The Scholars Programme inspires a love of learning in students aged 8-18, providing practical experience of higher education and helping students develop the skills needed to thrive in academia and their careers.
We’re proud of the impact our programme has on both GCSE attainment and university progression; we’re also incredibly proud of what students have gone on to achieve since taking part in The Scholars Programme. In this vein, we wanted to share student ambassador Mia’s story with you.
Mia did The Scholars Programme in 2019 when she was in Year 9, learning about ‘Mothers, Mortality and Human Rights’ with a PhD tutor from the University of Birmingham. She’s now studying History at the University of Exeter.
“I grew up in a small Black Country town called Tividale. In many ways, I had three parents—my mum, my nan, and my grandad—but I lived with my mum, who raised me on her own my entire life.
At primary school, I never saw myself as particularly academic. I wasn’t ever the one ‘to watch’, and my report cards were ‘she tries and works hard’, rather than ‘she excels and achieves’. I never got a pen licence, and the only time I was ever allowed to write in pen was during my SATs—and I’m pretty sure I almost failed those too (passing by one mark)!
By secondary school, I was working hard, but my grades rarely went above a 4 (a basic pass) in most subjects – except History. History was the one subject that just clicked for me and I was achieving 9s in Year 8. I loved it, and it was the only class where I consistently achieved top marks.
My school didn’t have a sixth form, so all the focus was on getting us into college. University wasn’t something anyone talked about. None of my parents had been, none of my friends’ parents had been, and most of my peers were thinking about doing construction, electrician or beauty courses. Our nearest university was 40 minutes away, and it just didn’t feel like something people from where I lived did. I also had no carbon copy path to follow to get to university at home.
The first time I ever heard of university was from watching University Challenge every weekend with my mum and grandad—it was our little family ritual after swimming training. I remember being fascinated by this thing called “university”, even though I didn’t really understand what it was. Even the people on the tele on this programme didn’t sound like me, so it all felt unrealistic. When I got a bit older, I looked it up, saw how much it cost, and immediately thought there was no way my mum could ever afford it because it was half of our household income just for tuition fees. So, I let the idea go.
Then one day at school, when I was in Year 9 (about 13) someone mentioned this programme called The Brilliant Club, which was all about learning what university was like. As soon as I told my mum, she said, “You have to do it.” So, I signed up.
I’ll never forget hearing that my tutor was a “Doctor”—I genuinely thought doctors were only people you saw when you were sick. It blew my mind that you could become a doctor through research, and ever since, my family joke that one day I’ll be Dr Taylor Seal. It was the first time I realised that maybe someone like me could do that, and it lit a spark in me.
My course was called “Mothers, Mortality and Human Rights.” It sounds morbid, but it was absolutely fascinating. My mum got really into it too—so much so that she helped me with my research. It became something we worked on together, and she got a lot out of it as well, having never been to university herself. It was the first time I realised that, at university, you can shape your own curriculum and my family were welcome in that space too. I loved that.
I ended up getting a first in my final assignment—the first time I’d ever achieved a top mark in anything really. It gave me a huge boost in confidence.
A year later, Covid hit. Oddly enough, for me it was the best thing that could have happened. With fewer distractions, and with the confidence I’d gained from The Brilliant Club, I put my head down and worked hard—and I did really well in my GCSEs achieving 13 grades, majority 8s and 9s.
That new confidence pushed me to apply to do my A levels at the best school near me, even though it was an hour and a half away. Because of my GCSE results and my Brilliant Club course, they put me on their Oxford University pathway. I was so close to getting in—I missed it by a mark. Because me and my mum didn’t really understand how university admissions worked, we didn’t call the university to ask if they’d still consider me, which I’ve since been told they probably would have. But everything worked out: I went to my second-choice university instead, and now I’m studying History (of course!) at the University of Exeter, due to graduate this summer.
I often think about what my life would have been like if I hadn’t taken part in The Brilliant Club. It gave me a chance to see what I was capable of outside of school and the normal curriculum, and it gave me the confidence to actually think that I could do it. I’d always been curious about university from those University Challenge days, but The Brilliant Club is what made it real for me.
After doing the programme, not only did my GCSEs go really well, but I even became head girl and am now an active social mobility advocate leading and creating projects about my experience at my university and nationally, and speaking for the Brilliant Club on Social Mobility Day in 2025. It all makes me laugh. I went from the girl who wasn’t allowed a pen licence to head girl and leading societies with 300 members at university and changing university policy.
I’m graduating this summer and all I can think about is when I graduated from the Brilliant Club back in 2019 and just how far I have come and how proud my family were and still are of me.
And it all started with that spark from The Brilliant Club.”
Non-selective UK schools and colleges can find out more about the benefits of The Scholars Programme for their students by making an enquiry.