About the Founder

GCSE Boost Creator and Founder, Junior Saunders, was born and raised in Bristol and has had quite a unique experience with life, education and personal development.

Junior Saunders spent most of his life in foster care and didn’t have a strong educational experience while growing up. He experienced many difficulties, such as living with ADHD and dyslexia whilst also tackling setbacks as a child in care in Bristol in the 1990s.

After almost going to a young offenders unit at aged 14 and while in the Marlowe Children’s Home in Gloucester, Junior made the decision in year 10 that he wanted to return home to his foster mother Pearl, go back to mainstream education and finish his GCSEs. This was because he wanted the sense of belonging. Many of his peers were in mainstream school, while Junior was based on a programme called “Include” for students who found the mainstream school setting difficult to adjust to.

Junior wanted that sense of achievement despite all the setbacks that he faced. As he entered year 11 no schools in Bristol would accept him due to his educational journey, except for one, Lockleaze School. Throughout this, he was supported by Pearl Miles (his foster mother) Leroy Henderson (his probation officer and mentor) Mark Farmer (his School coach/ mentor) and Ray Lockey (The Head Teacher of Lockleaze School). These four professionals contributed, unknowingly at the time, towards the idea of GCSE Boost being born in 2025.

Junior now runs Junior Inspiring Education. This is a student personal development service for secondary school students on behalf of schools, businesses and organisations. It teaches students about personal development into careers and apprenticeships throughout the UK. Junior Inspiring Education is about to launch a brand-new tool to help apprentices through the interview process called the APDL log.