ThemPra

What ThemPra does

ThemPra Social Pedagogy CIC is a UK-based Community Interest Company (company no. 6702509) founded in 2015 and registered at Allithwaite, Cumbria. It operates as a learning partner for social pedagogy — a European relationship-centred practice framework for social care, education and youth work — delivering experiential courses, team development sessions, coaching and leadership support primarily to UK local authorities, fostering services, leaving-care teams and social care NGOs. Its four core paid courses (Developing Relationship-Centred Practice, Making Co-Production Meaningful, Relational Leadership, Courageous Conversations) are run as multi-session Zoom cohorts at £250–£450 per participant, with volume discounts for organisational purchases of 5+ or 10+ seats. Adjacent offerings include the SPPA-endorsed Social Pedagogy Practice CPD pathway (developed with the National House Project), the UCLan co-delivered MA in Social Pedagogy Leadership, and in-person team development across the UK and internationally.

The underlying technology stack is minimal in the software sense: course content is delivered via Zoom and supplementary resources are hosted on thempra.org.uk, the Sub-brand International Journal of Social Pedagogy is published by UCL Press, and a free MOOC is distributed through Coursera. The substantive intellectual property lies in proprietary pedagogical frameworks (notably the Diamond Model and the Relational Universe) authored by co-director Gabriel Eichsteller and made available under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0. No proprietary software product, API, mobile application or AI/ML capability is disclosed.

The business model is a freemium professional education flywheel. Free resources — the MOOC, the SPDN grassroots events (covering 15 UK and international locations with around 200 participants in mid-2023), the monthly Reading Club, Learning Out Loud, and the Relational Practice webinar series — build awareness and community; paid cohorts, enterprise team development, and the UCLan MA convert that funnel into fee income. Funding is supplemented by philanthropic grants (e.g., Esmée Fairbairn Foundation's Leaving Care Learning Programme, 2023) and revenue is reinvested in line with the CIC's community-benefit mandate. ThemPra does not raise venture capital, has no disclosed parent company, and operates as an independently governed social enterprise.

Name

ThemPra

Legal name

ThemPra Social Pedagogy CIC

Website

https://thempra.org.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

ThemPra is a UK Community Interest Company that delivers experiential courses, consultancy and free community programmes in social pedagogy for social care, fostering, leaving-care, and education professionals, primarily across the UK and selectively internationally.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Professional Education and Training

NAICS

Educational Services (611), Educational Support Services (611710)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

DEI, Equity & Inclusion Training (EDABAIAF)

akta.pro secondary industry

Student & Alumni Communities (BPAMABAK)

Keywords

• Social pedagogy training
• Professional development courses
• Experiential learning programs
• Organisational consultancy
• Relationship-centred practice

Headquarters

HQ city

Allithwaite

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Revenue model

1. Paid Online Courses: Experiential online courses delivered via Zoom with multiple sessions. Revenue generated through course fees for professional development programmes.
2. Free Learning Events: Free webinars, Learning Out Loud sessions, and SPDN events designed to build community and introduce social pedagogy concepts, driving future course enrollments.
3. MOOC Partnership: Partnership with Coursera to deliver the Social Pedagogy across Europe MOOC, extending reach to global audiences.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

ThemPra is a Community Interest Company (CIC) that supports the development of social pedagogy through experiential learning courses, organisational development and consultancy services, and free open-access resources. It equips social care, education, and health professionals with practical tools, conceptual frameworks (such as the Diamond Model and Relational Universe), and reflective practice methods to deliver relationship-centred, person-centred support.

Product overview

ThemPra is a Community Interest Company (CIC) offering experiential learning courses, free resources, and community platforms focused on social pedagogy — a relationship-centred practice approach that supports well-being, learning, and social inclusion. The core offering consists of multiple experiential online courses (Developing Relationship-Centred Practice, Making Co-Production Meaningful, Relational Leadership, Courageous Conversations) and a comprehensive Social Pedagogy Practice learning programme that combines online courses with team development and peer learning. Free offerings include the monthly Learning Out Loud forum, the Social Pedagogy Development Network events, the Social Pedagogy Reading Club, and the relational practice webinar series. ThemPra also jointly publishes the International Journal of Social Pedagogy with UCL Press and co-delivers an MA in Social Pedagogy Leadership with UCLan. All free resources are made available under Creative Commons licensing. The portfolio does not constitute a software product but rather a suite of educational programmes and open-access knowledge resources.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• ThemPra Experiential Courses Multi-session experiential learning courses in social pedagogy designed for social care, education, and health professionals, with conceptual frameworks (Diamond Model, Relational Universe), reflective practice, and practical tools.

