Jamie Oliver is bringing together some of Britain’s most inspirational individuals to try to encourage twenty teenagers, who have left school with few qualifications, to give education a second chance.

The results will be shown in a new seven-part documentary series, Jamie’s Dream School, to be shown early next year on Channel 4.

Jamie struggled academically at school, partly because of his dyslexia, leaving at sixteen with just two GCSEs. Two decades on he realizes that schools can, and should, be places that change lives. So he wants to see if he can persuade twenty kids like him to stay in education with an intensive and inspirational reintroduction to learning, as well as long-term support for those who decide to go back to college.

The kids, aged from sixteen to eighteen, will be taught a range of subjects by an incredible array of experts in their fields, brought together by Jamie and supervised by an experienced head teacher.

The science teacher is Professor Robert Winston, history is taught by David Starkey, politics by Alastair Campbell, drama by Simon Callow, music by Jazzie B, art by Rolf Harris and sport by Olympic gold-medallist Daley Thompson.

Other experts lending their weight to the project include former poet laureate Andrew Motion, hip hop vocalist Tinchy Stryder, sailor Ellen Macarthur, photographer Rankin, barrister Cherie Blair and former England cricket captain Michael Vaughan.

The project comes as many young people in Britain are leaving school at sixteen with few qualifications and fewer prospects: 47% fail to gain five GCSEs at grade A*-C, including English and Maths.

There will also be substantial online content around the programme, created in partnership with YouTube, including a dedicated YouTube channel with many full-length videos of the teachers’ lessons as well as shorter clips and other interactive elements.

The series asks why many young people are unengaged by education and asks whether what more could be done by society and the educational system to help them. It also aims to find out if the new teachers can translate their real-life expertise into the realities of the classroom.

“I’ve seen with many of the kids at Fifteen that if you can find something that sparks someone’s passion, they’ll absolutely embrace it,” says Jamie Oliver. “Not everyone’s into cooking, of course, so what we’re trying to do with Dream School is to provide loads of different academic subjects and some fantastic teachers so that there’s something inspiring for all the young people, whether it’s politics or history or sport or music. It’s fascinating to watch the kids in different lessons and see what switches them on.”

David Glover, Channel 4 Commissioning for Specialist Factual, says:

“Jamie’s Dream School is addressing a huge issue in our society and one which affected Jamie himself, although he has gone on to great success. The project is him giving something back to a new generation.

"What we soon found out was that a class of twenty uninspired 16-year-olds is a great leveller. At first they didn’t know who their teachers were and, even when they found out, many still didn’t care!

“So it was a huge challenge for these new teachers and it took them outside their comfort zones. Every day was a struggle and it makes for fascinating TV. But most moving is to see the moment when a teacher’s passion breaks through and inspires one of the kids or when the young people feel they have achieved something for themselves.

"The other really exciting thing about Jamie’s Dream School is that, working with YouTube, we are making the lessons available online. So if TV viewers like the look of David Starkey's history course, or Simon Callow's drama lessons, they can see longer versions on the YouTube channel – everyone can go to Dream School!”

Jamie’s Dream School is a seven-part documentary series made by Fresh On Productions. First episode airs on the 2nd of March at 9pm on Channel 4.

See the trailor.

Press contact: Matthew Robinson, 07909 684 746, matthew@mrtvpr.co.uk