The death of George Floyd has ignited collective global activism around racism. Many companies have taken the rare step of releasing position statements on Black Lives Matter. We at The Student Room would like to do the same, we think it is important. Our position is that we are horrified by the ongoing social injustices that impact Black people in the UK and globally, and we aim to take active steps to fight this.

At TSR our mantra is ‘students first’ and our mission is to help the next generation become the best versions of themselves. If we are to succeed in this, we must clearly acknowledge the inequalities which exist for Black students and do our best to support said students in their experiences on our website, in schools, and into higher education.

As an immediate response, we have increased on site moderation and monitoring to protect young people from racism whilst they use our website. We have also published an official statement for students setting out our stance and next steps regarding Black Lives Matter.

Our historic and ongoing work in Widening Participation and Closing the Gap for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) students will continue to take place in the form of specialist projects and carefully selected partnerships. We are also reaching out to experts and support organisations to work with us and increase our own learning.

As a company, our commitment to our BAME colleagues is as high as it has ever been. We are undergoing an audit of our training and inclusion policies to ensure they are as robust as possible. The Student Room is a company that celebrates and supports all the amazing individuals who work with us; we welcome this opportunity to learn, improve and take action to bring about positive change for every person associated with our brand.