The Salters' Institute

The Salters’ Institute was founded in 1918 and, as the flagship charity of the Company, has a significant role in promoting the work of the Company, its heritage and legacy. Today the Salters’ Institute is a leading educational charity in:

the promotion of the teaching and learning of chemistry,
the support of young people to engage with chemistry and chemistry-related sciences, and
the encouragement of young people to explore and pursue chemistry-related careers in and beyond the chemical industry.

To read about the Salters’ Institute’s history, please see our Celebrating 100 Years booklet here.

What We Do

The Salters’ Institute’s influence stretches across the world. Its outreach aims to cover four strands:

Chemistry for All
Chemistry for Scholars
Chemistry for Good
Chemistry for Community

This is achieved through the Salters’ Education Team and their support of, and work with, teachers, technicians, young and adult learners, schools and families across the UK through our outreach programme, educational activities and curriculum design and development.

Public Programmes

Public Programmes are delivered across both the Salters’ Company the Salters’ Institute. This outreach is dedicated to welcoming and encouraging new and existing audiences to engage with the Salters’ Company’s rich history, whilst also bringing its focus on chemistry education to life for the wider community.

Public Programmes aim to inspire learners of all ages, from Early Years to aged 11, formal and informal learners and adults, through a diverse and dynamic programme. The programme explores themes of chemistry and the broader sciences with interactive and immersive workshops for both families and students.

Chemistry Club

The Salters’ Institute’s Chemistry Club is an innovative and unique online, interactive learning platform for 11-14-year olds. It aims to demystify chemistry and showcase the breadth and depth of chemistry as a subject and a career, as well as to spark and nurture an interest in chemistry in young learners before they choose the subjects they will study later in secondary school.

Salters’ Festivals of Chemistry

The Salters’ Institute Festivals of Chemistry have traditionally been one-day events for students aged 11-14, which involve teams of students visiting their local universities to take part in Salters’ Chemistry Challenges and other chemistry-related activities. Since 1991, over 50,000 students at more than 900 Festivals have experienced the fun of practical chemistry. The Festivals were expanded in 2019 to incorporate the participation of students aged 13-14.

In 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Festivals of Chemistry went online with a regional focus – six Festivals across the UK. The programme included over 100 pieces of content, including pre-recorded experiments, virtual tours of labs and campuses, mini lectures, interactive shows, CPD sessions and more, which were enjoyed by 135 schools and over 700 students.

In 2022, Festivals of Chemistry will adopt a hybrid approach with online and in-person activities for students to ‘Discover Chemistry’.

Salters’ Ambassador Programme

The Salters’ Ambassador Programme was launched in 2021. It invites undergraduates who are studying Chemistry (or related sciences) at university level to represent the Salters’ Institute and to contribute to the Institute’s activities and wider outreach.

Awards and Alumni

The Salters’ Institute has a programme of awards, scholarships and prizes to recognise excellence in chemistry and chemistry-related teaching and learning, academic, vocational and professional achievements. The awards are presented at the Institute’s Annual Awards Ceremony.

Curriculum Projects

The Salters’ Institute has funded, through the University of York Science Education Group (UYSEG), the development of innovative teaching materials in order to improve teaching and learning in secondary school science. The Institute and the University of York developed three Advanced level (A level) courses: Salters Advanced Chemistry, Salters Horners Advanced Physics and Salters-Nuffield Advanced Biology, and one course at GCSE level, Twenty First Century Science.

Visit the Salters’ Institute’s website here.