved offers to study at Oxford and Cambridge.[13]

In October 2019, he was awarded the Prime Minister's Points of Light award for social impact in education.[14]

Zero Gravity

In May 2020, Seddon launched Zero Gravity, a digital social enterprise which connects students from low-income backgrounds with undergraduate mentors studying at both Oxbridge and Russell Group universities.[15][16][17][18][19]

Advocacy & Media

Seddon's work as a social entrepreneur has been covered by a number of major publications, including BBC News,[10] The Times,[20] The Telegraph,[13] and Corriere della Serra.[21]

Seddon is a contributor to BBC News, BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 5 Live, where he discusses social mobility and increasing access to higher education.[22] He has also been a guest speaker at the Cambridge Union, where he has delivered lectures on social entrepreneurship.[23]

Personal life

Seddon lives in London and is a Hull City supporter.[24]

References

  1. ^ "Meet the 21-year-old from Yorkshire giving hundreds of state school students the secrets of how to get into Oxbridge". The Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 2019-10-26.
  2. ^ Gill, Gurvinder (2020-02-11). "I spent my last £200 getting people into Oxbridge". BBC News. Retrieved 2020-03-30.
  3. ^ "Celebration for pass masters at two schools". The Press. Retrieved 2019-10-26.
  4. ^ "Debating Matters - People - Joe Seddon". archive.debatingmatters.com. Retrieved 2019-10-26.
  5. ^ "Oxford grad offers free tutoring to poor kids". Metro Newspaper UK. Retrieved 2019-10-26.
  6. ^ Seddon, Joe (2017-07-18). "In defence of tuition fees: a student's perspective". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2019-10-26.
  7. ^ Mintz, Luke (2019-06-17). "Can mentor schemes really turn the tables for disadvantaged students applying to Oxbridge?". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2019-10-26.
  8. ^ "Joe Seddon: 'Access All Areas'". The Cambridge Student. 2019-01-26. Retrieved 2019-10-26.
  9. ^ "This app helps students with Oxford and Cambridge University admissions". Study International. 2020-02-17. Retrieved 2020-02-29.
  10. ^ a b Gill, Gurvinder (2020-02-11). "I spent my last £200 getting people into Oxbridge". BBC News. Retrieved 2020-02-12.
  11. ^ Education Editor, Rosemary Bennett (2019-02-02). "Oxford graduate Joe Seddon offers key to interview ordeal". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 2019-10-26. {{cite news}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  12. ^ "Student-led outreach initiative Access Oxbridge launches 'groundbreaking' new app". Varsity Online. Retrieved 2019-10-26.
  13. ^ a b Penna, Dominic (2020-02-12). "Want to go to Oxbridge? 5 insider tips for state school students from a 'super mentor'". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2020-02-12.
  14. ^ "Access Oxbridge founder receives Prime Minister's Points of Light award". Varsity Online. Retrieved 2020-02-29.
  15. ^ Bennett, Rosemary. "App gives poor pupils a mentor to guide them into top universities". ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 2020-05-25.
  16. ^ Cerullo, Sophia (2020-05-30). "Oxford graduate launches digital mentoring for students from disadvantaged backgrounds". Cherwell. Retrieved 2020-06-01.
  17. ^ "Mentoring start-up 'Zero Gravity' launched today by founder of Access Oxbridge". The Oxford Student. 2020-05-24. Retrieved 2020-06-01.
  18. ^ "'Not everybody has a dedicated office space and a Macbook Air': Oxford grad creates app to help improve access to university". University of Cambridge. 2020-05-28. Retrieved 2020-06-01.
  19. ^ "Grad signs up 1,000 students to mentor disadvantaged kids applying to uni". UK. 2020-05-28. Retrieved 2020-06-01.
  20. ^ Bennett, Rosemary. "Young mentor secures 60 Oxbridge offers for deprived pupils". ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 2020-02-12.
  21. ^ "PressReader.com - Your favorite newspapers and magazines". www.pressreader.com. Retrieved 2020-02-29.
  22. ^ "Joe Seddon from Access Oxbridge on BBC Look North". Retrieved 2020-01-07.
  23. ^ "Easter Term 2019 | Cambridge Union". Issuu. Retrieved 2019-10-26.
  24. ^ "Grad Life by the Horns: 13: Oxbridge, Resilience and Entrepreneurship with Joe Seddon". gradlifebythehorns.libsyn.com. Retrieved 2020-05-16.
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