Sky Up Academy Studios is a collection of studios across the UK and Ireland offering an immersive experience for school students aged 8-18, with a large percentage of schools being from underserved communities. The initiative works to open access to creative education, raise the aspirations of young people, support teachers and build media literacy and digital skills. It’s part of Sky’s wider ambitions to harness the responsibility it feels to diversify the future of the Creative Industries. Sky Up Academy Studios is one of the organisation’s biggest social impact programmes and a way to give back and play a key role in society.
The programme has seen over 300,000 students come through the studio doors since it began in 2012, supporting students to create their own news reports, movie trailers and more in its state-of-the-art studios. This shows young people what a creative career in the media would be like. And it teaches them the skills they need to thrive in a digital world – from digital and media literacy, to teamwork, to the confidence to tell their own stories. The content and experience have been crafted with teachers and education specialists and is built around the curriculum.
We interviewed Nishy Lall, Head of Youth and Social Impact at Sky, to learn more about the organisation’s huge drive to put young people centre stage regardless of their background. We also learn more about how Sky engages its target audiences, how the impact of this EDI activity is being measured, and the key learnings emerging along the way.
What are your motivations for addressing diversity and inclusion within your organisation, and how are they embedded?
At Sky, we believe in a fair world where everyone gets the opportunity to live up to their potential. Inclusion is at the heart of our business – in our products and services, and in the stories that we tell. That’s why we’re using our voice to raise awareness and champion causes outside Sky, that level the playing field for under-represented groups and create new opportunities for people to shine.
The role that I have is all about inspiring the next generation to get into the creative industries no matter their background. We work closely with schools across the UK and Ireland and help underserved communities access our unique, immersive experiences. It's about giving them the skills and the confidence to come into an organisation like Sky and see that they have a future. It's also about supporting diversity and representation across different roles and departments and being able to give opportunities to those who typically think they don't belong in the Creative Industries.
Can you tell us a bit more about what Sky is trying to achieve in terms of its EDI goals?
In 2020, we pledged £30 million to promote racial equality and drive inclusion. We’re committed to investing in programmes to help ensure that people at risk of being sidelined are given the chance to succeed.
We are also dedicated to reflecting our customers and communities in our operations and actions and ensuring that we report our data transparently across our business. By 2025, we have committed that 20% of our people in the UK and Ireland will be from Black, Asian or other ethnic minority backgrounds with 5% of that figure coming from black communities. We’re making great progress and are on track to meet our commitment. We also have a goal of reaching 50% gender split.
When it comes to raising young people’s aspirations, it's about making sure at least 50% of the schools that come to us and engage in our programmes are from diverse, underserved communities. It's also about making sure we are open and accommodating to people from all backgrounds and needs.
Another key pillar of our work is creating a sense of belonging. Some young people will shy away from making the right academic career decisions that will allow them to fulfil their passions or interests, or they'll shy away from thinking about their future jobs, because they don't feel a sense of belonging. Showing them they can take the subject that would lead them into the pathway they want to pursue a career in is what Sky Up Academy Studios is addressing.
How are you letting schools in your target areas know this opportunity exists?
We work with an education agency to help us really understand where we need to focus our outreach. We identify the schools we would like to target and then we reach out directly to share information about the programme, that it’s completely free to attend and help signpost to their nearest location.
I always say the customer is the teacher and the beneficiaries are the students. So, it's about making sure we're connecting with those teachers to understand the needs of their students and those from diverse backgrounds.
How do you measure if this activity is working to improve diversity and inclusion?
We use an external research agency to help us measure our impact. The agency will capture up to 2,000 student and teacher feedback before and after the experience, so we can clearly see the impact it has had. The agency will also go to a selection of schools - three primary schools and three secondary schools, for example – to record in-depth case studies which include questionnaires and feedback sessions for teachers.
We make sure we include a mix of young people and case studies from diverse backgrounds and underserved communities within the evaluation to ensure we’re reflecting the impact of our programme on diverse cohorts. We want to make sure our evaluation is representative of all voices.
What do you believe makes Sky Up Academy Studios successful?
I think one of the key things is thinking, why Sky? Why are we doing this? What gives us that permission? Is it a brand that people know, trust and can connect with? Okay, then, what's the sense of responsibility we have there? How can we increase the accessibility and diversity of the Creative Industries?
We're making sure we're creating programmes that support teachers, connect with the curriculum and engage parents. Then we think about how we can build the confidence of a young person who typically would never even dream about being a camera operator or in front of a camera, for example. It's about building self-belief into the experience, raising aspirations and boosting critical skills. In 2023, over 85% of students reported that the experience had improved their media literacy skills and 86% said it improved their ability to work in a team.
Creating a repeatable, sustainable structure for our experience has been key. We open bookings for half a term and within 10 minutes, they're all gone and booked because repeat teachers have found it such a brilliant way to teach about media literacy, climate change or wellbeing, whatever it may be. They've weaved it into the curriculum and seen the impact it’s had on their students; I think that's what's made it successful. Last year, 99% of teachers said the experience was effective in developing students’ confidence and 97% said it is effective at raising student aspirations.
What have been the kind of challenges, barriers or limitations you're experiencing?
The two key barriers to us being able to increase our reach are the cost of travel for the schools to get to us and our bookings filling up. Unfortunately, our studios are only in certain locations linked to our sites and we can only deliver a finite number of sessions within an academic day and year. We work on a first-come-first-served basis, but we’re always sold out. We would love to be able to do more.
One area of challenge we’d like to explore more is around the extended learning journey for the students. So that young person who suddenly has had the role as the editor on the day, for example, and really wants to get into editing, what happens after they come to Sky? They have a brilliant experience and then it's done? What does the next step look like for them?
We know great stories do happen and we want to create more of them. An example of this is Derin Adetosoye, who came to Sky Up Academy Studios when she was 13. She went on to set up her own YouTube channel and become the first black female presenter for Formula E before presenting on F1 Academy. She's now studying at Columbia University in New York, doing a Journalism Masters, because she wants to become a news anchor.
What advice or key learning would you share with other organisations considering delivering similar initiatives?
When you're thinking about doing anything that engages young people, research is key. It sounds obvious, but you need to take the time to really understand what your audience wants or needs. Really ask yourself why and how your organisation plays out in their experience.
For us, if we design things with just the student in mind, it doesn't always work. You've got to think about the teacher too because, that's your gateway—they are the booker and the person who will be signing up.
At the end of the day, you're thinking about it from a brand affinity point of view as well. So, how does your brand also shine through anything you do? You want people to proudly say, "I was at this place, and this is what they did".
For more information or to get involved with a Sky Up Academy Studio near you, visit skyup.sky/academy-studios.
Explore more case studies today at diversity.wearecreative.uk/case-studies.
