Extracurricular education is widely acknowledged as life-enhancing, yet many young people are unable to benefit from it. Through its free and diverse programmes, the National Saturday Club is addressing this lack of equity and increasing the opportunities for all young people to expand and enrich their learning journey.

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The National Saturday Club believes it is a fundamental right of young people to pursue extracurricular activities, and to benefit from the educative and social advantages that these can bring. However, socio- economic and other factors frequently impede many young people’s access to these valuable non-formal learning opportunities, denying them experiences that could broaden their horizons and positively impact their skills development and wellbeing.

Past evaluation by the National Saturday Club has shown that 55% of widening participation Club members were not taking part in any other regular out-of-school activities. This increased to over 60% for young people from low income families, in areas of deprivation and young people whose parents had not been to university. As documented in the Education Policy Unit’s 2024 report, Access to extra-curricular provision and the association with outcomes, cost is just one of the roadblocks that young people from lower socio-economic backgrounds can encounter on the path to extracurricular education.

A lack of knowledge about the opportunities that exist; a sense of not belonging in certain environments; and insufficient provision for those with a disability or special education needs can all hinder access. Research by the Social Mobility Commission has highlighted that gender, ethnicity and geographic location can also play a part in participation levels, as well as school attended, “with independent schools in particular likely to offer an unparalleled breadth and range of activities compared to state schools”.

“These activities reinforce curriculum-based learning and create space for children with diverse interests to grow through play and creativity” Jane Fernandes, Collective Action and Advocacy Manager, Fair Education Alliance

The increasing volume of quantitative and qualitative research underlining the benefits of extracurricular education, and the wider implications of unequal access to this type of activity, speak to the intrinsic value of all young people engaging in varied types of learning, both formal and non-formal, and the issue of social mobility, if many are unable to take up educational pursuits beyond the classroom.

Jane Fernandes, Collective Action and Advocacy Manager at the Fair Education Alliance, supports the view that levelling access to extracurricular education is pivotal:

“The evidence is clear that extracurricular activities can support academic outcomes, wellbeing and better engagement with school, helping to address the attendance crisis. These activities reinforce curriculum-based learning and create space for children with diverse interests to grow through play and creativity. During extracurricular activities, pupils also learn skills for the future that can’t be taught in a classroom. The socio-economic gap in the provision of extracurricular education is notable, with independent schools offering an exceptional range of activities compared to state schools. If this gap is not addressed, we will see the continuation of this societal divide as these pupils enter the workforce.”

The National Saturday Club’s evaluation confirms that after engaging in its programmes young people experience a wealth of beneficial impacts, including improved self-confidence and wellbeing, the development of core skills they can apply in diverse contexts, and a widening of their social networks. For example, in 2023–24, 78% of Club members relayed that they have grown in confidence; 70% found that joining a Club has improved their outlook on the future; 73% have got better at communicating their ideas; 70% value working with other people more; 81% are better informed about potential jobs and careers; and 89% of parents or guardians noticed that their child was more willing to try new things and “have a go”.

These outcomes have both immediate and far-reaching effects, and are also evidenced in additional comments that Club members and their parents or guardians make at the end of each year.

One Club member noted:

“Having these types of opportunities helped me realise how fun Saturday Clubs can be and made me feel confident to share my ideas and opinions. I believe this is a great age to experience a different curriculum [that may help you go] on to further education.”

 Another commented:

“It feels nice to know you’ve done something outside of school. You get to express [your] feelings without being judged [and learn] skills that stretch off in different directions.”

For many parents or guardians, the impact of Saturday Club activity on their children is similarly positive.

Two parents this year made the following comments:

“I imagine that it is a rare occurrence that one weekend course has the impact to change the trajectory of someone’s life. However, in my son’s case, I do think we have witnessed the very same.”

“It’s expanded [my daughter’s] mind meeting new people and trying out ‘college life’ in preparation for post‑GCSEs. It’s improved her confidence and she enjoyed it so much she would actually be happy to look at different courses to take up in future.”

Our data shows the benefits of extracurricular learning

Club members’ experience

Parent and guardian observations

Outcomes

“The growth of a young person, not just in knowledge and skill but as a culturally rich, emotionally intelligent individual is vital.” Matt Yeoman, Assistant Head Teacher, Queen’s Park High School, Chester

Georgia de Buriatte, Saturday Club tutor and co‑ordinator at Winchester School of Art, University of Southampton, relays her observations of the young people she has worked with, emphasising that the Club experience has numerous holistic advantages for individuals with different needs:

“There are some young people who experience emotion- based school avoidance, so for them to attend a Club consistently, even if they are not necessarily participating in the activity, is a huge win. Allowing these types of Club members to feel comfortable in more academic settings is my personal goal. Often after a few weeks, when their anxiety is reduced, they begin creating amazing things. For others who are attending school and performing well academically, the Saturday Club might provide some much-needed respite from their daily pressures. Having fun and playing is more important for them than making the most ‘skilful’ piece they can achieve.”

Viewed as a complement to mainstream schooling, time spent in the creative, non-formal and non-examination- based learning environment of a Saturday Club evidently has the potential to impact young people’s perception of what they can achieve and what their future may look like. Such outcomes demonstrate that the Club’s programmes are enabling real change for young people, which can positively influence their formal education.

Matt Yeoman, Assistant Head Teacher at Queen’s Park High School in Chester, corroborates this view, outlining the wider value of extracurricular activity in his experience and the importance of widening access:

The growth of a young person, not just in knowledge and skill but as a culturally rich, emotionally intelligent individual, is vital. In the UK, our formal, knowledge- based curriculum leaves little room for this development and so, particularly for young people whose cultural capital and extracurricular opportunities are low, we need to intervene and widen access to these activities. These opportunities allow students to be creative and collaborative, to develop ambitions not linked to targets, and ultimately encourage young people to become interested in their own investment in the world. A passion for engaging in extracurricular education inevitably improves both attendance and attitude towards school itself, as it becomes a place less associated with the mundane and more with self- fulfilment and the less measurable but highly valued term enrichment.”

Acknowledging the significant advantages of taking up an extracurricular activity, especially for those young people currently under-represented in this sphere, the National Saturday Club is committed to expanding access to its programmes and to forging the partnerships that will help facilitate this. In 2023–24, 76% of Club members were from a widening participation (WP) background. Supporting the right of all young people to receive a diverse and rounded educational experience, irrespective of their background, is the Club’s critical mission, and an effective way, it advocates, of nurturing the potential of the next generation. As a long-standing provider of high-quality and accessible educational programmes, the National Saturday Club supports the growing consensus that extracurricular learning should no longer be considered a “nice ‘extra’ but an integral part of childhood for all”.

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