Is The Usborne Academy still running?

The Usborne Academy is still running, but we are no longer taking applications.

In 2018 we launched The Usborne Academy Week as an opportunity for eight people, from groups currently under-represented in publishing, to spend a week at Usborne and experience daily life in a range of different departments including editorial, design, marketing, production and rights. 

After two successful years, we were forced to take a break due to the global coronavirus pandemic and the effects it had on our own office presence, as well as schools. 

In 2021, having taken on board feedback from partners, consultants and our wider communities, we shall be running The Usborne Academy exclusively through Access Aspiration. They will be selecting students from their network of 16-18 year-olds to join us, at our offices, for a week-long opportunity to go behind-the-scenes at Usborne, getting hands-on in a range of departments and finding out what we do, and why we do it.

Over half of the 30+ state schools which Access Aspiration works with have Pupil Premium rates of 50–65%, and over two thirds of the students it supports are from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds. We hope that, by working closely with Access Aspiration and its network of London secondaries, we will be able to showcase what we believe is an exciting, creative and collaborative industry, and that some of these extremely talented young people might be inspired to pursue publishing as a career in the future. 

You might also be interested in our FAQ article Do you offer work experience or internship opportunities? 

You can find out more about what we're doing to promote diversity at Usborne on our website.