Youth Steering Group
Impact stories: Jonathan
Name: Jonathan
Age joined the Youth Steering Group: 15
Home Region: Midlands
Jonathan joined the FEA Youth Steering Group in 2023, aged 15, and graduated in 2026. During his time on the Youth Steering Group, Jonathan contributed to the Votes at 16 Ministerial Roundtable with MyLifeMySay, interviewed Munira Wilson MP and policy makers from DfE, DCMS, Ofsted and the Children’s Commissioner’s Office at the 2024 Youth Summit, and supported the running of the Votes at 16 session at the 2026 Youth Summit with fellow YSG members and Peter Swallow MP.
“It's so important that our voices are heard [by] politicians, because there's enough adults talking already, they need more young people to talk to them.”
How have you found being on the Youth Steering Group (YSG) overall?
I found it great. I feel like the best thing has just been meeting so many other young people that hopefully I'll stay in contact with, so many people doing great work around education and social action. So yeah, definitely meeting people has been great. And all those opportunities […], those are all amazing things like being on BBC news and meeting with a Minister. It's been amazing.
What do you think has been the Youth Steering Group’s most impactful activity?
I think it's got to be the [Youth] Summit, because I feel like it was so impactful for so many people. There were loads of young people there who weren't on the board, but obviously the board worked together to really have an impact on a wide range of young people. I really think [it was impactful] for the people that were there to kind of go to such good sessions and learn loads of new stuff and meet other people. And also like on the adults that were there and the politicians that were there, you know, I feel like it would have had an impact on them as well, seeing that young people do care and are passionate. We do have strong opinions about education and how to make it better. I feel like getting a bunch of young people in a room with decision makers as well is the most impactful thing.
Do you feel that engaging with government policy is a good use of YSG time?
Definitely. I mean ultimately with education, change does have to come from government. Like obviously there's ways for it to be like more grassroots, but ultimately changes to curriculum and teaching and all this kind of national level stuff does have to come from government. So it's definitely so important that they hear from us because if it's not us they're hearing from then young people are left out of that conversation. So yeah, I definitely think that is a really good use of our time because they need to hear from us. Education is for young people. They need to hear from young people. And yeah, I feel like we've always been supported whenever we've done that, like having a brief with like key information [and] giving us the space to say what we have to say in our experiences.
What skills do you feel like you’ve developed during your time on the Youth Steering Group?
I think definitely more confidence knowing that as young people, our voices do have an impact, and we do have something to say and we should be empowered to say it. And yeah, I think it's so important that our voices are heard [by] politicians, because there's enough adults talking already, they need more young people to talk to them. So I do think I've become more like confident in that sense. And probably speaking as well. I mean, obviously I did the chairing the decision maker panel and the Votes at 16 roundtable. So those real life experiences of talking to politicians and also in front of an audience have been really, really useful.
What have you learned on the Youth Steering Group that you will take forward with you into your next steps?
That's a hard one. I think definitely just about running a campaign and [that] it can be done. And if there's something that you're passionate about, then you may as well do it. Like if you have your own experience of it, then that is important and people should know about [it]. And I think generally just meeting new people as well. I've met so many people, I think especially going to uni next year, it's really good to know meeting new people doesn't have to be really daunting, like people are friendly.
Our Youth Steering Group provides leadership on youth engagement across the Fair Education Alliance. Members are involved in the work across the Alliance, from collective action and policy influencing, to communications, events and support for our award winners.