The Brilliant Club is an award winning non-profit organisation that exists to widen access to top universities for outstanding pupils from non-selective state schools.
Our primary activity is to recruit, train and place doctoral and postdoctoral researchers in non-selective state schools and sixth form colleges serving low participation communities to deliver programmes of university-style tutorials to small groups of outstanding pupils, which develop the knowledge, skills and ambition that help those pupils to secure places at top universities.
Working together with schools, colleges and universities, we are building a national movement that mobilises doctoral and postdoctoral researchers to engage with challenging schools and to address educational disadvantage more broadly. Our doctoral and postdoctoral researchers are placed in schools to deliver programmes from Year 6 through to Year 12.
We are currently working with over 150 schools and colleges in London and the South East, the Midlands, the North East, North West, South West, East of England and South Coast regions. We place over 250 doctoral and postdoctoral researchers to work with more than 5000 pupils.
The UK education system faces a range of inter-related challenges: students from non-selective state schools are under-represented at top universities; schools are increasingly accountable for progression to higher education; there is a shortage of high quality development opportunities for doctoral and postdoctoral researchers; and universities are committed to recruiting more pupils from low-participation backgrounds.
Listen to Jonathan tell you about The Brilliant Club in his own words in this short video.
In this clip Jonathan shares the Top Tip from his session with Patrick Grant. They discussed the challenges that you face when expanding beyond just one stream of work.
Jonathan Sodczyk, Co-Founder of The Brilliant Club
