The Brilliant Club and Co-op Academies Trust announce exciting partnership
The new partnership will aim to provide extracurricular educational opportunities to less advantaged students across the Co-op Academies Trust.
The Brilliant Club is the UK’s largest university access charity. It delivers The Scholars Programme, which is run in collaboration with schools and teachers, and supports students aged 8-18 to develop the knowledge, skills and confidence needed to progress to the country’s most competitive universities and succeed once there.
The partnership will include two key activities. First, it will raise attainment and improve university access for Co-op Academies’ students by delivering The Scholars Programme, which offers the opportunity for students to engage with university-style learning through small group tutorials delivered by PhD tutors. The Brilliant Club currently collaborates with over 850 schools nationwide to implement its programme and is excited to work with Co-op to expand its reach and impact.
This collaboration will see the launch of Scholars Programme placements across Co-op academies in Manchester, Bradford, Leeds, and Stoke-on-Trent. Students across the Trust will enrol on bespoke courses, with students studying courses such as ‘The Placenta: Your Most Important Organ?’, ‘Mission Possible: Solving the World’s Problems with Computer Science’, and ‘Philosophy: What is fairness?’. At the end of their placement, scholars will be invited to a Graduation Event at a university, which will give students the opportunity to celebrate their achievements, as well as to find out more about university learning, tour a campus, and meet current undergraduates.
Beyond their graduation, these students have lots more to look forward to because the programme has proven impact in schools: students who participate in the programme are more likely than their peers to get a 9-5 in English and maths at GCSE, and more likely to eventually apply to and progress to a competitive university.
Steve Brice, Regional Director, at Co-op Academies Trust, said:
"The work that The Brilliant Club do, and the experiences that it affords students across so many of our academies, aligns so well our determination to ensure that ambition, opportunity and success should not be defined by a postcode or other circumstances. This isn’t about ‘raising aspiration’ - young people already aspire to succeed - instead The Brilliant Club opens the door to tangible encounters which challenge and inspire students through academic success in ways they might not have previously thought were for them.
Akvilė Stuart, Strategic Partnerships Lead at The Brilliant Club, said:
"We are very excited about launching this partnership with Co-op Academies Trust, and look forward to supporting their students with attainment and university transitions. Our charity mission resonates strongly with Co-op's values of giving children the skills and experiences they need to succeed, no matter where they come from. We look forward to contributing to improved social mobility in the North of England, and to providing Co-op's students with exciting opportunities for their futures."