On Monday, 19 students from Didcot Girls’ and St Birinus travelled to University College, Oxford to celebrate their graduation from The Brilliant Club’s prestigious Scholars Programme.

The students from Years 9, 10 and 12 all successfully completed a demanding course focused on Artificial Intelligence with PHD tutor Robert Weston, explored through a series of small group tutorials. Within these sessions students both developed a detailed understanding of a complicated topic, but were also challenged to refine their thinking and debating skills, gaining a valuable insight into what it is like to learn in a university setting.

The course culminated in students submitting a draft and then final version of a 2000 or 2500 word (depending on Key Stage) essay response which Robert marked using University gradings.

Their trip to Oxford afforded them an inspiring tour of the college with current students, an invaluable Information and Guidance session on applying to Russell Group universities and a practical and thought provoking session on how they could use what they had learnt in interview settings.

All of the students have shown impeccable commitment and dedication to the course and have produced excellent work, some of which we will be publishing next term.

The Brilliant Club was made up of:

Yumna Thara 
Sophie Baker 
Chloe Bland
Tara Clay
Lauren Nolan (not pictured)
Joseph Kershaw
Lewis Parren
Dan Kelly-Lloyd
Thomas Quail 
Henry Radburn
Stan Herbert
Eloise Boyd
Shelley Smith
Sophie Foster
Liam Humphries
Sophie Cribb
Amelia Norman
Josiah Shields
Owen Pickles

Congratulations to you all!