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Media Literacy Ambassador students looking ahead

Media Literacy Ambassador Programme

Behind the Headlines
Scaling media literacy in your school or 6th form college
Our free Media Literacy Ambassador Programme trains young people in years 9-13 in the Midlands, London and South and West Yorkshire to teach their peers about fake news, enhancing media literacy skills across year groups and subjects in your school or college.

Media Literacy Ambassadors have co-delivered sessions to their peers in English, Media, PSHE, Citizenship lessons and tutorial time.

If you work at a school or sixth form college based within the target regions with above average free school meals or pupil premium students, register on behalf of your organisation now.

Students and teachers participating in the programme will benefit from:

  • Onsite training day at your organisation for Media Literacy Ambassadors and teachers

  • Virtual support for students before they deliver media literacy sessions to their peers alongside their teachers

  • Virtual reflection session for students up to one month after peer delivery

  • Regular resource updates after delivery

    • Register now
    Download our resources
    Hear from our Ambassadors
    Why is media literacy important?
    Media literacy skills, knowledge and confidence are fundamental in being able to navigate our fast-paced digital world. Young people need to be inspired and supported to engage with the news and media they consume, understand how it is produced and develop the critical analysis skills to recognise mis and disinformation.

    Through peer learning, we hope to embed these skills in schools and colleges in the long term.
    Learn more about MLAs and The Guardian Foundation
    Hear from our team
    What is the impact on young people?
    Evaluation by the National Literacy Trust has shown that this programme improves Media Literacy skills in young people. The peer-to-peer model supports greater reach, embeds learning and has a positive impact on transferable skills, particularly for less confident students.
    90%
    of ambassadors felt more confident about recognising mis and disinformation and that they had increased skills in thinking critically about news stories.
    Significantly more students could identify
    fake news
    after taking part.
    75%
    of ambassador students felt they had increased their presentation and communication skills.
    Read evaluation summary
    Read the full evaluation
    Download our teacher guide and resources
    Download our teacher guide and resources to independently deliver the Media Literacy Ambassador programme in your organisation. These resources are based on our experience of delivering the Media Literacy Ambassador programme to schools and colleges across central England with above average levels of free school meals, English as an additional language and special educational needs.
    The guide will provide you with a model for scaling media literacy and building resilience to mis and disinformation across your school or college. The resources are aimed at students aged 14-18. You can follow the whole programme, or you can pick and choose a selection of activities and resources to incorporate into your teaching.

    The guide includes:

  • Full lesson plans designed by educators

  • The benefits of teaching media literacy through peer learning

  • Guidance in setting up the programme

  • Guidance on collaborating with colleagues and your senior leadership team

  • How to timetable the programme

  • How to integrate the programme across the curriculum

    • Download our teacher guide
    Download all Media Literacy Ambassador resources
    In my 15 years of teaching, this is probably the most positive thing I've seen in terms student impact.
    Teacher
    Previous MLA school
    I am more open to news and media because I trust that now I can fact-check sources and news. I used to avoid most news altogether because I didn’t know what was true and what wasn’t.
    Student
    Media Literacy Ambassador
    The impact on our students has been vast. The MLAs have used their communication, teamwork and presentation skills already across the curriculum supporting their recent Science presentation, and have made developments in their oracy skills.
    Teacher
    Previous MLA school

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