The Professor Sir William Taylor Foundation

The Professor Sir William Taylor Foundation was founded in January 2025 to continue the legacy of Professor Sir William Taylor (1930-2023), a distinguished academic and educator. Our mission is to provide strategically focused grants to schools, universities and other educational institutions and charities to support the advancement of learning.

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Sir William came to appreciate the value of education through an early setback. He failed the 11-plus (then called the Scholarship exam) and was denied a place at grammar school. He spent an unhappy few years at a technical school learning brick-laying and other practical skills, for which he was completely unsuited, before he was able to enter the sixth form at Erith Grammar School, Kent, where he had to catch up on five years of missed education in a very short time. Nevertheless, he passed his Higher School Certificate exams (the forerunner of A levels), and was able to secure a place at The London School of Economics (LSE), from which he graduated in 1952. 

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The Foundation set up in his memory is dedicated to directing grants and donations to directly support students, focussing funds toward areas that can make a real, tangible difference to young people.​