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The Brilliant Club

Trustees’ Report and Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 July 2021

Registered Limited Company: 07986971 Registered Charity: 1147771 (England and Wales), SC048774 (Scotland) Registered Office: 17th Floor, Millbank Tower, 21-24 Millbank, SW1P 4QP

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Contents
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Welcome from our Chair of Trustees ..............................................................................................	4
Report of the Trustees ......................................................................................................................	6
Statement of Financial Activities ....................................................................................................	46
Balance Sheet ..................................................................................................................................	48
Cash Flow Statement ......................................................................................................................	49
Notes to the Financial Statements .................................................................................................	50
Independent Auditor’s Report to the Trustees and Members of The Brilliant Club ...................	76
Reference and Administrative Details ...........................................................................................	84

The Brilliant Club

Report and Financial Statements 2021

Welcome from our Chair of Trustees

Welcome to The Brilliant Club’s Trustees’ Report and Financial Statement for 2020/21. We are pleased to share our work over the 2020/21 academic year, in which we have worked with 25,751 students in 948 schools across the UK.

2021 has been a significant year for the charity. Not only have we supported the largest cohort of students in the charity’s history, we have also celebrated our tenth anniversary as an organisation. In 2011, The Brilliant Club worked with one school and 19 students in London. Ten years on, we have worked with 90,000 students across the UK and we have ambitious plans to work with over 100,000 students and 11,000 undergraduates in the coming five years.

As you will see from this report, we would not have been able to achieve this reach or impact without the support of the schools, universities, funders, tutors and communities we partner with. We would like to say thank you to everyone who has worked with us this year and enabled us to work with so many young people during one of the most challenging periods of time the education sector has ever known.

Through working with our partner schools, we know this has been a time of immense pressure for teachers, students and parents.

Students in England have, on average, lost 115 days of face-to-face education during the pandemic, according to Sir Kevan Collins. At The Brilliant Club, we knew that disadvantaged students were likely to be most affected by disrupted learning, and we needed to make sure that we could still support them throughout school closures. We moved our programme delivery online in the Summer of 2020 and scaled this up to support students with more than 18,000 virtual tutorials. This transition to digital delivery was made possible by significant investment in our technical capabilities and we plan to continue upgrading our virtual offer in the coming year.

Introducing digital delivery to our programmes has allowed us to adapt our delivery to meet school needs, particularly those in harder to reach geographical areas, who often have less access to university outreach interventions. In 2020/21, we worked with 267 schools in rural or coastal areas and 182 schools in social mobility cold spots.

We have been pleased to work with our university partners to create virtual opportunities for students and their families to find out more about university life. This year, we ran online Scholars Programme graduations for over 15,000 students. The virtual format made it much easier for parents and carers to join us in celebrating their child’s success, and we were delighted to see so many families taking part in the celebrations. As we enter the 2021/22 academic year, we look forward to working more closely with the parent and carer community than ever before.

January 2021 also saw the first of our virtual Brilliant Tutoring Programme tutorials. Our Brilliant Tutoring Programme is part of the government’s National Tutoring Programme and was designed to contribute to the national education recovery effort to support students most affected by disrupted learning during the pandemic. We mobilised our network of tutors to provide online tutoring to students in small groups in core subjects to help them re-engage with learning and re-build their confidence. In 2020/21, we delivered The Brilliant Tutoring Programme to almost 8,000 young people. 83% of these students fulfilled our target criteria, meaning they are either eligible for pupil premium, have no parental history of higher education, or are from an area of postcode deprivation. We are pleased to have been appointed as a National Tutoring Programme partner for the second year running.

We also supported students and teachers through our Researchers in Schools (RIS) programme, which is the world’s only route into classroom teaching tailored specifically to PhD graduates. Since the programme was piloted in 2014, we are proud to have placed 381 PhD graduates as teachers across England. Our 2021 cohort will be the last intake of RIS participants, and the two-year programme will run until 2022/23. These teachers will remain part of The Brilliant Club community and we are proud of the legacy they will have on their students.

The 2020/21 academic year also marked the last year of our Path to Outcomes strategy, which guided our work from 2016 to 2021. In September 2021, we launched our new strategy, Join the Club. Our previous strategies focused on sustainability and outcomes; Join the Club is about participation. It serves as an invitation to students, parents, partners and PhDers to join our movement as we focus on two goals: access and success.

