First News > About First News

‘‘I subscribed after hearing this on BBC Radio 2, received the first copy for my daughter a couple of days ago, she loves it!’’

Sara-Leigh Cain

Parent

Who we are

First News is the UK’s only newspaper for young people.  We were founded in 2006 by Sarah and Steve Thomson with editor Nicky Cox.  We have always been independently owned and have no political affiliations.

We now publish both print and digital editions every Friday.

Ten years on, we have over 2m young people nationwide reading First News each week with over half of all UK schools subscribing to our paper.

What we believe

Our fundamental belief is that, if the world is to become a better place, the next generation has to be better informed than the last.

Every day we remember that children are 27% of the world’s population and 100% of the future.

child reading first news (1)
children reading frst news (1)

What we do

We create fresh and innovative news content that speaks directly to young people in a voice they can recognise and trust.

Whether it’s in print in our weekly newspaper, in our daily video news bulletin (with Sky), or in our brand new on-line films, we tackle topical and sometimes tricky issues answering questions in an honest but understandable way for our young audience.

First News in Schools

Each week our team of educational specialists create a wealth of teaching resources to spark engagement with current affairs. Thousands of schools across the country benefit from First News Education‘s literacy tools, which includes ready-to-use reading activities based on stories in each week’s news.

With a complete suite of online and offline resources, including our award-winning, interactive learning platform, First News Engage, we provide exciting learning experiences for Key Stages 2 and 3, plus flexible teaching solutions to suit every school budget.

We don’t like to brag but…

Over the years we have won numerous awards and accolades, including Best National Newspaper at the Plain English Campaign Media Awards (2011), Best National Weekly Newspaper of the Year (2012) and Niche Market Newspaper of the Year (2012 and 2017).

With everything we do here at First News, our aim is to open up children’s eyes to the world.  We aim to ensure they understand the issues facing them and the news shaping the world they live in.

We want all children to be informed, to have a voice and be heard.