The University continues to have an impact through its work with The Brilliant Club.

The University has partnered with the national educational charity, The Brilliant Club, since 2015. They aim to increase the number of pupils from under-represented backgrounds progressing to highly-selective universities by mobilising the PhD community to share its academic expertise with state schools. Through the Manchester partnership, pupils attend trips at The University of Manchester as well as other research-intensive institutions, and are tutored by early-career researchers whilst completing an academic assignment. Since we began working together, over 1000 students have participated in the programme.

The Brilliant Club has recently released the findings of an independent control group evaluation by UCAS. Data from the most recent cohort of pupils shows that 58% of pupils eligible for Free School Meals secured a place at a highly-selective university, compared to a national average of 11%. Further, when compared to a control group with matched characteristics including gender, ethnicity and prior attainment, UCAS reported that pupils who completed the programme were “significantly more likely to secure a place at a highly-selective university”.

During 2017 and beyond we will be increasing the number of participants on the programme, and recruiting more researchers as tutors. Interested researchers can apply to be a tutor online.

For more information about our work with the Brilliant Club, see our website.