In the next five years, we will support over 100,000 students to access the most competitive universities through our Scholars Programme and we will work with 11,000 undergraduates to enhance their achievement through our university partnerships. By the end of the decade, we estimate that one in ten state school students entering the most competitive universities will be a graduate of The Scholars Programme.

This strategy sets out an ambitious five years for The Brilliant Club as we become the UK’s largest university access movement.

To achieve this, we will build power within our communities of students, parents and PhDers to create educational opportunity. We will strengthen our capabilities, by developing excellent operations across technology, communications and finance, and fostering an inclusive culture. And finally, we will influence system-level change by collaborating with universities, government and charities to generate evidence and impact through our consultancy services.

We are committed to mobilising the PhD community to support students who are less advantaged to access the most competitive universities and succeed when they get there.

We look forward to the next chapter of the charity’s journey, and hope that you will continue to be part of our club. We look forward to working with you.

Dr Josephine Valentine OBE Chair of the Board of Trustees

The Brilliant Club

Report and Financial Statements 2021

Report of the Trustees

Objectives and Activities

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We worked with
15,109
students
25,751 took part in
students our Scholars
Programme
across our
programmes
238
We continue to
students
took part in our target areas where
Uni Pathways it is more difficult
programme
for disadvantaged
students to access
7,968 support because of
students geography or other
took part in our socio-economic
Brilliant Tutoring
factors.
Programme
We worked with
We worked with
2,526
students through schools in rural or
our Special Projects
outside of our 3 core coastal areas and
We
programmes 182
worked with
mobility cold spots.
948
schools
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We continue to target areas where it is more difficult for disadvantaged students to access support because of geography or other socio-economic factors.

We worked with 267 schools in rural or coastal areas and 182 schools in social mobility cold spots.

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We
worked with
1,203
We
worked with university
researchers
42
university
partners
Some of these students were due to work with us in 2019/20
but had their placements rolled over due to school closures.
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The Scholars Programme The Brilliant Tutoring Programme Researchers in Schools Multiple Special Projects

We mobilise the PhD community to support students who are less advantaged to access the most competitive universities and succeed when they get there.

In the UK today, graduates from the most competitive universities are more likely to access professional careers and have higher rates of life satisfaction. On average, they will earn £10,000 more per year than their peers.

But access to the life-changing opportunities that come from attending the most competitive universities is not equal.

In England, 1 in 4 of the most advantaged pupils progress to the most competitive universities. In contrast, only 1 in 50 of the most disadvantaged pupils progress.

Most Advantaged Pupils

Most Disadvantaged Pupils

Only 1 in 50 of the most disadvantaged pupils progress, compared to 1 in 4 of the most advantaged. (UCAS Multiple Equality Measure, 2019) In Scotland, only 7% of students from the most deprived areas progress to a competitive university, compared to 26% of pupils from the least deprived areas (Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation).

In Wales, only 4% of young people from low participation areas progress to a competitive university, compared to 22% of pupils from high participation areas (POLAR4 – Participation of Local Areas).

In Northern Ireland, only 2% of young people from low participation areas progress to a competitive university, compared to 10% of pupils from high participation areas (POLAR4 – Participation of Local Areas).

Disadvantaged pupils are

Because of factors entirely out of their control – their family income, parental history of higher education and their postcode... 18x

More likely to miss out on life-changing higher education.

We target our programmes at students who are least likely to access the most competitive universities, simply because of their background.

We work with teachers in our partner schools to ensure that the majority of students enrolled on The Scholars Programme or Uni Pathways, the intervention delivered by Researchers in Schools participants, meet at least one of three target measures:

No parental Living in one of history of Eligible f or the 40% most free school higher deprived meals education postcode areas.

We tailor our targeting criteria to the different educational contexts we work in. We use different sets of indicators for eligibility for free school meals and deprivation according to postcode in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, to ensure we’re targeting our programmes effectively across the UK.

The Brilliant Club

Report and Financial Statements 2021

Objectives and Activities

Our Programmes

We train our PhD tutors to deliver The Scholars Programme to small groups of students aged 8-18 in our partner schools across the UK. They share their subject knowledge and passion for learning to help students develop the knowledge, skills and confidence to secure a place at a competitive university.

Researchers in Schools is the world’s only route into classroom teaching tailored specifically to PhD graduates. Participants are trained and supported to deploy the knowledge, skills and networks they have gained from their PhD to benefit students, schools and universities in three important ways: to champion university access, to increase subject expertise and to promote education research.

