“I went to a school called Bradford Academy in inner-city Bradford. It’s a rough area and I think it’s gotten worse. Growing up in an area like that made it difficult to see past your surroundings.
I did The Scholars Programme in Year 10, and I was in the first group to do the programme at my school. When my teachers selected me, I did a bit of research about The Brilliant Club and the programme. I felt good about being selected, because it felt like an opportunity – and these kinds of opportunities they don’t come very often in places where deprivation is high. Particularly when the focus in school tends to be to try and get as many people through school successfully and get them to the next stage, and that’s it. Having that opportunity to then push further was important.
The topic we studied was climate change – are we responsible for climate change and do we owe it to the global south to mitigate it? I really like the way that the content was delivered and the tutorial system. We had to write a speech to the United Nations, write poetry and do an evaluation of whether we should take responsibility, based on historical trends. Classes in school had 30 people, but in the small tutorials you could actually bounce ideas. It was so refreshing and if I hadn’t had that experience, I don’t think I would have actually realised I liked that way of learning.
The final assignment was the hardest part. Referencing was, at the time, completely foreign to me. It was a different world, and I didn’t really know where to start. There was a lot of guidance from the tutor in how to do that and there was a session on it too, which was really useful. But that style of writing was completely new.
I still remember my tutor’s name, Kristina. The feedback that she gave on every piece of work was so helpful, reflecting on my work and what I could do with it in the future. It was cool being able to talk to someone who was an expert in their field – not an opportunity you get often in Bradford.
The best moment was probably getting the feedback from the final assignment that I wrote, because I smashed that essay. It ended up getting published in The Scholar and I was so proud. The head teacher at my school pulled me in for a meeting and I was like, ‘Oh no, what have I done?’, but then she just pulled out the magazine!
I had never visited a university before The Scholars Programme. My family don’t have a car and there were six of us living in a flat above a corner shop. My mum and stepdad did a good job of trying to get us to go to museums and cultural things but when you compare the cultural capital that people from other less deprived backgrounds have, it wasn’t comparable.
On The Scholars Programme, we visited Sheffield and Leeds universities, the two closest Russell Group universities to Bradford. We went on tours there and it felt real. It felt like these universities that are very highly regarded, they want us to eventually get there. That endorsement really put it into perspective for me. It wasn’t like the programme was just about writing an essay and getting a little certificate at the end, it really did feel like something significant.
I saw The Scholars Programme as a springboard, because it made me realise that there are people that want people like me to push further and try and get into those Russell Group Universities or even Oxbridge. I ended up getting to Oxford, which is incredible and, if I hadn’t had this experience, I don’t think I would have even tried.
It changed my attitudes completely. I feel like there is a pre-Brilliant Club stage of my attitude towards the education system because before I was just surrounded by people that had really difficult home lives and didn’t really see a point and didn’t really see a future beyond Bradford. But after seeing those universities, after doing this academic research and these tutorials, and knowing that these universities endorse it, that made me want to push as hard as I can to break that invisible barrier.
As a result, I pushed really hard for my GCSEs – I made sure I got good grades and went to a really good sixth form college in Huddersfield. I tried to pursue every opportunity that I could, like entering essay competitions, doing access programmes, all these things with Oxford and Cambridge and other universities. I don’t think I would have actively searched for these opportunities if I hadn’t taken part in The Scholars Programme – the feeling of being good at something really pushed me further in that direction.
I’m now in my final year of my degree in Computer Science and Philosophy at Oxford. The big issue now is tackling issues with AI and ethics, and I have very strong opinions about it. After university, I’d like to get into software engineering. Having studied at Oxford opens up many doors – it’s like it equalises everything and disregards any deprivation that you’ve gone through in early life. I’m already getting job offers and I feel like I’m in a position now where I’m in a very privileged spot, which is very different to how it was 5 years ago.
I became a Brilliant Club ambassador because I see the value of sharing my story, and if there’s any way that I can give back to students that are at school now, who need that push, I want them to know that even though it might feel like it, the world isn’t rigged against them. It may be difficult, but the opportunities are there, and people want you to succeed.”
Mr Marshall, Hoa’s teacher who selected him for The Scholars Programme, said: “I’ve known Hoa since he was 12 years old and have taken great pleasure in witnessing his evolution from the shy boy I first met in my Year 8 maths class to the remarkable adult he has become. As a student, Hoa stood out from the off. Fiercely bright and intellectually curious, he approached all his subjects with a relentless drive and determination. Nothing that he’s achieved thus far – from getting straight 9s at GCSE to attending Oxford University – has surprised me. Despite all that he’s achieved he’s still incredibly humble and feels a responsibility to give back, which is admirable. I’m excited to see what he will do after university.”
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Hoa – pictured while still at school – reads his essay in The Scholar with the inspirational teacher who selected him for The Scholars Programme, Mr Marshall.