Over 630 students have taken part in summer schools this year, organised by The Brilliant Club and five different partner institutions.
King’s College London, The Sutton Trust, Imperial College London, the University of Reading and Trinity College, Cambridge all worked with the charity to develop and deliver the summer schools.
They took place across England and virtually with the aim of preparing students to access and succeed at university.
Alongside its core programmes, The Brilliant Club collaborates with institutions to deliver additional access and student success projects. Each project is specific to the needs of the partner and builds on The Brilliant Club’s experience of working with the PhD community to develop key academic skills and self-efficacy to support students accessing and succeeding at university.
Over 320 students on King’s College London’s K+ programme took part in the K+ Spotlight Summer School, delivered with The Brilliant Club. The week-long programme saw Year 12 students attend the university and take part in five tutorials delivered by a PhD researcher, as part of a model based on The Brilliant Club’s Scholars Programme. King’s College London also provided information, advice and guidance sessions about accessing university and hosted social activities. The students are now completing a final assignment based on the tutorials and will receive their grades and feedback at a celebration event in September.
Tutors on the K+ Summer School at King’s College London.
The Brilliant Club again collaborated with King’s College London and The Sutton Trust on another summer school. This project saw 170 Year 12s visit the university and take part in three tutorials with a PhD researcher. Again, students took part in sessions on accessing university and social activities. Students on the KCL Sutton Trust programme are writing a final assignment based on the tutorials and will receive written feedback.
Students on the KCL Sutton Trust Summer School take part in a tutorial with a PhD researcher.
The Life Sciences and Chemistry Departments at Imperial College London worked with The Brilliant Club to deliver two, week-long, online summer schools for 89 participants. The virtual nature of the summer school meant that students from across the UK could take part in tutorials, a personal statement workshop and subject-specific sessions on accessing university.
The University of Reading elected to work with The Brilliant Club to run a summer school aimed at some of their incoming cohort of students who had an offer from the university, to prepare them for the step up to higher education in September. 22 future University of Reading students took part in a launch event and three tutorials. They were then required to deliver a presentation, for which their tutors provided written feedback.
Around 30 students on the two-year Trinity Transition Programme went to Trinity College, Cambridge for a two-night residential. The programme, a collaboration between The Brilliant Club and the college, is aimed at students from the north east of England and focuses on application support for the University of Cambridge, including interview prep and personal statement writing. These students had already completed a virtual version of The Brilliant Club’s Scholars Programme, so it was an opportunity for them to meet their tutors in person and receive feedback on their final assignments.
You can find out more about The Brilliant Club’s Access and Success programmes here.