Our intake of students
Our students are primarily aged between 16 and 24, with the majority between 16 and 18. Many are living away from home for the first time, so we have a life skills programme to ensure they're ready to take the step into employment. In the past, we had strong links with Scandinavia. Unfortunately, however, Brexit means their students now have to self-fund, rather than being covered by the British Government.
Our relationship with the school in Doncaster
The British Racing School is based in Newmarket, but we work with students and trainers from all over the country. The National Horseracing College is based in Bawtry, just outside Doncaster, and they have a similar reach. We're two independent charities, but we work closely together, and our programmes are reasonably similar. There are racing schools in other jurisdictions around the world. For example, there's a jockey academy in South Africa, while the French have a slightly different system. Their school is known as AFASEC, and students stay there for much longer, with mainstream education offered alongside riding.
The courses we offer
We run the Jockey Coaching Programme on behalf of the BHA, but we're first and foremost an educational and training establishment, working hard to produce racing grooms and work riders for the industry. Our mission is to provide entry level training for youngsters looking for their first job in racing, and who are going on to work for trainers in yards nationwide. We also run training for other racing jurisdictions: the Middle East, Turkey and the Korea Racing Authority are regular clients.
How they're funded
We receive funding from the Education and Skills Funding Agency, the same as any other college. We do, however, also receive funding from the racing industry, with help largely originating from the the Horserace Betting Levy Board (HBLB) . The third large chunk of our funding is raised ourselves, through charitable donations, running a conference and events centre, and providing training and education for people who self-fund.