Andrew Law: State schools need the inspiration of role models

This week an entrepreneur-supermodel will make a surprise visit to a London state school to share the story of her success, while a rugby star answers questions from students about his path to winning the World Cup.

Elsewhere, the Prime Minister will reveal his greatest source of inspiration, and one of Britain’s most powerful CEOs will encourage sixth-formers to chase their dreams.

In all, 25 of the UK’s best known and most influential people from the worlds of sport, politics, media, business, science and the arts will come together for Speakers for Schools Week — visiting state schools up and down the country to talk to students about their inspiration.

The goal that unites this diverse group is simple but critical: that of inspiring, motivating and instilling the belief in our young people that they can succeed in whatever they set out to do.

David Cameron, Lily Cole, George Alagiah, Marcus du Sautoy, Charles Dunstone, Jo Elvin and Judy Murray will take that message into the schools they visit.

Our research shows that 71 per cent of state school teachers believe that successful people have a responsibility to motivate today’s students. One in four fears that the young people in their class do not have the role models they need to inspire them to reach their full potential. Many private schools are able to attract alumni back to inspire the next generation; we are helping to level the playing field for the other 92 per cent of secondary school students.

This is why BBC business editor Robert Peston founded Speakers for Schools in 2011: to help ensure that all students, no matter which school they attend, have the opportunity to engage with leaders who could just spark an interest in an unfamiliar topic, or even motivate them to walk in their footsteps.

I attended a state school in Manchester; I now run one of the world’s largest and oldest hedge funds. My inspiration, strangely enough, was fictional.

As I read books about people who built their own successful, exciting lives from very modest beginnings, I came to believe that I had a chance to do the same.

But real-life examples — and there were none in my life at that time — are much more powerful. Which is why I have backed the Speakers for Schools programme, and why on Wednesday I am returning to my old school to talk about my career in finance.

By the end of this week, Speakers for Schools will have delivered 570 talks in schools across England, Scotland and Wales, and we now have more than 900 speakers signed up.

But there is much more we can do. What drives us is the thought of the student who dreams of a career but thinks “that isn’t for people like me”.