Furness Academy celebrates the extension of the Turing Scheme
Last week’s budget brought great news for staff and students at Furness Academy, with Chancellor Rishi Sunak announcing the continuation of the Turing scheme for an additional three years.
The Turing Scheme is the UK government’s scheme to provide funding for international opportunities in education and training across the world. Furness Academy was one of 114 schools to receive funding in the first year of the new scheme, launched in 2020. The school is one of only 12 schools in the North West to receive funding based on an application process, receiving the news in July 2021 that they have been awarded over £40,000 to support student exchange and visit opportunities.
The scheme offers schools the opportunity for their students and pupils to take part in life-changing experiences studying abroad.
Furness Academy has a long history of international exchanges and opportunities. The school has been a member of 10 different Erasmus+ projects, the EU funded predecessor to Turing, taking the project lead in three of these projects. Alongside this, they have completed successful exchange programmes with Germany and China, with a view to rekindle these during the next academic year. More recently, another member school of Furness Education Trust, Yarlside Academy was also awarded funding in the final round of the Erasmus+ programme, equating to approximately £30,000 to support the development of a transition programme for Year 6 students.
Simon Laheney, head of Furness Academy and CEO of Furness Education Trust said, “We are pleased that the extension of the Turing Scheme will allow us to continue developing as the international school and Trust we aim to be. Through previous schemes, we have had over 150 students and staff travel to schools and universities across Europe and beyond, funded by the British Council, learning from one another and sharing good practice. We are proud to be one of the few schools and one of only handful of Academy Trusts, who were successful in bidding for the Turing Scheme funding, success we hope continues now the funding for the scheme has been renewed”.
The Chancellor stated in the budget, “The UK’s history of recognising the importance of cultural and academic exchange will be further deepened by funding the continuation of the Turing Scheme for the next three years, including £110 million for the Academic Year 2022/23. This provides funding for thousands of students across the UK to go on life-changing placements and exchanges overseas.”
