The Brilliant Club works with students who are less advantaged and supports them to access the most competitive universities and succeed when they get there. One of the ways we do this is through The Scholars Programme, where we work with PhD tutors to help young people build the confidence and skills to succeed at school and beyond.
We want to support young people to make successful transitions in education because the attainment gap between the most and least advantaged students is at an all-time high. At the end of KS2, the disadvantage gap is 10.3 months, rising to a gap of 18.8 months in GCSE English and maths attainment by the end of secondary school (EPI, 2023).
Students who are experiencing persistent poverty experience a more serious attainment gap: on average, students eligible for free school meals achieve more than three quarters of a grade lower per GCSE subject than students with the same ability from better off backgrounds. The Scholars Programme exists to break down these barriers to success.
We have been working closely with the Higher Education Access Tracker (HEAT) and are delighted to share a new piece of research on how The Scholars Programme supports students’ attainment.
The comparison showed that students with average prior attainment at Key Stage 2 who completed The Scholars Programme in Year 10 were twice as likely to achieve a 9-5 in maths and English at GCSE, compared to students with similar prior attainment in their Local Authority. These students also demonstrated significant improvements in attainment-related outcomes, including self-efficacy and critical thinking.
