Heidi Scrimgeour

Children from disadvantaged backgrounds are less likely to go on to higher education, and the attainment gap effect can last a lifetime, according to Teach First, the charity established in 2002 to tackle educational disadvantage.

I wanted to be able to afford to see the world’: the secrets to saving for your grownup gap year

Plenty of people dream of owning a campervan – the lure of the open road and the freedom to go anywhere at the drop of a hat appeals to many. But not everyone makes it their mission to save enough cash to achieve their motoring goal. Joseph Seager, 33, a photographer, did just that. “I wanted to be able to go to bed and wake up on location, rather than having to leave home several hours before sunrise to catch the best shots,” he says.
Seager and his wife, Amy, dreamed of owning a campervan e...

Heidi Scrimgeour explores simple steps to becoming more self-aware and increasing our emotional intelligence.

Jaden, pictured above with his mother Lisa, is the Essex lad who was runner-up in the Fortnite World Games final this week, sharing the £1.8 million winnings with his gaming partner. When my younger son started taking part in competitions, I felt especially worried
How reassuring it is, as a mother, to hear of a teenage success story.
A 15-year-old boy who, through his own skill, enterprise, dedication and hard graft, has fought his way to the very top of his particular pile, from which he ca...

When I watched 13 Reasons Why, I was in the grip of my first experience of acute anxiety.
A sequence of stressful life events converged until I was engulfed – out of the blue – by the absolute conviction that there was no way through the difficulties I was dealing with.
Two years on, I consider myself fully recovered, thanks to a switched-on GP, a year of anti-anxiety medication and counselling, and a very supportive network of family and friends.
But at my lowest, I was plagued by intrusive ...

The technology industry has a well-documented diversity problem. Women make up just 14% of employees in the UK’s Stem (science, technology, engineering and maths) fields, and only 15.8% of Stem undergraduates are women.
We talked to Robyn Howard, senior programme manager of PwC’s women in tech programme, to find out the cause of – and how to tackle – gender imbalance in tech.
What issues discourage women in tech?
...

Assistive technology is transforming the lives of people with disabilities. But what’s perhaps more remarkable is the fact that you probably haven’t noticed. The unobtrusive nature of the technology demonstrates the sharp evolutionary curve seen in assistive tech.
Hector Minto, a disability inclusion advocate and technical evangelist for accessibility at Microsoft, recalls working on mechanical page-turners at the beginning of his career. “People with physical disabilities could turn newspape...

Engineering is dominated by men, but the women successfully breaking into the sector report good things. Barriers to entry for women are numerable, but career satisfaction is high; more than 80% of female engineers are either happy or extremely happy with their career choice, and 98% find their job rewarding, according to a 2013 survey by the Royal Academy of Engineering.
Yet, despite good prospects – engineering students are second only to medics in securing full-time jobs and earning good s...

After years of cuts driven by austerity that saw the number of police officers in England and Wales drop by 20,000 between 2009 and 2017, the workforce is finally increasing.
In 2018, there were 200,448 workers employed by the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales; an increase from 198,388 in 2017. This included 11,029 special constables and 8,131 police support volunteers.
While crime has generally been falling over recent decades, certain types of crime have been increasing. For...

Helping your son or daughter choose the right university course is a daunting task, but there are a number of practical things you can do to support the decision-making process.
“Look closely at the modules, not just the course overview,” says Amber Page, from the schools and colleges team at De Montfort University in Leicester.
“The same subject course can differ significantly between different universities,” she adds. “Each will have different modules and facilities, so look at what each mo...

A student’s personal statement is exactly what it sounds like – a chance for the student to put their case for being accepted, above others, on a specific course. It should outline interests, skills and experience, and no university or college application is complete without one.
But that doesn’t mean the task of writing it should be solitary; there are ways parents can make it simpler on their offspring. Start by having a quick brainstorming session, and make sure you get the ball rolling ea...

Seen one bucket and spade; seen ‘em all. You could be forgiven for thinking that’s true, but you’d be wrong.
Our testers live by the seaside so they’re seasoned purchasers of beach toys, and they’re adamant that not all buckets and spades are created equal.
You’ll know this if you’ve ever nipped into one of those seafront shops on a whim to buy a bucket and spade. Cheap buckets crack, handles snap, and spades bend under pressure. And the seaside is no place for sadness.
To avoid all this, we ...