After graduating from Oxford in 2018, Joe Seddon founded Zero Gravity, a mentoring platform that focuses on helping state-school students access top universities. It has been immensely successful—I should know, because as well as having been a mentee, I now also dedicate an hour each week to mentoring.
Journey to University
Of course, it wasn’t always plain sailing for Seddon. “I grew up in a small town […] in West Yorkshire, and I come from a single parent background,” he told me. “I sort of grew up in that period—the financial crisis—where it seemed like the world’s economy was breaking apart and falling down,” he added, explaining his interest in economics, which led him to apply to study Politics, Philosophy and Economics (PPE).
Despite describing himself as “relatively academic”, Seddon claimed that, “Oxbridge wasn’t really on my radar at all [as] it’s just something that, in Yorkshire, you don’t really do.” I know all too well the disadvantages of being from a deprived northern city, growing up not too far from Seddon myself. Many state-school students at Oxford have shared a similar experience, only waking up to the possibility of a place at a top university after receiving a “strong set of results” at GCSE, as Seddon did.
But even once he built up the courage to apply, Seddon was uncertain about Oxford. “I remember stepping into my first interview, which was like a sort of ivory-tower-style setting,” he joked. Despite being familiar with some of the basic interview questions due to his economics classes at school, he remembers the experience as being “incredibly alien” and the environment as overwhelming. In a sentiment shared by almost every Oxford applicant, Seddon adds, “I thought my initial interviews had gone so badly that I had no chance of getting a place.”
Arriving at Oxford
Seddon received an offer to read PPE, matriculating in 2015. But, as state-school students know all too well, the playing field does not automatically even out once you reach Oxford. “I think the film The Riot Club had just come out,” Seddon told me, referencing the 2014 film following Oxford students in an elitist secret society. This merely added to the stereotype of Oxford being the playground for the elites, something which makes many working-class students apprehensive about applying to study here. As well as the environment being alien, the style of learning was wholly unfamiliar. “The first couple of weeks and months were difficult, adapting to a completely different style of learning. I remember on freshers’ week I got given two essays to write straight away—3000 word essays,” he recalled. “I’d never written an essay before at school—I’d done exams, but I’d never had to write a long form piece with a bibliography and sources.”
Though he loved his experience at Oxford, Seddon cites it as a key factor behind his realisation that “though talent is spread evenly, it is opportunity which is not.” He believes that people he went to school with could just as easily have got a place at Oxbridge and thrived in that environment had it only been on the radar for them, or had they been given a proper chance. “I became passionate about doing things to knock down those barriers, because I think there are so many talented people who currently aren’t getting to the universities they deserve. They aren’t getting access to the opportunities which would enable them to realise their potential,” he explains.
Establishing Zero Gravity
Back in his childhood room, after finishing university, Seddon used the last £200 of his student loan to set up Zero Gravity. “It was incredibly bootstrapped at the beginning,” he admits, “but I’m a big believer that, if you have an idea and you’re dedicated to it […] I do think you can achieve it.” Though it was launched from his bedroom, Seddon has achieved great success; through the help of Zero Gravity, 3000 students have reached top universities, including 400 of whom received offers from Oxbridge, radically changing the face of admissions.
Whilst the initial aim of the platform was to identify and support talented students in school, it didn’t stop there. Seddon recognised that it was equally as important to help them to reach top universities, and then help them to break into great careers, eventually being able to support and mentor the next generation through the platform. As well as providing mentoring to help state-school students get into university, the platform has recently launched a scholarship for those who have got to university through the scheme, as well as internships for former mentees. Seddon refers to this approach as “one platform, one journey”, a way of investing in the futures of talented students from all backgrounds.
Social Mobility and Continuing Access
When asked what could be done by universities to foster access to equal opportunities once these students have reached university, Seddon outlined his position on social mobility. “I think a lot of people have mischaracterised social mobility as a [charitable] issue,” Seddon explained. “Obviously there’s a piece of social mobility which is about social justice, but I thought the big point which was missed was that talent is spread evenly, but opportunity is not.”
Whilst he respects the traditions of Oxbridge, Seddon believes that the culture must change in order to foster this talent. “The main way we can change the culture is by changing the people who are at the university. Banning formals or sub-fusc is not going to change the culture at the university overnight.” Seddon suggested that, instead, disadvantaged students having access to such institutions is key to maximising the potential of our top universities, including Oxford. “Changing the people at the university and creating a setting where northern students can sit around a grand formal table in sub-fusc and feel comfortable […] is how the university should look at cultural change.”
Seddon’s warning really stuck with me: “If things stay the way they are, we’re going to be squandering so much talent every single year. That’s not just bad for the individual[s] themselves, but for everyone; when talent wins, everyone wins.” Zero Gravity has fostered connections with companies such as HSBC, collaborating not only in the spirit of social impact and the mission of Zero Gravity, but in what Seddon refers to as the “space race for talent”. Big employers have “woken up to the fact that talent isn’t just based in South Kensington.”
Parting Remarks
His ultimate piece of advice to students from a background like his own is to harness opportunity. Oxford is not just a place with amazing teaching facilities, but “a huge opportunity for you to open up more doors. Get involved in societies, go to talks, meet lots of new people. Opportunity, in many ways, is an exponential process.”