Impact
Empowering the next generation of changemakers
Our 2022 Impact Journey
Despite continued difficulties faced by schools, particularly for students experiencing challenging circumstances, there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic about how we - together with our partners - are making a positive impact on the education of young people across the UK.
We’re proud to share how Apps for Good has evolved this year to continue supporting passionate teachers and empowering creative young people.
Each year, our free tech innovation courses benefit:
Schools
Young People
Teachers
The skills that matter
The UK tech sector is growing, and although data suggests 57% of young people want a job that uses advanced digital skills, one fifth don’t feel they’re getting good enough foundational training from school.
Our courses are designed to equip young people with both the digital and essential skills for their future. Take a look at Denbigh High School.
of students said their confidence had increased
of students said their programming and coding improved
of students said their teamwork improved
of students said their communication skills had improved
of students said their problem solving had improved
of students said their product design skills had improved
Hear what students and teachers have to say about skills
I think the most inspiring thing for me was the fact that you might not always think that you're going to be good at this thing.... But then when we actually thought about what we're going to do, we realised that, if we change our mindset to make it more positive, we can do whatever we want to.
I think one of the great benefits of the Apps for Good programme is the way it blends together learning about the technology, which is developing all the time and is going to be required in most work settings in the future for any settings that our students work in, and blends that with the notion of growing up to be a citizen.
Inspired by Industry
The UK is a world leader in impactful tech innovation, which will be critical in securing a sustainable future, yet research shows that 70% of the tech industry experience skills shortages. We also know that many young people are not aware of the career opportunities in the sector, or even worse, are put off a career in tech.
We engage industry experts to provide 'real-world' inspiration and feedback on students’ tech ideas. See how this is happening at Bosworth Academy.
Industry Expert Volunteers engaged with our students
of Apps for Good students, each year, are more interested in a career in tech
Young people benefited from industry expertise
Hear what teachers, students and partners say about engaging industry
Some students come from economically deprived backgrounds so they don’t naturally come into contact with engineers or business leaders. My students are going to meet with the team from Spotify and that is just so exciting as they all love their music and this is a company totally relevant to their current lives.
The volunteers were very friendly and basically told us that they are very engaged in our app. And so that made us feel good. It was very interesting to see from a different person's perspective, because obviously we as a collective, we have our ideas, but when you see it from someone else’s perspective it’s different. You see maybe certain flaws, certain positives, which you didn’t see. It really helps you improve your idea, and it makes you feel good.
When they have gone online and discussed their ideas with Bob and received feedback, the kids walk into a room and they are ten feet tall.
Expert volunteering is a fantastic opportunity to be able to spend time helping students, challenge them in a positive way, assist in their progress through the Apps for Good programme and hopefully have a positive impact on their education.
Empowering responsible citizens
Our courses encourage students to become socially engaged citizens, enabling them to explore topics that are meaningful and relevant to them. We support them to design products that will improve their lives and the world around them.
Read how students at Challney High School for Boys have engaged in computing to solve problems they care about.
student teams entered our 2022 Showcase
student ideas shortlisted and pitched to industry experts
student app ideas voted Judges Favourites and People’s Choice
Hear what students and teachers say about using tech to solve problems
It's opened up their eyes to what Computer Science is, how they could use that, whether they might then think about that as a future career.
I enjoyed being able to essentially make a difference. And affect the world with just a simple app. Being given that opportunity I think was really great for not just us, but because we can help everyone. But we also learned a lot from this opportunity. We all really enjoyed it.
We’ve learned that technology can socially benefit us and the way that technology can actually help us in making a better world. Rather than it being negative, it can actually be used for a positive cause.
2022 in Focus: Innovate for Climate Change
There’s no bigger challenge young people will inherit than climate change and that’s why, in 2021 we began to pilot our new technology course - Innovate for Climate Change, combining both knowledge building and tech innovation skills.
Piloting the course with schools enabled us to test and iterate resources, before releasing a new and improved version in September 2022.
schools engaged in Innovate for Climate Change
students reached with Innovate for Climate Change
of Innovate for Climate change students felt more knowledgeable about climate change (pilot data)
Hear what students and teachers say about Innovate for Climate Change
The students really engaged with the Innovate for Climate Change course. All students were able to succeed and it was a rewarding project linked to real world industry. Students gained skills in problem solving, teamwork and independence.
Our idea really mattered to us. We know climate change will get worse, so we know that if we can act now, it could make the future better. People in the future could live more peacefully without carbon emissions being released and rising temperatures.
The whole moral purpose of the course - solving a real world problem is really appealing. Computing can sometimes feel a little bit cold. In terms of the relevance of the learning - a project based learning, identifying the problem and then working out how tech can solve it takes you outside of the normal things you cover in the curriculum.
Our impact journey continues…
In 2023, we’re focused on expanding our reach to impact even more students across the UK. As we embed our new content framework across our courses, we’ll have a keen eye on encouraging all our schools to give their students access to the breadth of opportunities that an Apps for Good course provides.