Onyinye Udokporo (Religion, Politics & Society, 2019; MA Education, Policy & Society, 2020) was awarded the first-ever Student of the Year award in 2018 for her contributions to the student body and service to society. She used her spare time while studying for a bachelor’s at King’s to volunteer with organisations such as Debate Mate – a charity that aims to tackle educational disadvantage in some of Britain’s most deprived communities.

As part of the King’s Think Tank, the largest student-led think tank in Europe, Onyinye also worked with the City of London Corporation to engage the Square Mile with initiatives to help increase social mobility – for example, by supporting scholarships for less-privileged youngsters to attend independent schools, and by offering King’s students the opportunity to see inside the Old Bailey.

Alongside her studies, in 2018, Onyinye founded Enrich Learning – an online education platform and tuition service – building on a successful tutoring business she set up at the age of 12. As a pioneer of social mobility, Enrich Learning’s mission is to provide affordable tuition for students from underprivileged backgrounds, keeping their costs low but paying tutors above the London Living Wage. Onyinye wants to shake up the education sector by improving access to opportunities for everyone, by making online learning more accessible and by supporting children and adults to become digitally literate.

Recognising her academic success and tutoring enterprise, Onyinye was named by Rare Recruitment in 2020 as one of the UK’s Top Ten Black University Students. The aim of the award is to share positive stories, provide role models and inspire the next generation.

While at King’s, Onyinye became the first student to sit on the King’s College London Alumni Advisory Group and also landed a book deal to tell her story about being black and dyslexic, sharing tips and coping mechanisms for people with dyslexia and other forms of neurodiversity.