IN the Autumn Term, 14 year 12 pupils at St Mark’s took part in ‘The Brilliant Club’ programme.

Pupils took part in tutorials led by PhD tutors, this emulated the university environment and focused on university- style pedagogy including independent research, critical thinking and higher-order questioning.

The programme’s goal is to encourage underrepresented pupils to apply to Russell Group universities.

Our pupils spent 7 weeks working with a PhD tutor on the tutor’s specialist topic.

This year the pupils worked on a STEM topic of “Lysosomes and Autophagy: why do our cells eat themselves when they’re hungry?”

This challenging university-style assignment, was then marked by PhD tutors. All of the pupils who took part achieved a 2:1 or 1^st in their assignment, this is higher than the UK comparison of 67%.

Una Botchway- Adjei, Niamh O’Rourke, Ben Reji, and Summer Toppin all achieved over 75% in their final assignment.

Upon completion of this programme, the pupils were invited to a graduation at Newnham College (University of Cambridge).

Pupils received their certificates of achievement in a graduation ceremony which was a proud moment! 

57% of the pupils who took part at St Mark’s had no parental history of higher education. The outcomes of this programme also see St Mark’s pupils achieve higher than the UK comparison in competency of subject knowledge, academic self-efficacy and cognitive strategies. 

All 14 pupils have already been offered the opportunity to be eligible for an alternative offer to study at the University of Bath in September 2026.

This is because they have recognised the individual additional achievement of our Sixth Form pupils, who have completed additional study which provides invaluable skills for university preparation and transition alongside their A Level study.