Our Brilliant Tutoring Programme provides online and in-person tutoring to small groups of students in core subjects. As an approved tuition provider of the National Tutoring Programme, we are part of the national postpandemic education recovery effort and our programme is designed to re-engage and rebuild student confidence.

We also collaborate with partners to deliver bespoke projects which enable us to reach more students, strengthen our partnerships and make a positive impact for university access beyond our direct beneficiaries.

I felt quite We loved that nervous at the start [our child] was treated as an adult because I thought it would and given really positive feedback be extremely difficult and and constructive criticism. He really enjoyed everything about it and also they picked the wrong was very keen to do well. He even person, but now that I’ve didn’t mind the extra time it took on completed it I feel really top of his standard work. We were good about myself very proud he was chosen and have and I’ve stopped enjoyed seeing him questioning my skills. grow through this amazing opportunity. Student, 2020/21, KS3, Tower Hamlets Parent, 2020/21

The Scholars Programme

The Scholars Programme is designed to support students aged 8-18 to develop the knowledge, skills and confidence to progress to the most competitive universities. The programme is delivered in partnership with state schools and universities across the UK and takes place over a school term.

Students study an academic course taught by a PhD researcher, either virtually or in-person in their own school. Students take part in seven university-style tutorials with their PhD tutor and write a final assignment of 1,000-2,500 words, depending on their age group.

Typically, students would also visit two universities at the start and end of the programme. Due to Covid-19, in 2020/21 we worked with our university partners to provide an alternative virtual offering, including virtual launch materials and celebratory online graduation events. These allowed students to access virtual campus tours, university information sessions and live Q&A sessions with Student Ambassadors.

In 2020/21, we delivered The Scholars Programme to 15,019 students including postponed placements from 2019/20. In 2021/22, we aim to offer the programme The programme to 15,600 students. begins with a launch trip to a competitive university, where students first meet their tutor and learn about university life

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Students
complete
Programme Starts a challenging
final assignment
and receive
one-to-one
feedback
Students
participate in
seven tutorials
with their PhD Programme Ends
tutor
The programme
ends with a
graduation trip to
another competitive
university and
a celebration
of students’
achievements
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The Brilliant Club

Report and Financial Statements 2021

Objectives and Activities

Researchers in Schools

Researchers in Schools (RIS) is a unique route into classroom teaching tailored specifically to PhD graduates. The programme is delivered in partnership with the Department for Education and Initial Teacher Education (ITE) providers in England.

The programme is designed to support PhD graduates to become excellent classroom teachers and research leaders committed to closing the gap in attainment and university access.

Government funding priorities and the education landscape have shifted significantly and continue to evolve. We have carefully considered where we fit within the education sector, in light of the significant changes to education funding priorities and the direction of our new five-year strategy.

For these reasons, the 2021 Researchers in Schools cohort will be the final cohort recruited by the charity. We will support the 2021 RIS participants throughout their two-year programme, which will run until the end of the 2022/23 academic year.

We are proud of the contribution we have made to get 381 Researchers in Schools participants into classrooms since 2014. We believe we have made a positive impact on teacher recruitment, and that RIS participants have made a significant impact on the students they teach.

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The Brilliant Club 12
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The Brilliant Tutoring Programme

The Brilliant Tutoring Programme was set up to contribute to the national effort to support students whose learning was disrupted by the school closures caused by Covid-19. We are delighted to be an approved tuition partner for the second year running for the government’s National Tutoring Programme.

The Brilliant Tutoring Programme works with students in Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4 in England to provide tutoring in core subjects (English, Maths, Biology, Chemistry and Physics). Students receive 15 hours of tutoring in small group tutorials (1:3) with a subject expert, completing three modules of work. In 2020/21, schools in England were eligible to receive 75% subsidised tutoring through the scheme.

In 2020/21, we delivered The Brilliant Tutoring Programme to 7,968 students. In 2021/22, we aim to offer the programme to 7,000 students.

13 Report and Financial Statements 2021

Objectives and Activities

Capabilities

To deliver our programmes at the scale and impact we do, we must continually develop and strengthen our organisational capabilities.

Research and Impact

The Research and Impact department has two main areas of responsibility: evaluating the charity’s programmes and providing research and evaluation consultancy services.

