Teachers

Teachers play a key role in supporting the work of LEAPS and we are very grateful for all of the support that we receive.

LEAPS link teachers

We have a dedicated LEAPS link teacher in all of the schools we work with. These link teachers are the first point of contact for LEAPS enquiries in school.

If you are unsure who the link teacher in your school is, please contact us to find out.

Who to contact

Every LEAPS school also has a direct link in the LEAPS team to assist with any queries throughout the year. If you are a staff member and are unsure who this is for your school, please contact us to find out.

As well as contact with this link, link teachers will also hear from team members who coordinate different parts of the LEAPS programme at certain points. As of August 2024, the following LEAPS staff can be contacted regarding each of the listed activities:

Pre UCAS and S5 1:1 interviews – Sarah Macpherson, Alison Train
Workshops and presentations – Steph Harkes, Keith Barbour
LEAPS Transitions Course – Alice Smith, Fi Das, Hayley Jones
Communications regarding extra pupil opportunities/teacher CPD – Jennie Younger

Due to the majority of the LEAPS team working both in-office and on programme delivery, other more general queries are best directed to leaps@ed.ac.uk where they will be picked up as soon as possible.

Eligibility

There has been no change to LEAPS eligibility criteria or school groupings for the 2024/25 session.

As in previous years, a student’s eligibility must be confirmed at interview by a member of the LEAPS team in order to ensure they can access the benefits this may bring. The deadline for confirming LEAPS eligibility is Friday 29 November 2024 for the 2024-2025 school year.

Eligible students should also identify themselves on the UCAS form as having participated in the LEAPS programme. This can be done in the ‘extra activities’ section, with more on this included as part of the action plan students receive after their 1:1 interview.

When you see that students are confirmed eligible, you must also put the LEAPS tagline onto each of these students' UCAS references. We would suggest this goes in section 2 of the reference. The LEAPS tagline is: "This student is LEAPS eligible. For more information please go to www.leapsonline.org."

For any other information on how the eligibility criteria applies to your school, to discuss any individual student circumstances, or for further details on how best to include LEAPS eligibility in a UCAS application, please contact us.

Activities

We continue to deliver a range of activities in and out of school. To find out which LEAPS activities students in your school can participate in, please explore our activities selector here.

Dates for activities will normally be arranged during annual planning meetings between link teachers and a member of the LEAPS team at the end of the summer term.

If you have any queries at all, please contact us.

Support for care-experienced students, young carers and estranged students

We offer individualised support to care-experienced students, young carers and those estranged from their parents or guardian as they plan their next steps. As part of this, the following LEAPS team members act as named contacts and are happy to be contacted with any questions:

Care-experienced students – Sarah Macpherson
Young carers – Fi Das
Estranged students – Steph Harkes

LEAPS teachers' conference

We run a biennial conference for LEAPS link teachers, usually taking place every other May. The next teachers’ conference is due to take place in 2026.