Another Blow to Confidence as Exam Results Don’t Match Expectations

Coupled with already low confidence about the future, stricter exam grading leads to a perfect storm of mental health issues among young adults.

A groundbreaking digital social enterprise, OKO, is on a mission to take this problem head on, by encouraging business leaders to provide every young person with a mentor.

Today thousands of young people will find out what is next for them as they receive their exam results.  Many will be putting their years of formal education behind them and taking the first steps into living their lives on their own terms. With the highest (A and A*) grades 8.4% lower than last year, the competition for university places and other avenues will be tight, adding to the already growing mental health burden experienced by students. There has been an alarming 450% increase in mental health declarations among students over the last decade, which is only set to continue (UCAS 2021).

Dave Evans, Founder of OKO, says “Mental health problems and lack of confidence among our young is at an all time high. We all have a duty to help solve this problem. The answer is simple: match those that have the most experience with those that have the most opportunity, to provide the support and guidance that every young person needs. We are urging business leaders to step up and be part of the solution. Take this opportunity to invest in your people. Develop their leadership skills through mentoring.  Level the playing field for our young people, so society as a whole can flourish. Join us and make the pledge to provide every young person a mentor.”

OKO are leading the charge with pledges from some big hitters in the business community, including Sophie Devonshire, CEO of The Marketing Society; Laura Jordan Bambach, President and Chief Creative Officer at Grey London and Martin Smith MBE, Founder and Chairman of SASIG, who believe in the power of mentoring and the need to support our youth.

Sophie Devonshire says, “At The Marketing Society we believe mentoring is a brilliant way for business leaders and marketers to ‘give back’ to future generations. We know that mentoring can be hugely rewarding, a great opportunity to give something back whilst learning and developing your own skills.”

OKO is a social enterprise that links businesses with young people, leveraging mentoring as a development opportunity for a company’s employees. Their career-focused digital mentoring platform is centred on behavioural science. OKO matches ambitious young people (18-30) with business employees on their shared personality, bridging gender, race and geography. The bespoke OKO 6-step programme guides mentors to support their mentees through a discovery and action based approach, founded in the best coaching practice.  The OKO Pledge is to provide every young person a mentor with the help of the business community.

For more information please visit Website: https://weareoko.com