For our programmes work, we conduct internal evaluations and commission external evaluations, including randomised-controlled trials, matched-control groups, large-scale quantitative analysis, and qualitative analysis.

We have consistent evidence that The Scholars Programme improves progression to the most competitive universities in the UK. For the fifth year running, an independent evaluation by the Universities and Colleges Admission Service (UCAS) showed that students who completed The Scholars Programme are statistically significantly more likely to apply to, receive an offer from and progress to a competitive university than students from similar backgrounds.

A randomised-control trial conducted by the University of Cambridge published in February 2021 also showed that students who take part in The Scholars Programme report significantly higher levels of self-efficacy for university-style learning, compared to students who do not take part in the programme. University selfefficacy is the belief in one’s ability to develop the knowledge, skills and behaviours needed to succeed at university, and is known to increase young people’s sense of belonging at university, especially competitive institutions.

In addition, the Research and Impact department evaluates the intermediate outcomes of our programmes throughout the year. We have consistent evidence that our programmatic activities are strongly associated with key academic outcomes.

As well as evaluating the impact of our own programmes, the department also provides research and evaluation consultancy services to organisations working in university access and student success. These services cover a range of activities (e.g., evaluation workshops, survey toolkits, impact reports) and topics (e.g., attainmentrelated outcomes, university-preparedness outcomes). This work contributes to the charity’s revenue generation.

Finally, we regularly publish research and data insights on issues impacting student outcomes. Our latest publications have examined the post-qualification admissions debate and how to facilitate successful transitions to university following the pandemic.

Over the past year we were extremely happy to have worked with The Brilliant Club who supported us with extensive evaluation material. We worked together to develop an outcomes framework, a measurement toolkit, and they created analysis templates all to support our programmes. We were also able to draw on the valued knowledge of the research team who possessed and identified detailed information to assist in this area. Our staff feel readily equipped to embed the overall expertise received from The Brilliant Club and we have already started the process of integrating their evaluation processes into our delivery.

Operations Director, consultancy partnership organisation

External Affairs

Our External Affairs department leads the charity’s fundraising, marketing, public affairs, and engagement with our Friends of The Brilliant Club and alumni networks.

Fundraising plays an important role in ensuring that contributions remain accessible to schools, so that we can partner with any state school who wishes to work with us. It also enables us to invest in our technology and evaluation provision, both of which have proven essential in a year of intensive digital delivery and new ways of working with students.

The team have worked closely with our fundraising partners to secure fundraising income, which has enabled the charity to work with 25,751 students across the UK this year. We would be pleased to speak with anyone interested in working with us to support students from less advantaged backgrounds to access the most competitive universities and succeed when they get there.

As we launch our new strategy, Join the Club, we have updated our charity tone of voice to be more accessible, so that we can connect with as many different people as possible. We’re also aiming to become more story-focused in our communications. If you took part in one of our programmes, we would love to hear from you.

We’ve also been considering how we can use our voice effectively in policy discussions. We recently brought together a focus group of undergraduates and sixth form students to get their thoughts on the proposed changes to university admissions, which formed the basis of our response to the government’s consultation on post-qualification admissions.

To bring as many voices as possible into the charity, we’re growing our Brilliant Club ambassador community from 13 ambassadors last year to 23 in the 2021/22 academic year. Our ambassadors are alumni from one of the charity’s programmes. They represent the charity by speaking to students currently on Brilliant Club programmes and sharing their stories with people interested in working with us. Our ambassadors often speak at our termly Friends of The Brilliant Club events, and we would be pleased to welcome you at a virtual or in person event soon. You can find out more about our Friends of The Brilliant Club network here.

The Brilliant Club

Report and Financial Statements 2021

Objectives and Activities

Operations

Our people experience during this financial year has been significantly shaped by our response to Covid-19. The majority of team members worked from home throughout the year, with some team members accessing our offices on a voluntary basis when government guidelines permitted. When the situation permits, we will move towards a blended way of working, with team members spending at least two days per week in their usual office. This year, we have also explored how to further support flexible working within the organisation. We successfully trialled reduced core hours, and early Friday finishes, which have proven popular across the organisation, and have now been adopted on a permanent basis.

