The Brilliant Club
The simple, scalable and sustainable way we widen access to top universities; place PhD students as tutors in challenging urban schools
About You
Background Information
First Name
Jonathan
Last Name
Sobczyk
Twitter URL
Facebook URL
The competition is only open to people between 18-34 years-old and resident in UK, Ireland, Sweden, Denmark or the Netherlands. Does this apply to you
Country of residence of entrepreneur
UK
Tell us about your personal background. Why are you passionate about this issue? Making an idea a reality takes innovation, dedication and strong leadership. Do you have the necessary entrepreneurial skills to realize your vision?
26 year old teacher/farmer/social-entrepreneur.
Having completed a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics I joined the highly competitive graduate scheme Teach First and was dropped right in at the deep end, teaching in a challenging East London school - hands down the best/hardest/most-stressful/rewarding thing I've ever done. Completing the two year programme I took a job on a farm that works with young people at risk of social exclusion, getting them out of their environments down to Wiltshire for some intensive farming, family and therapy - the outcomes where incredible. Inspired by the difference social enterprise can have, I came back to London to set up my own one, The Brilliant Club. I wanted to address my single biggest frustration from my time in the classroom and widen access to top universities for children from low income backgrounds. The UK has one of the lowest rates of social mobility and university access is a significant contributing factor to this. So with the simple, scalable and sustainable model of recruiting and placing PhD students in schools serving low participation communities to deliver university-style teaching to high performing pupils I am now working hard to achieve our mission of an education system in which young people from disadvantaged backgrounds are proportionately represented at highly selective universities.
That's me.
About Your Organization
Organization Name
The Brilliant Club
Organization Website
Organization Country
United Kingdom
Country where this project is creating social impact
United Kingdom, London
Is your organization a
Non‐profit/NGO/citizen sector organization
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Innovation
The Need: What problem are you trying to solve?
We aim to break the link between parental income and university access forever.
1 in 2 privately educated children will secure a place at one of the UK's 30 most selective universities compared to 1 in 5 children from non-selective state schools. Only 1 in 50 children eligible for free school meals will achieve the same feat.
We believe these statistics to be unfair, unjust and representative of an education system that is arguably defective. The UK has one of the lowest levels of social mobility in Europe, therefore widening access to university for disadvantaged young people is a matter of justice and an economic imperative.
Our vision is an education system in which young people from disadvantaged backgrounds are proportionately represented at highly selective universities.
The Solution: What is your solution? Be specific!
In order to achieve this vision we offer a simple, scalable and sustainable idea that is already having demonstrable success; we recruit, train and place PhD students to deliver programmes of university-style tutorials to small groups of high performing pupils attending schools that serve low participation communities. This provides pupils with on-going support that has a core focus on developing skills and raising attainment, and is designed to translate academic potential into places at the very best universities. As well as the opportunity to take part in tailored programmes at each Key Stage, The Brilliant Club also provides a programme of age-appropriate information, advice and guidance that helps pupils to make informed choices about university. We also offer support with the UCAS application process, and raise aspirations through trips to highly selective universities.
The Model: Walk us through a specific example of how your solution makes a difference; include your primary activities
PROGRAMMES: Our programmes emulate teaching and learning at highly selective universities. PhD students deliver university-style tutorials to small groups of high performing pupils, developing critical thinking and communication skills. Between the tutorials, pupils undertake reading and writing assignments that develop effective research skills and academic writing skills, and promote independent learning. The programme starts with a launch trip where pupils are introduced to their tutor and then take part in a carousel of learning activities. For the next four weeks the tutor spends one day a week in school, delivering back-to-back seventy minute tutorials to groups of no more than six pupils. Building on the work that they do in tutorials, pupils work independently to produce a 2500 word extended essay with an original argument.
MODEL: We plan to connect schools and universities through a deep, embedded partnership structure that sees ‘Partner Schools’ commit to running at least one Brilliant Club programme at each Key Stage, with ‘Partner Universities’ helping us to recruit, train and place their PhD students to work as tutors in schools within their regional cluster.
For the academic year 2011/12 we now have a total of 36 confirmed bookings for secondary school programmes, bringing in expected revenues of over £60,000, and a total of 6 confirmed bookings for a primary school pilot, bringing in expected revenues of over £10,000. We have surpassed 90% of our projected capacity for the year and are now working to develop new partnerships for the future.
Over the next five years we project that we will work with over 15,000 pupils from schools serving low participation communities, including more than 3,000 who are eligible for free school meals. By the end of 2014 we plan to have developed a partnership structure whereby 4 London regions have clusters that connect a total of 60 Partner Schools with 4 highly selective Partner Universities.
We have set out eight performance measures and our key targets are that, of all year 13 pupils completing a programme in 2014, 80% will apply to a highly selective university, 70% will achieve at least grades ABB at A-Level, and 55% will go on to study at a highly selective university.
