FEA Youth Steering Group Application Form 2026

The Fair Education Alliance are looking for young people aged 14-21 who who are passionate about achieving fair education for everyone. If this sounds like you, then we would like to invite you to apply to join our Youth Steering Group.

The Fair Education Alliance is a coalition of 300 members working collectively to end inequality in education. We believe that young people should be central to everything we do which is why we have a Youth Steering Group. We are recruiting 12 new members to join the group.

What do the Youth Steering Group do? 
  • Work together to bring about change, this includes campaigning with FEA members, co-designing policies and meeting with government and decision makers.  
  • Ensure young people are heard by decision makers by speaking and sharing your ideas in parliament, at party conferences, at policy roundtables and FEA events.
  • Lead your own campaigns to reduce inequality in education, this includes running events, influencing decision makers, engaging with the media, and creating content. 
  • Influence the FEA's strategic decisions from our policy priorities, future programmes and our recruitment decisions.
  • Design and lead the Fair Education Youth Summit which brings together 200 young people every 18 months to learn skills for social action and engage with policy makers. The next Youth Summit will be in October 2027.
  • Champion youth social action in education and across society so as many young people as possible have the skills to bring about change. 
  • Meet monthly on Zoom on the second Wednesday of every month, 6-7:30pm and have four in-person training days throughout the year.
The Youth Steering Group is a voluntary (unpaid) position. However it should not cost you anything to be part of the group as all expenses are paid and there are regular opportunities for paid work including creative consultancies, short term project work and our Summer Internship programme.  You can find out more on the Youth Steering Group Info Sheet or on the Youth Steering Group webpage. 

Please answer the questions below and submit by 11:59pm on Sunday 28th June 2026. 

We estimate it will take you 20-30 minutes to complete this application. We are asking these questions to get to know you better. This is important so we can make sure we can support a diverse group of young people to share their perspectives in this group and make any adaptations to support you to take part.

For the longer questions, you can either write your answers, upload a video or upload a voice note. The three longer questions are:
  1. How would you introduce yourself in one minute to someone you had never met? 
  2. At the Fair Education Alliance we want to see a fair education system where no child’s success is limited by their socioeconomic background.  Why would you like to be involved in this work and be part of this group? What is your motivation?
  3. If you could change one thing about education/schools in England, what would it be?
If you have any questions or issues submitting your answers please email youth@faireducation.org.uk or come along to one of our online drop-in sessions: 
We will contact everyone shortlisted for the Youth Steering Group by Friday 3rd July. The shortlisted applicants will then be invited to a selection workshop between Wednesday 8th and Tuesday 14th July on Zoom. The members of the new Youth Steering Group will be announced by 21st July. The new group will have their first meeting in-person on Wednesday 12th August 2026.

Your answers will be kept private and confidential, will only be used for the purpose of recruiting for and managing the Youth Steering Group and will not be shared beyond the Fair Education Alliance without your consent. For more information on how we keep your data safe please click here or email info@faireducation.org.uk.

About You




If you don't have your own email address it is not a problem. In this case please share the email address of a parent/guardian.

If you don't have your own phone number it is not a problem. In this case please share the phone number of a parent/guardian.


We collect this information to make sure our Youth Steering Group represents the whole of England. We do not use it for any other purposes.



SEND refers to learning difficulties, additional needs or disabilities that make it harder for someone to learn, participate in school activities and/or access mainstream education. You do not need to have a formal diagnosis or an Educational Health Care Plan to say yes.

e.g. Wheelchair user or Neurodivergent or Blind or Autistic. Please do not feel you need to share specific diagnosis or any medical history.


We ask this question as not every person with SEND identifies as Disabled, but it is important that the Youth Steering Group includes members of the Disabled community. It is okay not to be sure on your answer.

No previous experience is required to apply. We ask this question as we aim to have a mix of young people with no social action experience and those who have had previous youth leadership roles. 


If you are about to have your birthday please put how old you will be by August 1st 2026.

For Under 18s

As you are under 18 it is important that we have the contact information for a parent or guardian. We just need their name, how you know them or are related to them, and their phone number and email address.





e.g. do you use a different name or pronouns with your parents/guardians? Does your parent /guardian have accessibility requirements?

Why do you want to join the Youth Steering Group?

This section is where we learn a bit more about you and what you are passionate about. Please limit your answers to between 100-150 words. If you would prefer to record your answers to this section on video or voicenote, please us the file upload option below the text box instead. If you have any issues uploading the videos/voicenotes please email them to youth@faireducation.org.uk

Imagine you had one minute to introduce yourself to a person you've never met before. What would you tell them? Think about your hobbies, what you are interested in, maybe a bit about your background or your family. What do you think is important for someone to know to understand who you are? There are no wrong answers, it just helps the Youth Judges get to know you. 


In this question we encourage you to draw on your own expereince of the education system if this contributes to why you want to be part of this group. *Socio-economic inequality means someone is treated differently, or has access to different services or opportunities, because of either social (how they are seen in society) or economic (money) factors. For example, at the FEA we believe that it is wrong that children from poorer backgrounds, who might be entitled to Free School Meals, do not get the same school opportunities as children from wealthier families.



Understanding Barriers to Education

We are asking the following questions about your identity and experience of the education system to help us ensure that the Youth Steering Group includes representatives with diverse lived experience.

Your application will only be judged on your answers to the previous questions. The information you provide on this page will not be shared with the Youth Judges. They will only receive your written/video/voice note answers and a flag if your specific lived experience is not currently represented on the Youth Steering Group (without telling them what it is). Beyond this it will only be used to understand the cohort as a collective and to ensure FEA Staff can provide the most appropriate support to everyone on the group. 

If you would like to make the judges aware of a specific barrier you have faced and how this impacted your education or motivation to apply to the Youth Steering Group, we recommend you mention it in your written/video answers on the previous page. 

In England, if your family earns below  £7,400 a year you are eligible for free lunches at school. We are asking this question as, given the work we do, it is important that the opinions of young people from lower income households are heard.


Availability

All applications will be reviewed by a panel including two current or alumni Youth Steering Group members and a member of Fair Education Alliance staff. We will contact everyone shortlisted for the Youth Steering Group by Friday 3rd July.  

The shortlisted applicants will then be invited to a small group selection workshop between Wednesday 8th and Tuesday 14th July on Zoom. The selection workshops will take place between 5pm and 6pm. This is not an interview, it will be a chance for you to get to know us, ask questions and take part in activities. The final decision will be based on making sure we have lots of different experiences reflected in the group, and importantly that everyone is passionate about reducing the impact of socio-economic inequality in education.  




How did you find out about this opportunity?



For example if the staff member told you about it, please put the name of the programme e.g. NCS, IntoUniversity, FirstGive etc. If it was a teacher please give the name of your school

This helps us make the judging is fair.
Thank you very much for completing this application for the Youth Steering Group. All you need to do now is press the 'submit' button below. 
We will be in touch by 3rd July but if you have any questions in the meantime please email youth@faireducation.org.uk. 

Thank you and we look forward to meeting you

The Fair Education Alliance Youth Steering Group & Staff Team. 

Contact Information