The past 18 months have presented line managers and team members with entirely new challenges. In response, we have further increased our training provision. We have provided tailored training throughout the year for line managers and co-ordinators, making structured use of peer-based learning techniques. We have also partnered with other organisations to deliver expert training on important topics. This includes working with Solace Women’s Aid to deliver a training series to a large number of team members on recognising and supporting victims of domestic violence in the workplace. We also successfully partnered with a series of professional coaches to enable members of our senior leadership group to access coaching support as they needed.

In addition to strengthening our provision for our employees, we have also strengthened key operations processes in the last year, including our tutor onboarding and financial processes as well as cashflow forecasting. This has strengthened our assurance around safeguarding and financial control and will save us time in manual data transfer between our systems.

Technology

Our technology team manages the charity’s IT infrastructure, supporting staff and tutors to deliver our programmes nationally. Additionally, we have a development team that are responsible for our internal Customer Relationship Management and external school-facing platforms. These teams work together to make sure that we can support students across the UK to take part in our programmes in person, or digitally, depending on the needs of their schools.

In response to school closures and challenges caused by Covid-19, students across the UK experienced significantly disrupted learning. We moved quickly to ensure that our programmes could be delivered effectively and safely online, so that students could continue engaging in their learning with us.

In addition to moving the delivery of our Scholars Programme online, we also launched an entirely digital programme, The Brilliant Tutoring Programme. We were one of five National Tutoring Programme providers selected by Nesta to receive a digital development grant. The grant funded several digital projects including a user research study with our schools, which gave us valuable insight into the needs of students and teachers engaging with our platforms. The study highlighted some of the challenges schools face with digital delivery, particularly for the less advantaged students that we work with. Together with our fundraising team, we sought funding to make our platform more accessible, user friendly and engaging in a post-pandemic world. We were successful in our bid for funding in July 2021, and the work to develop a new school facing platform is underway. The platform will be launched to a subset of users in the 2021/22 academic year, with full roll-out across the UK planned for the beginning of the 2022/23 academic year.

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Due to the
unusual circumstances,
the students understood the
necessity of having to complete
the programme virtually. Moving
forward, I feel that they have
developed new IT skills that will
enable them to participate more
fully in higher education and
workplace lectures
and meetings.
Teacher, 2020/21,
Liverpool
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Diversity and Inclusion

A key priority, spanning every team and area of work within the charity, is our commitment to diversity and inclusion.

The charity committed to a diversity and inclusion strategy in 2019/20, which informed our work for the 2020/21 academic year. Focussed largely on racial and ethnic inclusion in the first year, we were able to increase the proportion of non-white applicants and appointees to our employee roles, setting an initial target of 20% of appointments, which we exceeded. Further diversity and inclusion work continues, with our areas of focus now including socio-economic background and disability, alongside race and ethnicity. Targets relating to diversity and inclusion have now been embedded into each of our department’s targets for the coming financial year.

In 2020/21, we appointed a part time diversity and inclusion lead to lead work in this area. They are supported by a Senior Leadership Team lead on diversity and inclusion and a network of active participants in our diversity and inclusion working group. Alongside making improvements to our recruitment practices, training provision and governance, we have also created opportunities for people to come together informally to talk about important topics. This includes a monthly diversity and inclusion book club and a regular diversity and inclusion forum. We are currently working in partnership with The Black Curriculum to decolonise our pre-designed courses for students on The Scholars Programme and to provide training for PhD tutors so that they can ensure their own courses are inclusive in their design and delivery. We have three active employee affinity groups:

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Spectrum
REACH Network
Network Working Parents
(Race, Ethnicity
(LGBTQIA+ and Carers
and Cultural
employees Network
Heritage Network)
and allies)
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We have also recruited our first Young Trustee and undertaken a diversity and inclusion assessment of our entire board membership.

The Brilliant Club

Report and Financial Statements 2021

Achievements and Performance

Reach

The Scholars Programme was first piloted in one school in London in 2011 with 19 students. In the ten years since the charity’s inception, we have now worked with over 90,000 students and have expanded our reach across the UK. We now work in every region of England, and we expanded into Wales and Scotland in 2016/17 and Northern Ireland in 2018/19.

With 100,000 students to support in the next five years, it is an ongoing priority for the charity to make sure our programmes are accessible to any state school that wishes to partner with us. This includes schools in harder to reach areas, such as rural and coastal areas – where students typically have access to fewer interventions – as well as in towns and cities. In 2020/21, The Brilliant Club worked with 267 schools in rural or coastal areas and 182 schools in social mobility cold spots (as defined by the Social Mobility Index 2017).

