Scientific calculators, now a standard requirement for many GCSE maths exams, can cost anywhere between £15 and £35 depending on the model.

As many schools cannot afford to provide calculators, the cost is pushed onto family or carers. For some already managing tight budgets the cost of essential school equipment can be too much.

That is why JF Hornby & Co, a family-owned firm of chartered certified accountants, have launched an initiative to support local school pupils as they work towards their maths exams. 

In a bid to ensure no pupil goes without, the 50-strong firm has pledged to provide hundreds of scientific calculators to secondary schools across the southern Lake District.

Through the firms newly launched calculator club it promised to collaborate with local schools to ensure they have spare calculators available for learners who may need to borrow one. 

‘It’s no secret that schools operate within the constraints of challenging budgets and sometimes do not have the funds to do everything they would like to’, said Paul Hornby, managing director of JF Hornby & Co.

Hornby continued: ‘Equally, many families are feeling the pinch and often do not have surplus money to cover additional ad hoc items. A scientific calculator is a basic but essential piece of equipment for GCSE maths’.  

Between now and the start of the new school year in September, the Hornby team will work with official providers of approved calculators to build a stock reserve. 

Schools are being invited to contact the team to discuss their needs, with an upper limit of 50 calculators per school in place. 

‘If a pupil does not have reliable access to one, it can put them at an immediate disadvantage. The JF Hornby calculator club is about removing that barrier and making sure no young person is held back for such a simple reason’, said Hornby.

The calculator club pledge comes as the JF Hornby team prepare to deliver a fifth successive year of financial education lessons to primary and secondary school pupils via the Hornby money club. 

The school sessions are built around a desire to ensure as many young people as possible have a basic understanding of money and finances. 

The initiative will be funded via the Hornby Foundation, the charitable arm of JF Hornby & Co, which in the past has donated upwards of £400,000 to charities, not‑for‑profit organisations, and sports clubs since being launched more than a decade ago. 

Any school interested in getting involved in either initiative should, in the first instance, email [email protected] with either Calculator Club or Money Club in the subject line.