Quantifiable outcome

• Raised the bar? Evaluation of the Social Pedagogy Pilot Programme found positive outcomes in residential children's homes
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• National House ProjectcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 September 2023Developed the Social Pedagogy Practice learning programme with the National House Project, a charity supporting local authorities to set up and manage Local House Projects for young people leaving care. The programme combines online courses, team development training and ongoing peer learning, aligned with SPPA standards.
• National Leaving Care Benchmarking ForumcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023Joint hosts of webinar series on Relational Practice with care experienced young people, part of a peer learning programme funded by Esmée Fairbairn Foundation's Leaving Care Learning Programme.
• Esmée Fairbairn Foundation Leaving Care ProgrammeminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2023Funder and collaborator on the Leaving Care Learning Programme, providing funding for the relational practice webinar series and peer learning initiative.
• University of Central Lancashire (UCLan)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThemPra partnered with UCLan to jointly develop and deliver the MA in Social Pedagogy Leadership programme. The course offers a social pedagogical perspective to leadership, enabling managers and senior practitioners to apply principles, theories and philosophy to develop a culture of care and support within organisations and communities.
• Social Pedagogy Professional Association (SPPA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThemPra actively supports SPPA, the professional home for social pedagogy in the UK. SPPA has formally endorsed ThemPra's Social Pedagogy Practice learning programme. Gabriel Eichsteller serves as SPDN co-ordinator and collaborates closely with SPPA on events and initiatives.
• Social Pedagogy Development Network (SPDN)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGrassroots movement co-ordinated by ThemPra for anyone interested in social pedagogy. Hosts free events across multiple UK and international locations, building community and sharing social pedagogy practice.
• UCL Institute of Education / Centre for Understanding Social PedagogycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJointly developed the International Journal of Social Pedagogy with the Centre for Understanding Social Pedagogy. The journal is a fully peer-reviewed, open access publication now published by UCL Press.
• Jacaranda DevelopmentminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborated with Jacaranda Development and Prof Pat Petrie to develop video clips on social pedagogy.
• The Fostering NetworkminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThemPra is a delivery partner in the Head, Heart, Hands demonstration programme, producing training videos and supporting foster care implementation sites.
• Global Alliance for Social Pedagogy and Social EducationminorGTM or Marketing PartnerInternational partnership organisation co-hosting SPDN events such as the Most Significant Change storytelling workshop.
• VIA University College, AarhusminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerReferenced partner offering Heart-Head-Hands social pedagogy course module, supporting international student exchanges and cross-cultural learning.
• Developing Evidence-Enriched Practice (DEEP) ProjectminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNick Andrews from the DEEP project led an SPDN workshop on Most Significant Change storytelling technique, sharing expertise in practice development and evaluation.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Regional players

• VIA University College: Danish university college offering the Heart-Head-Hands social pedagogy course module referenced as a ThemPra partner. Comparable as an international social pedagogy education provider, operating in Denmark where social pedagogy is a mainstream qualification rather than a niche specialism as in the UK.

Direct peers

• Research in Practice: UK-based learning and development organisation providing evidence-based resources, training, and CPD for social work and social care practitioners. Highly comparable to ThemPra as a mission-driven CPD provider serving the same social care workforce with practice-improvement content.
• Frontline: UK charity training and developing social workers through an intensive leadership programme and continuing professional development. Comparable mission-aligned training provider in the same social work / social care CPD market, though focused on social work leadership rather than social pedagogy specifically.
• The Mulberry Bush: UK charity providing therapeutic residential care, training, and consultation for children with severe social, emotional, and behavioural difficulties. Comparable as a small specialist organisation offering training and CPD to the children's residential and care workforce that ThemPra also serves.

Emerging players

• Cordis Bright: UK social care and social policy consultancy providing research, evaluation, and training to councils, charities, and central government. Comparable as a provider of paid professional development and consultancy services to the same social care commissioning buyers, though their training is less pedagogical-framework-led.

Broad incumbents

• Skills for Care: The statutory workforce development body for adult social care in England, offering training, qualifications, and CPD resources to care providers. Comparable as a sector skills organisation, though much larger and statutory, operating in the same buyer base (local authorities and care employers).
• Children's Workforce Development Council (legacy sector bodies): UK government-adjacent bodies historically responsible for workforce standards, qualifications, and CPD frameworks in children's services. Comparable as the broader institutional environment ThemPra operates in for setting and signalling social care training standards.

Others

• National House Project: UK charity ThemPra co-developed the Social Pedagogy Practice learning programme with; supports local authorities to set up Local House Projects for care-experienced young people. Closely adjacent — they are a customer/partner rather than a competitor, but operate in the same leaving-care practice environment.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/playlist?list=PLc4KFmOv0EpangL2PrQPi8eMFB_WVMDxA
• Facebookfacebook.com/ThemPraSocialPedagogy
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/thempra-social-pedagogy-cic

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about ThemPra