Researchers in Schools

The programme recruited people with PhDs to train as secondary school teachers in England.  The Brilliant Club partnered with ITE providers across the country to achieve the aims of the programme and introduce highly qualified teachers into the profession. 

The programme equipped them to be: 

• Champions of university access in school 
• Research informed teachers 
• Curriculum designers who understand the needs of HE and industry 
• Subject pedagogy experts who can support pupils all the way up to A* at A-Level 

The programme imbued participants with The Brilliant Club’s mission, such that they worked to become leaders in developing students’ ambitions and achievements through evidence informed teaching and expertise.  

As participants on the programme, RIS teachers completed a range of activities to achieve these aims: 

• Curriculum materials – participants created resources for a particular area of their GCSE subject, focusing on retrieval and deliberate practice 
• Education Research Projects – a research project in their school investigating a particular area of pedagogy, curriculum or intervention 
• Uni Pathways – a supra-curricular programme for Year 9 and 10 students based on their PhD thesis, similar to The Scholars Programme 

We also published three issues of ‘The Researcher’, a journal of RIS participants’ research projects:

• The Researcher 2021
• The Researcher 2022
• The Researcher 2023

The resources available below are free to download and use.