Alongside our network of 948 schools, we also partnered with 42 universities to enable us to work with 25,751 students across our core programmes and special projects.

Our Year in Numbers

2,526 We have students took part supported

We have supported 15,019 students took part in The Scholars Programme* 25,751 students our largest ever number in a single year 238

students took part in Special Projects outside of our 3 core programmes

7,968 students took part in The Brilliant Tutoring Programme

students took part in our Uni Pathways Programme, run by their Researchers in Schools teacher

Our Year in 267 Numbers schools were in rural or coastal areas Across 948 schools 182 schools were in Since social mobility 2014, we have cold spots

We worked with 13 programme alumni as part of our Ambassador Programme And we recruited our first Young Trustee

We also moved online in the summer of 2020 and have supported students with more than 18,000 virtual tutorials

Since 2014, we have recruited 381 new teachers through Researchers in Schools, including 30 new teachers We We worked with last year partnered a community of with 42 universities 1,203 postgraduate researchers

*(including postponed placements from 2019/20)

The Brilliant Club

Report and Financial Statements 2021

Achievements and Performance

The Scholars Programme

Of the 15,019 students who took part in The Scholars Programme, 84% met at least one of our targeting criteria for underrepresentation: eligibility for free school meals, no parental history of higher education, or deprivation according to postcode.

The Brilliant Tutoring Programme

In 2020/21, we launched our Brilliant Tutoring Programme as part of the national effort to support disrupted learners. Working closely with our school partners and network of tutors, we were able to support almost 8,000 students across England within the first year of delivery. We are delighted to have been approved as a National Tutoring Programme provider for the second year running, where we will aim to support 7,000 students in the 2021/22 academic year.

Researchers in Schools

Since the Researchers in Schools programme was piloted in 2014, we have placed 381 PhD graduates as classroom teachers across England. In 2020/21, we recruited 30 Researchers in Schools participants. 238 students also took part in the Uni Pathways programme delivered in school by Researchers in Schools participants and 85% met one or more of our targeting criteria.

I am so glad that others in my school will now be doing this too because I have gained so much, and picked up lots of skills and advice, but more importantly have experienced a new way of learning. Student, 2020/21, Gloucestershire

Impact

The Brilliant Club is committed to a rigorous approach to research and impact, with the aim of maximising the effectiveness of our programmes.

The long-term impact of our programmes is to increase the number of students from less advantaged backgrounds progressing to the most competitive universities and succeeding when they get there.

The Scholars Programme

For the last five years, The Brilliant Club has worked with the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) to evaluate the impact of The Scholars Programme on progression to competitive universities.

In 2020, UCAS tracked university applications of more than 1,360 Scholars Programme graduates who took part in the programme either as Year 10 or Year 12 students. To provide a counter-factual, Scholars Programme graduates were compared to similar students based on their attainment at GCSE, ethnicity and postcode.

For the fifth year running, students who completed The Scholars Programme are statistically significantly more likely to apply to, receive an offer from and progress to a competitive university than students from similar backgrounds, as shown on the next page. It was also shown that students eligible for Pupil Premium (an indicator of socio-economic disadvantage) who had graduated from The Scholars Programme in Year 12 were significantly more likely to apply and progress to competitive universities.

The Brilliant Club

Report and Financial Statements 2021

Achievements and Performance

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The Scholars Programme Pupils in benchmarking groups were matched Benchmarking Group
on GCSE attainment and socio-demographics
100 pupils 100 pupils
Applied to a
66 50
highly-selective university
Received an offer from a
61 44
highly-selective university
Progressed to a
44 28
highly-selective university
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As we often work with students as young as eight years old, there is often a significant lag-time between them completing The Scholars Programme and applying for university. To ensure we understand the effectiveness of our programme, we also track the intermediate outcomes of students.

In 2019/20, researchers at the University of Cambridge conducted a randomised controlled trial (RCT), showing that students who take part in The Scholars Programme report significantly higher levels of self-efficacy for university-style learning, compared to students who do not take part in the programme. Based on these findings, this year, we have further developed our intermediate outcomes framework to ensure that university self-efficacy is prioritised across our access programmes.

The intermediate impact of our programmes is to develop students’ key skills which support academic achievement and university preparedness, including written communication, subject knowledge, critical thinking, and university self-efficacy.

