Bayes partners with The Brilliant Club to promote equal access to university

Bayes Business School, at City, University of London, has partnered with The Brilliant Club to promote fair access to university and to ensure that students succeed when they get there.

The three-year partnership between Bayes and the charity, which will run until 2025, will give more than 650 pupils a year the opportunity to experience life at a London university. The sessions, delivered in collaboration with City, University of London’s Widening Participation Outreach Team, will comprise of the launch of eight Scholars Programmes or graduation trips.

The programme will also recruit, train, and place at least three researchers to deliver the Scholars Programme to 36 pupils each academic year. Recruited researchers may also deliver Brilliant Tutoring Programme placements: these sessions offer tutoring in core curriculum subjects.

The first of these partnerships visits to City was held in November, with an information, advice and guidance session introduced by Professor Lilian de Menezes. A group of 67 pupils attended from Shooters Hill Sixth Form College, in Greenwich, and Drayton Manor High School, in Ealing.

Professor Lilian de Menezes speaks with college pupils

The Brilliant Club led a brief study skills session, where pupils learned academic skills that will help them in their Scholars Programme tutorials and at University. City University of London student ambassadors guided small groups of pupils and teachers through a tour of the main campus. In the afternoon, student ambassadors also joined the information session and spoke to pupils about university life and their experiences on their programmes of study.

Professor de Menezes, Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Bayes, spoke about her career path and discussed what studying at Bayes would be like.

“The event went very well,” she said. “There was good participation and enthusiasm from the audience and pupils had questions about potential careers in business and how these might tally to their interests. The pupils and teachers seemed very happy to be joining the Brilliant Club.”

One student commented: “It was very informative, and I learned a lot of things. It’s made me more excited about going to university.”

Dr Andy Fleming, Head of University Partnerships at The Brilliant Club, said the collaboration was in line with the charity’s strategy, and that visiting Bayes gave pupils a great insight into university life.

Ends