Since 2019, we have been participating in The Scholars Programme, an academic programme run by The Brilliant Club (an organisation which aims to widen access for outstanding pupils in non-selective state schools to the United Kingdom’s most selective universities).

Twelve students are selected to participate in each placement. In order to participate, at least 55% of students on each placement must fall into one of the following categories: Students who are Pupil Premium Students whose parents have no background of higher education Students living in postcode areas 1-4 on the IDACI database

The programme aims to give students an experience of university-style learning through:

• A launch trip to a highly-selective university
• Seven tutorials led by a PhD tutor, teaching the students a supra-curricular topic based on their current research.
• The completion of a challenging final assignment pitched at least one key stage above their current level
• A graduation trip to another highly-selective university to celebrate their achievements

Placements run each year as follows: KS3 – Autumn term with graduation in the Spring term (usually February) KS4 – Spring term with graduation in the Summer term (usually July) This is fully funded for students from our Pupil Premium budget.

To find out more about the programme, please click here: https://thebrilliantclub.org/the-scholars-programme/

Please click below to read our impact reports from our previous placements:

Impact of Brilliant Club at The Astley Cooper School

• BC Impact Report - Autumn 2020 Website
• BC Impact Report - Autumn 2019 Website
• BC Impact Report - Summer 2019 Website