We use mark schemes to measure academic achievement on baseline and final assignments. These mark schemes were co-developed with an assessment researcher from the University of Cambridge. In addition, we use standardised pre- and post- self-report surveys. This combination of standardised marking and self-assessment, enables us to see where students are making progress during their placements, and offer the opportunity for us to identify and implement programme improvements.

For every placement, we provide schools with an impact report on their students’ progress compared to national averages. This enables schools to understand the impact that the programme is having on the students in their schools, and is often cited by schools as a valuable tool in understanding how students are engaging in learning beyond the curriculum.

The Brilliant Tutoring Programme

On The Brilliant Tutoring Programme in 2020/21, students completed a baseline and an end of programme assessment. Student work was assessed by their tutors for subject knowledge, critical thinking and written communication. For maths and science programmes, students completed problem sets. On average students made 12-14 marks progress throughout their tutorials.

To understand mechanisms of impact, we asked students to describe in their own words what studying with their tutor was like.

I really liked the more personal experience, because I felt I could learn more effectively. I learned many concepts in different ways to how they were taught in school lessons, so I had a better understanding of the subject as a whole.

It was helpful to study with a tutor because I could ask questions and it helps me be more confident answering questions. I’ve learnt strategies for working through problems and ways to practice things I have learnt.

The Brilliant Club

Report and Financial Statements 2021

Achievements and Performance

Researchers in Schools

In March 2020, we published the findings from a two-year study that examined Researchers in Schools participants’ engagement with research-informed practice. The findings showed that teachers on the programme access and understand research evidence, use research evidence in practice, and use research evidence to influence others teaching practice.

Researchers in Schools participants deliver a programme called Uni Pathways in their schools, which is modelled on The Scholars Programme. For students who have completed both their baseline and final assignments on the Uni Pathways programme, we see a substantial increase in their written communication, subject knowledge and critical thinking.

88% of students who completed Uni Pathways agreed with the statement, ‘I know a lot about the differences between learning at school and learning at university’, which is an increase of 29% compared to before the programme.

The Brilliant Club

Report and Financial Statements 2021

Future Plans

New Strategy: Join the Club

2021 marks the tenth anniversary of the founding of The Brilliant Club, and the final year of the Path to Outcomes Strategy. We have gone through a highly consultative process, to develop our new strategy for 2021-2026, entitled Join the Club.

Our previous strategies focused on sustainability and outcomes; the next five years are about participation. Our 2021–2026 strategy is focused on two goals: access and success. Over the course of the next five years, we want to support over 100,000 students to access the most competitive universities via our Scholars Programme and work with over 11,000 undergraduates by 2026 to enhance their achievement through our university partnerships.

We have three important enablers that will make our goals possible:

Communities: build the power of our communities of students, parents and PhDers to create educational opportunity;
Capabilities: consolidate and develop excellent operations across technology, communications and finance, and foster an inclusive culture;
Consultancy: create system-level change by collaborating with universities, government and charities to generate evidence and impact.

This strategy sets out an ambitious five years for The Brilliant Club as we become the UK’s largest university access movement. But we cannot do it alone. We need the participation of our communities of students, parents and PhDers to create a society in which a young person’s life chances are not determined by their background. Together we can meet the challenge.

Right now, students from the least advantaged backgrounds have a This disadvantage 1 in 50 chance of accessing doesn’t disappear the most competitive when they enter universities, compared to 1 university. in 4 of the most advantaged .

This affects an individual beyond their time at university and impacts society as a whole.

Graduates from the most competitive universities are Disadvantaged Disadvantaged more likely to access students are more likely students are professional careers and therefore to miss out on more likely have higher rates of life life-changing higher to a miss out1st or 2:1 on satisfaction . On average, education . grade at they will earn university. £10,000 £ 18x 3x more than their peers.

18x

We believe it is fundamentally unfair that a young person should miss out on these opportunities simply because of their background.

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Access Success
We want to support over And work with 11,000
100,000 students to access undergraduates by 2026 to
the most competitive enhance their achievement
universities via our Scholars through our university
Programme. partnerships.
We’ll be there every step of the way for young people – from primary school to graduation.
School University Graduation
Supported by three enablers that will make our goals possible
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Communites Capabilities Consultancy

Together we can meet the challenge. Join the Club .