Clear evidence of demand from schools, and an understanding of costs and prices that is informed by programmes delivered to date, together give us confidence that our operational model is commercially sound. It is a stated priority of The Brilliant Club to build a stable and financially sustainable organisation, setting out a realistic path to sustainability over the next three to five years. In order to achieve this we plan that revenue from trading will cover the organisation’s core costs, including staff costs, within three to five years.
Our base case financial forecasts show the organisation breaking even by the end of year 3, at this point incurring a maximum deficit carried forward of £75,955. In years 4 and 5 we generate annual surpluses of £12,100 and £39,570 respectively, giving a cumulative deficit of £24,285 over the five year period.
The Marketplace: Who are your peers and competitors? Identify others also working to address the needs you are and what differentiates you from them. What challenges could these players pose to your success or growth?
Similar Organisations: HEAPS, Into University, Sutton Trust Summer Schools, Pure Potential, Social Mobility Foundation, Access Project.
What makes us unique:
• We are the only non-university organisation that systematically recruits, trains and places PhD students to work in schools.
• Our programmes address all of the key barriers to higher education as identified by The Sutton Trust: Attainment, Aspirations, Advice and Applications.
• Our programmes are targeted: we work exclusively with pupils who have demonstrated the potential to secure a place at a highly selective university.
• The tutorial learning environment, and the passion and expertise that PhD students bring to it, ensure a core focus on raising attainment and developing academic skills.
Select the stage that best applies to your business
Operating for less than a year
This Entry is about (Issues)
Social Impact
What is the social impact you have had to date and how you measure it?
Within six months we had completed pilot programmes with year 9 and year 11 pupils at London Academy, as well as with year 12 participants on the Higher Education Access Programme for Schools. In each case we received excellent results and feedback: over the course of the year 11 programme, the number of pupils working towards 5 A*-A grades increased from 3/19 at the start to 12/19 at the end, with 15/19 going on to achieve at least 5 A*-As in their GCSE results. In response to the statement ‘I would like to take part in The Brilliant Club again’ we received average results of 10/10 (year 9), 9.5/10 (year 11) and 9.7/10 (year 12).
From this we have had have significant demand from many schools across London and will be placing over 50 PhD students in to 25 schools by the end of August.
Sustainability
How does your model address financial, social, and environmental sustainability?
Our commitment to financial, social and environmental stability is demonstrated in our key priorities:
• Build a stable organisation that is financially sustainable and generates significant revenues.
• Constantly develop and evaluate programmes to ensure that we maximise our impact.
• Create and maintain relationships with a total of 59 target London schools.
• Create and maintain relationships with 4 Partner Universities, helping us recruit, train and place their PhD students.
• Develop effective recruitment channels across London universities.
• Run pilot programmes that connect schools and universities in at least 2 other regions of the UK and make preparations to expand our operations across the country.
• Ensure we adhere to a strict environmental policy that promotes sustainability (for example, enforce our no petrol expenses policy)
In addition to this, our financial forecasts make a concerted effort to ensure that assumptions are based upon clear evidence of demand, that costs and prices are informed by programmes we have already delivered and that projections are at the conservative end of the spectrum. Our base scenario shows the organisation breaking even by the end of year 3, at this point incurring a maximum deficit carried forward of £75,955. In years 4 and 5 we generate annual surpluses of £12,100 and £39,570 respectively, giving a cumulative deficit of £24,285 over the five year period.
Awareness & learning
How do you see social entrepreneurship contributing to the improvement of developing countries?
I am fortunate enough to have worked for the award winning social enterprise PEAS (Promoting Equality in African Schools) that build sustainable secondary schools in East Africa and have witnessed first-hand the contribution social enterprise can make in developing countries.
Every single PEAS school covers its own running costs through low fees, government subsidies and Income Generating Activities. Even the costs of the central PEAS Uganda audit and educational inspection teams are funded from excess revenues from their schools.
Too many charities create dependency on donor funding and PEAS show how much further money can go when it multiplies rather than undermines the energies of local communities.
It is through innovative sustainable business models like this that empower local communities that I believe social enterprise can contribute most to the improvement of developing countries.
What aspects of your stay in Uganda as part of the competition do you think you will find most challenging and rewarding?
My work in the UK is largely focused in an education system that exists but I believe is defective and unjust. It will be very interesting to explore education provision in Uganda and discuss the challenges with the young farmers we meet and our host families, where for the vast majority of teenagers there simply is not any provision of secondary education, which presents a whole new level of comparative injustice.
I am also extremely interested in exploring the idea of social enterprise in a different context. In the UK we are fortunate enough to have been supported by large organisations like Teach First. However, it will very interesting and most certainly productive to look at how social enterprise can have a sustained impact in an environment where resources and support networks may not be as established as they are in the UK.
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 | 15 weeks agoJonathan Sobczyk updated this Competition Entry. |
| 16 weeks agoJonathan Sobczyk updated this Competition Entry. |
| 16 weeks agoJonathan Sobczyk updated this Competition Entry. |
| 16 weeks agoJonathan Sobczyk submitted this idea. |
