Emily Louise: Opening doors

Full of Fire

19-06-2020 • 28 mins

21-year-old Emily Louise just graduated from Oxford University as one of less than 1% of students there who grew up eligible for Free School Meals.

Emily got over 57,000 likes for this tweet saying she’d finished university!

A Londoner with Irish and Mauritian parents, Emily grew up living with her mum and sister in a council flat in West London. The first in her family to go to university, having studied at a state comprehensive, she talks of her journey to and through Oxford.

Having won the Pat Harris award for contributions to her college, Emily is very passionate about widening access to education, which is why she was particularly proud of how much attention her recent tweet received.

Emily was an absolute delight to chat to - her story is so uplifting and she has so much energy to change institutions and support others.