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The Brilliant Club is a non-profit organisation that exists to widen access to top universities for outstanding students from disadvantaged backgrounds. Our primary activity is to recruit, train and place PhD students in schools serving low participation communities to deliver programmes of university-style tutorials to small groups of outstanding students, which develop the skills, confidence and ambition that help those students to secure places at top universities. Working together with schools and universities, we are building a national movement that mobilises PhD students to engage with challenging schools and to address educational disadvantage more broadly. Our PhD students are placed in schools to deliver programmes from KS2 through to KS5. We are currently working with over 40 schools in London, Birmingham, Essex and Luton.

The UK education system currently faces a range of inter-related challenges: students from disadvantaged backgrounds 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 PhD students; and universities are committed to recruiting more students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

The Brilliant Club facilitates sustained contact between outstanding students in challenging schools and PhD students from top universities. In doing so, we offer a simple and scalable solution that addresses the inter-related problems mentioned above and at the same time benefits each of the key stakeholders. Students develop the skills, confidence and ambition that help them to secure places at top universities; schools develop a culture that champions excellence, hard work and progression to higher education; PhD students are paid for taking part in high quality development opportunities; and universities are given access to target schools and target students.

Our work is already having a significant impact on students in London; however, we intend to work with schools and universities across the country to build a high-profile national movement committed to widening access to top universities. For an in depth look in to our organisation, please download our strategy document, which can be found in the sidebar to the left.