On 19th July, The Brilliant Club will host our third annual conference, focusing on widening participation and access to higher education for pupils from under-represented groups. The conference will take place at Ormiston Sir Stanley Matthews Academy (OSSMA) in Stoke-on-Trent. This year we will be exploring how geography and where young people live and grow up can impact access to higher education.
The geographic theme is particularly relevant to Stoke, which is in one of the lowest areas of social mobility in the country and in the lowest quintile of Polar 3, which is a measure of participation of young people in higher education for geographical areas ranging from regions to wards. Stoke is also an area which has hit the news recently with regards to education, as Stoke-on-Trent council has created a scheme to pay off maths graduates’ tuition fees to support them to become maths teachers in the city.
The initiative, organised by local MP and former shadow education secretary Tristram Hunt, aims to improve the prospects of children in Stoke. The launch of the project, which took place at the Middleport Pottery in February 2016, received national media coverage on the day and was well-attended by local mathematics teachers and leaders from supporting schools such as Keele University and OSSMA.
We are excited to announce that both Dr Tristram Hunt and OSSMA Principal Mark Stanyer will be speaking at the conference.