The Brilliant Club – inspiring the next generation of researchers

The University is continuing its successful partnership with The Brilliant Club, after almost 5 years of working together. The Brilliant Club exists to increase the number of pupils from under-represented backgrounds progressing to highly selective universities. It recruits, trains and places doctoral and postdoctoral researchers in schools to deliver programmes of university-style tutorials, which are supplemented by two university trips.

In the last academic year we hosted over 1,000 pupils on the scholars programme onto our campus, and 29 of our researchers worked as tutors, engaging over 600 pupils in their research.

We’re pleased to report that in January 2020, two pupils who have worked with researchers at The University of Manchester have been published in the latest issue of The Scholar, The Brilliant Club’s academic journal of outstanding pupil work. The Scholar is published termly and showcases some of the excellent work produced by pupils. All assignments nominated for publication are reviewed by an expert panel of PhD researchers and only the highest scoring are published.

This is an example of the high standard of work produced by students on the programme, supporting our targets within our Access and Participation Plan (APP).

In The University of Manchester’s APP we have committed to: Delivering the Scholars Programme over the next 5 years in collaboration with the Brilliant Club in order to improve pupils’ confidence in specific competencies which are important for HE readiness. This work is targeted at students who are eligible for pupil premium, with no parental experience of HE and from the most deprived areas (IDACI).

We have a specific target around the academic performance of pupils taking part in the Scholars Programme: In partnership with the Brilliant Club, the University will support pupils from POLAR 4 Q1&2 areas or eligible for Pupil Premium to make at least a 5% improvement in their overall academic progress whilst participating in the Scholars Programme

Researchers interested in applying to be a tutor on the programme, or schools interested in taking part can get in touch with The Brilliant Club.