Grants of up to £30,000 per year are available to UK registered charities for multi-year projects in the UK and overseas to advance educational opportunities for vulnerable or deprived children and young people aged up to 25 years.
The Educational Opportunity Foundation supports charitable organisations running UK and International projects to improve access to education or the quality of education for children and young people under the age of 25, from marginalised or low-income communities or displaced by conflict. In the UK, the Foundation also supports education projects for those who have caring responsibilities or experience of living in care.
The Educational Opportunity Foundation’s Main Grants programme awards approximately £700,000 in new grants every year for projects which maximise educational opportunity for children and young people under the age of 25 in the UK and internationally.
The Main Grants programme will:
- Support new or pilot projects, or projects which have started in the past 12 months.
- Provide funding for between one and three years.
- Fund between 25% to 100% of total project costs but will give preference to projects with some degree of matched funding, and
- Fund overhead contributions up to 20% of the total grant.
Please note that annual grant payments cannot exceed 50% of an organisation’s three-year average income.
UK Projects
The Foundation supports work that improves the educational outcomes and life chances of care experienced young people (under the age of 25 and living in the UK). It will fund between £30,000 to £90,000 per project (maximum £30,000 per year for multi-year projects) for projects which work with either care experienced young people, their carers or education professionals to:
- Improve access to educational opportunity – including support for care experienced young people to attend and engage in mainstream school life; increasing the number of education professionals able to understand their needs; equipping carers to understand the education system and support and advocate for the young people in their care, engaging with trauma-informed support; improving access to out of school support and educational activities.
- Improve educational outcomes – including enabling care experienced young people to learn in ways that works for them; supporting a broad range of activities that develop confidence and mental health in order to improve educational outcomes including support for carers to encourage learning and raise aspirations, and
- Improve life chances – Including improving the support for care experienced young people (aged 16-24) to access further education, employment or training opportunities and improving support for them to remain engaged with these opportunities.
International Projects
The Foundation will support work that improves the quality, sustainability, and access to education for young people up to the age of 25 within marginalised and deprived communities worldwide. It will fund between £30,000 to £60,000 per project (maximum £30,000 per year for multi-year projects) for projects which:
- Improve access to education – Including increasing the number of educational opportunities, especially for girls, (including construction of classrooms or latrines), increasing the number of qualified teachers trained in inclusive, non-discriminatory practices and improving community attitudes to educating children who are often excluded or overlooked.
- Improve the quality of education – Including enhancing the quality of teaching and learning, improving access to extra-curricular support, increasing child friendly resources, and increasing access to aspirational vocational training opportunities including STEM and IT, and
- Improve the sustainability of education projects – Including encouraging educational projects with integrated community management or ownership, self-generating income and minimising their environmental impact.
To apply to the Fund, applicants must meet the following criteria:
Be a UK registered charity with an income normally between £25,000 and £2.5 million.
Have at least 3 years of continuous accounts submitted to the relevant UK Charity Commission or Regulator.
Be financially sound and registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales, Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator or the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland.
Be directly involved in the provision of the project activities. We do not fund organisations whose primary purpose is fundraising.
Be committed to minimising their impact on the environment and be able to evidence how they have considered climate change adaptation and / or mitigation in their projects, and
Have their own safeguarding procedures that comply with the relevant Charity Commission guidance as a minimum, and include any additional legal or regulatory requirements specific to their work.
The following Stage 1 application deadlines apply:
UK Projects: Wednesday 14 January 2026 (for the Grants Committee meeting on Wednesday 15 April 2026).
International Projects:
- Wednesday 5 November 2025 (for the Grants Committee meeting on Wednesday 21 January 2026).
- Wednesday 13 May 2026 (for the Grants Committee meeting on Wednesday 15 July 2026).
- Monday 13 July 2026 (for the Grants Committee meeting Wednesday 21 October 2026).
Further information, guidance and details on how to apply can be found on the Foundation’s website.