Ogden Trust

The Ogden Trust, founded in 1999 by Sir Peter Ogden with a £22.5 million endowment, is a UK charitable trust dedicated to advancing physics education for young people aged 4-18 across England. It addresses limited access to high-quality physics teaching, particularly for able students from disadvantaged backgrounds, through long-term school partnerships, teacher professional development, and enrichment initiatives. Core values—collaboration, evidence-informed practice, responsiveness, inclusivity, and positivity—underpin its diversity, equity, and inclusion focus, with a distinctive strategic, partnership-driven approach emphasizing systemic change, robust evaluation, and scalable interventions over one-off projects.

The Trust funds targeted physics education projects in two strands: curriculum support for 11-18s (equipment, resources, CPD especially for out-of-field teachers) and enrichment for 4-18s (clubs, family activities, outreach, career awareness with universities/employers). Priorities target socio-economically deprived or rural areas, under-represented groups, free school meal students, and schools lacking physics specialists, via programmes like teacher CPD, internships, Phizzi resources, and regional partnerships with state schools, colleges, universities, and community groups.

Eligible applicants include UK-registered charities, community groups, and academic institutions based in England, with preference for small-to-medium grassroots organisations serving high-need communities; no strict income limits apply. The final open Physics Education Grant round accepts unsolicited applications via Flexi-Grant portal (register required), opening 2 January 2026 and closing 9am 2 March 2026, with outcomes in two months and activities ending by summer 2027. Typical grants range £3,000-£5,000 (up to £5,000). Exclusions: core costs, unrestricted funding, capital works, commercial projects, or non-England activities. Uniquely physics-focused, it prioritises proven-impact collaborations fostering teacher retention and post-16 uptake among marginalised groups.