A Real Life Ed

Real Life Education (RLE) provides embedded, skills-focused mentoring within residential care and education settings, complementing and strengthening existing school or Alternative Provision (AP). Working collaboratively alongside care, education, and therapeutic teams, RLE supports young people’s wellbeing, development and stability, while enhancing staff practice and the wider residential and learning environment.

Recent UK research and sector commentary increasingly highlight that care leavers’ outcomes are driven less by placement alone and more by consistent relationships, skills development, and identity-building support.

Children and young people often experience fragmented services. Mentoring isn’t just an add-on; it is the connective tissue that supports care, development, and successful transitions.

Inbuilt Skills & Personal Development: The L.I.F.E. Programme

At the heart of the RLE mentoring model is the L.I.F.E. Programme – a skills-based framework informed by best practices, offering customisable pathways for age, need, and readiness.

How this works:

Each pillar is translated into mentoring goals, activities, and progress markers
Adapts intensity and focus based on progress and developmental assessments
Young people engage through goal tracking, reflection, and the right level of challenge
Local authorities gain visibility of skills development, not just attendance or placement length, with detailed progress reports

This model directly addresses a gap often identified in research: care leavers may leave placements without the practical and emotional skills required for independence, even when placements are stable.

RLE partners with organisations, schools, local authorities, and community providers to design and deliver real-world support systems that help young people grow, belong, and thrive in REAL LIFE.

We specialise in helping others solve complex challenges facing young people by building tailored, wraparound models that go beyond traditional education and care. Our work supports emotional, social, physical, and academic development particularly for young people who have struggled in mainstream settings.

Rather than offering a one-size-fits-all programme, RLE works as a strategic and delivery partner helping organisations design, implement, and scale approaches that genuinely meet young people where they are.

What We Help You Build

We collaborate with you to create integrated, person-centred solutions, drawing on our experience across mentoring, therapeutic support, education, and sport.

RLE supports emotional wellbeing, independence, and positive societal contribution ensures mentoring is relationship-first, safe, consistent and developmental, while forming the foundation for training, awareness and reflective practice.

Flexible & Accredited Learning Pathways
We help organisations build adaptable educational models aligned to individual strengths, interests, and future goals - supporting re-engagement, progression, and meaningful outcomes.

Trauma-Informed, Clinically Led Pathways

We support the development of trauma-informed, clinically-led pathways that respond to emotional wellbeing and mental health needs aligning therapeutic relationships, psychological insight, and clinical expertise with your setting and capacity.

How We Work

At RLE, we partner with leadership teams, practitioners, and communities to:

Identify challenges and gaps
Co-design tailored solutions that address specific needs
Support implementation to ensure successful delivery
Build internal capability for sustainable, long-term impact

When young people are supported over time to build connection, competence and confidence, outcomes change

The fastest-growing skills in today’s world aren’t just technical - they’re deeply human: resilience, adaptability, creative and analytical thinking, motivation, and lifelong learning.
Yet many young people - particularly those in care or excluded from school - aren’t supported to develop these skills in consistent, meaningful ways.

Our Commitment

Belonging, inclusion, and real-life impact sit at the heart of everything we help create.

Whether supporting young people in care, out of education, experiencing mental health challenges, or in need of an alternative pathway, RLE helps organisations build environments where young people are seen, supported, and given the opportunity to reconnect, rebuild, and rise.

RLE supporting team Wigan & Leigh

We’re proud to announce that RLE is sponsoring the Charity Golf Day on 20th June, alongside many other local businesses such as JJH Building Contractors Ltd Builders and Greenmount Projects, supporting Team Wigan and Leigh and Wigan and Leigh Hospice. ⛳️
This fantastic event has already raised over £13,000 to help fund the vital care and support Wigan and Leigh Hospice provides to individuals and families in our community. We’re honoured to be part of such a meaningful initiative.
Best of luck to our very own Jordan Turner and all the teams taking part - we’re excited for a memorable day on the course, all in support of this incredible cause.

If you’d like to join us in supporting, you can donate here

Adam & JT at The Rugby League Cares Q1 Club Wellbeing Managers Meeting

Discussing their journeys so far, the impact RLE is having on children and young people and how rugby league equips players with invaluable transferable skills into other careers, including MENTORING.

Our model combines our in-house clinical team & mentoring service - engaging, empowering and evolving vulnerable young people and the team around the child with bespoke programmes, interventions and training. It’s this combination

of professionals and life experienced aspirational mentors and coaches that has proven to have a transformative effect.

We look forward to offering the opportunity of joining the growing RLE team to many more current professional rugby league players - especially those who are going part time and those who are transitioning out of the game.

OUR COMMITMENT TO SAFEGUARDING

At Real Life Education (RLE), safeguarding is at the heart of everything we do.

We are committed to creating a safe, supportive, and inclusive environment where all young people feel protected, valued, and empowered to thrive.

We take a proactive approach to safeguarding, ensuring that our staff, mentors, and partners are fully trained to recognise and respond to any concerns.

Our policies and procedures are designed to uphold the highest standards of safety, confidentiality, and well-being.

If you have any concerns about a young person's safety or well-being, please reach out to our Designated Safeguarding Lead at jordanturner@reallifeeducation.co.uk

Find our Safeguarding Policy Here

Go to Policies

Real Life Education (RLE) provides holistic, wrap-around support to young people and staff teams. RLE is not a school, not registered with the Department for Education (DfE) and does not deliver statutory full-time education.

The [Commissioning School/Academy/Local Authority/Residential Care Provider] retains full responsibility for the pupil’s admission, roll, attendance, full-time education and for meeting any special educational needs/EHCP requirements.

RLE’s services are complementary to school or AP provision, providing support to ensure stability, safety, wellbeing and personal development for young people, while strengthening staff teams and the wider residential environment. Programmes such as the L.I.F.E. Programme support young people to develop healthy lifestyles, personal skills, future readiness and engagement with education, employment or training.