A SWINDON educational trust has trumpeted the achievements of its students and stressed the benefits its scholars programme has brought to the town.

Villiers Park Educational Trust aims to tackle social inequality by giving students from low income backgrounds the chance to enrol in top universities.

The Trust, which has been in Swindon for the past seven years, has released its latest impact report in which it describes social mobility in the UK as “a destructive issue” before laying out plans to help more young people achieve their full potential.

Catherine Jones, development and communications assistant at Villiers Park, said: “Since launching the Swindon Scholars Programme, approximately 150 scholars have successfully graduated from the programme.

“We work with 30-35 scholars in each year group from years 10-13 from six schools, including St Joseph’s Catholic College, Lydiard Park Academy, Churchfields Academy, The Commonweal School, New College and Cirencester College.

“The report shows we are empowering Swindon’s brightest young people from lower-income backgrounds to achieve fantastic results and fulfil their dreams.”

It is claimed that the educational attainment gap between rich and poor costs the UK £1.3 trillion a year, which is described by Villiers Park as “a tragedy for the economic and social well-being of the nation and for the young people themselves”.

The latest figures from the Department for Education show that in 2012 67 per cent of state school A-level students progressed to university compared with 85 per cent of independent school students.

The proportion for state students has declined year-on-year to 62 per cent in 2014 whilst the proportion for independent students has remained constant.

Speaking about the impact the Scholars Programme has made in Swindon, Richard Gould, chief executive of Villiers Park Educational Trust, said: “It’s been a delight to have worked with young people in Swindon over the past seven years. Their families, schools and colleges, and more generally the town, can be proud of their achievements.

“The Scholars Programme is recognised as an important part of education provision in the town and we look forward to more outstanding results and student successes in the future.”

Villiers Park has seven Scholars Programmes across the UK in Bedford and Peterborough, Crawley, East Lancashire, Hastings and Bexhill, Norfolk, Swindon and Tyneside.

Statistics for Swindon revealed that 60 per cent of scholars gained a place at a leading university, 80% found an increase in their enthusiasm and 100% of parents said the Scholars Programme had a positive effect on their child.

Catherine added: “Social mobility is such a huge issue in the UK at the moment and Swindon is one of the areas in which the government is looking to improve it. We think our model is one of the best because we get the results.

“Our students are going on to Oxford and other Russell Group universities. It’s all about raising aspirations and improving the whole community through education.”