Straight Up Education

Straight Up Education: Shifting Beliefs-Creating Engagement

Mission Statement

 

At Straight Up Education, we empower young people to shatter barriers and seize their education with the unfiltered force of lived experience. We drill down personal responsibility, resilience, and community ties, setting students up to take the reins of their lives.

 

Values

 

  • Lived Experience: Real stories fuel real change. 

 

  • Personal Responsibility: Own your actions, own your impact. 

 

  • Resilience: We build young people who keep going. 

 

  • Community: Strong ties mean lasting change. 

 

  • Inclusivity: We tackle every challenge, for every student. 

Straight Up Education: Empowering Young People Through Lived Experience

 

Who We Are

 

Straight Up Education is a no-nonsense rehabilitation organization that gets high school students on the brink of expulsion back into mainstream education. We harness the raw power of lived experience—positive role models who’ve walked the same tough roads—to guide and ignite change. Our approach was battle-tested in North Wales, partnering with local education authorities (LEAs) across six counties: Flintshire, Denbighshire, Wrexham, Anglesey, Gwynedd, and Conwy. That track record proves we deliver, and now we’re bringing it to Greater Manchester and Liverpool through a partnership with the Global Hair, Makeup, and Productions Academy, an established AEP.

 

What We Do

 

We run a hard-hitting six-session youth development program that smashes through the chaos at-risk students face. Our sessions zero in on:

 

  • Discovering personal strengths
  • Building confident communication skills
  • Sharpening critical thinking and decision-making
  • Fostering resilience against setbacks
  • Understanding personal journeys and owning them
  • Creating positive relationships and community ties

 

Every session is hands-on, unrelenting, and real—packed with gritty scenarios and tough questions that force students to ditch excuses and take charge. We also tackle heavy issues head-on—low self-esteem, substance misuse, mental health, exploitation risks, and toxic relationships—with tailored support that gets results. No fluff, just impact.

 

Our Approach

 

We don’t mess around. Our mentors and facilitators have lived these struggles, delivering straight-talking, relatable guidance that cuts through the noise. It builds trust fast and sparks transformation. We blend raw personal stories with structured, skill-focused sessions to create a space where students don’t just scrape by—they rise up.

 

Key Deliverables

 

Behavioural Transformation: Students drop the blame game and step up –  understanding past behaviour to now respond rather than react.

 

Re-engagement with Education: We get young people back into education. Full stop. Proven results.

 

Personal Development: Communication, critical thinking, resilience—skills that stick.

 

Academic Support: Straight path to qualifications, no sidetracks.

 

Community Impact: Stronger communities through ties with LEAs, AEPs and home environments.

 

Expansion and Scalability: From North Wales to Greater Manchester and Liverpool—our model works, and it’s built to grow.

 

Partnership and Expansion

 

We’re teaming up with the Global Hair, Makeup, and Productions Academy, a solid AEP already rooted in Greater Manchester and Liverpool. This partnership lets us meet a need seen within the student population providing our proven, lived-experience-led program into their framework, hitting schools and AEPs in areas like Trafford and Salford. It’s about scaling our impact—reaching more kids and giving them the tools to own their futures.