Brief history

In 1998, Peter Ogden transferred £22.5 million of his own wealth into a new trust fund to help very able students from less-well-off families access various educational opportunities. He was determined that opportunities should not be denied to bright children simply because their parents could not afford it. In 1999, The Ogden Trust was officially launched.

You can download our timeline which captures a brief history of the Trust until 2024.

The Trust’s first initiative was the provision of scholarships and bursaries at some of the UK’s leading independent schools. These were available to high-achieving students from state primaries whose families could not afford the independent school fees. Ogden Sixth Form Science Scholarships were launched in 2001 and Undergraduate Science Scholarships in 2004. The focus of the scholarships evolved over the years, as the Trust concentrated its funding on supporting physics, reflecting Sir Peter’s own academic and scientific interests. A further evolution saw a move towards school-level rather than individual support. The Sixth Form Science Scholarships closed after the September 2016 entry and the undergraduate scheme welcomed its final cohort in 2018.

The Trust has a long-standing relationship with Durham University, where Sir Peter completed his undergraduate degree and PhD, both in physics. The Trust provided significant funding to set up the Ogden Centre for Fundamental Physics at the University and in 2014 made a £3.35m donation towards a new Ogden Centre, which officially opened in March 2017.

“Who couldn’t love physics? It’s all about why we’re here. It’s about life itself. How could it not be fascinating?”
Sir Peter Ogden, Founder and former Chair of The Ogden Trust

Between 2000 and 2006, the Trust provided over £1 million of funding to the state secondary school system through the Specialist Schools Programme, helping over 50 schools to leverage funding to achieve specialist status, mainly in science. Through the Specialist Schools Programme and the scholarship schemes, the Trust built close relationships with many schools; from these relationships, the school partnership model was developed – specialist science schools worked with other local schools to provide enrichment activities.

The first school partnership (formerly known as science partnerships) was launched in 2005. They remained central to the Ogden strategy until 2025 and largely replaced individual scholarships and bursaries. The Trust still runs an annual internship scheme for undergraduates thinking about a career in physics teaching and supports other projects and programmes which meet our remit to promote the teaching and learning of physics. Physics education grants ended in 2026.

Change of leadership

In 2017, Cameron Ogden replaced his father Sir Peter as Chair of the Trust; the founding Chief Executive, Tim Simmons also retired and was replaced by Clare Harvey.

During this period of change, the Trust refocused its mission. Physics education remained central, but there was a renewed focus on supporting groups who are typically under-represented in this area. Schools partnerships remained a core programme and tied in closely with an objective to support the teaching of physics, with continued initiatives to aid teacher recruitment, retention and professional development. The Trust recognised the need for students to see themselves as scientists from a young age, supporting the teaching and learning of physics from the early years.

Strategy: 2021-2026

In 2021, the Trust launched a five-year strategy, which reiterated our commitment to enhancing the teaching and learning of physics. We continue with our mission to increase the uptake of physics post-16 by supporting physics education and engagement for all young people (4-18), particularly those in under-represented groups. Investment in longer-term commitments, such as school partnerships, help to bring real and sustained change in physics education.

“We have developed our new strategy on a foundation of experience, collaboration, listening and learning. It demonstrates our continued commitment to the teaching and learning of physics, and our determination to ensure that no one feels excluded from taking physics further.”
Cameron Ogden, Chair

In 2022, the Trust joined the Science CPD Partnership, a collaborative alliance led by STEM Learning to improve teachers’ access to career-long, science-specific continuing professional development. As part of this Department for Education-funded partnership, the Trust began delivering Subject Knowledge for Physics Teaching (SKPT) CPD provision to support science teachers at Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4 with the teaching of physics.  The Science CPD Partnership ended in August 2023, but the Trust continues to deliver SKPT in partnership with STEM Learning and the programme is part of a growing portfolio of CPD and teacher support available from the Trust.

We are working hard to develop meaningful relationships with teachers throughout their careers so that they feel supported and nurtured in their profession and share in our commitment to make physics matter; and whilst schools and teachers remain our principal focus, we also want to support teaching, learning and physics opportunities that go beyond the boundaries of the classroom. We are continuing to build our relationships with universities, employers and community groups to ensure access to physics-related enrichment and future pathways are open to all regardless of background.

25-year anniversary

In 2024, the Trust celebrated its 25-year anniversary. We welcomed almost 300 teachers and education friends to our anniversary Physics Forum and Conference at The Belfry, where we reflected on what has been achieved and looked forward to what still needs to be done as we work to make broader, deeper and more sustainable changes in physics education.

As part of the 25th anniversary, a history of the Trust has also been written.

Strategy: 2026-2031

Following the 25th anniversary, a new strategy was developed to best meet the changing and challenging education landscape. Our fundamental mission remains, as we work to strengthen physics education for all young people, especially those in areas that are facing the greatest socio-economic challenges. We know that excellent classroom teaching is crucial to the provision of high-quality education and as we deliver this new strategy from 2026, we will be expanding our commitment to providing freely available CPD and resources for teachers of physics in England.

As we move into the new strategic period we will be:

• refocusing and growing existing programmes to support the recruitment of new physics teachers and the retention of early career teachers of physics;
• providing CPD and resources for teachers teaching physics out of field, whether that is at primary or secondary; and
• offering programmes to help retain the expertise of experienced teachers of physics within the classroom.