The Brilliant Club

Report and Financial Statements 2021

Governance

Constitution

The Brilliant Club is a Registered Charity in England and Wales (No. 1147771) and Scotland (No. SC048774) and a Company Limited by Guarantee (No. 07986971).

Management

Day-to-day running of the charity is managed by a three-person Executive Leadership Team, led by the CEO and the full list of key management personnel can be found on page 85. The charity has two divisions: the Programmes Division which is led by the Chief Programmes and Communities Officer, and the Operations Division which is led by the Chief Operating Officer, both of whom report to the CEO.

Public Benefit Statement

Pay and Remuneration of Key Management

The Directors of The Brilliant Club have considered the requirements of the Charity Commission with regards to public benefit. The sections of this report titled “Objectives and Activities” and “Achievements and Performance” set out The Brilliant Club’s objectives, report on the activity and successes in the year to 31 July 2021 and outline the plans for the 2021/22 financial year.

The Trustees have considered this matter and concluded that:

The aims of the organisation continue to be charitable.
The aims and the work done give identifiable benefits to the charitable sector and both directly and indirectly to individuals in need.
The benefits are for the public; are not unreasonably restricted in any way and certainly not by ability to pay.
There is no detriment or harm arising from the aims or activities.

The Trustees confirm that they have referred to the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit when reviewing the charity’s aims and objectives and planning future activities.

Board of Trustees

The charity is governed by a Board of Trustees that consists of 11 professionals from a wide range of backgrounds including education charities, schools, university admissions and law and accountancy firms. Trustees are responsible for decision-making on long-term strategic direction and governance, meeting formally four times a year. The Trustees receive quarterly updates on day-to-day activities, including risk and financial performance, which informs their decision-making. There are two sub-committees: the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee and the People Committee.

The Finance, Audit and Risk Committee lead on the financial governance of the charity. It consists of four Trustees, each of whom bring relevant professional experience to the role. The Committee meets on a biannual basis in November and May and oversees budgeting, reporting, audit processes and risk. The Committee reports on detailed financial strategy, management accounts, cashflow, reserves and risk at each Board of Trustees meeting.

The People Committee, which meets three times a year, includes the Chair of Trustees, the Vice-Chair of Trustees and one other Trustee. The Committee approves salary bands, senior staff salaries and benefit changes. The Committee also conducts performance reviews and professional development meetings with the CEO and sets the CEO salary.

New Trustees are appointed through a combination of targeted and open recruitment. They receive an induction with the Chair of Trustees, the CEO and the COO. The charity arranges training in line with new charity protocols and the Charity Governance Code, as needed.

The salary of the CEO is set by the People Committee following an annual performance review. This review is also used to set targets and development objectives for the year ahead. The Board of Trustees approves organisational salary band changes and benefits, and any salary increase for employees who earn over £60,000. The Brilliant Club aims to be competitive in terms of salary, regularly completing a salary benchmarking exercise to ensure we attract excellent candidates.

The Brilliant Club

Report and Financial Statements 2021

Risk Management

The Board of Trustees implements an ongoing risk management strategy, covering a broad spectrum of risk including financial, reputational, operational, safeguarding and legal risk. The Finance, Audit and Risk Committee reports on the risk register at each Board of Trustees meeting. The Finance, Audit and Risk Committee meets biannually, and meetings are attended by the Trustees on the Committee, the CEO, COO and Finance Director. The risk management strategy also includes an ongoing actions log, for which the COO is accountable, as well as an annual assessment of risk by the Board of Trustees. The annual review was completed by the Trustees in June 2021 with individual meetings with all Heads of Departments within the charity. Risks are rated according to impact and likelihood and the risk register is actively used to monitor, evaluate and resolve potential risks to the organisation.

Long-term Financial Sustainability

All risks in this category are currently at an acceptable level. The mitigation steps for this risk category include:

CEO and CPCO hold monthly review meetings to oversee sales; • The charity has diversified its income streams and continues to seek new sources of revenue;
The charity maintains sufficient reserves as per the reserves policy;
The Finance, Audit and Risk Committee review sustainability and income levels at each sub-committee meeting;
• Developed programmatic options and a financial model for the new five-year strategy.

The charity’s risks are outlined under the following four headings:

Long term Financial Sustainability;
IT, Data Protection and Business Continuity;
Short-term Financial Risks and Fraud;
Safeguarding.

The risk table on the next page provides a breakdown of the four risk categories and the mitigations that the charity has put in place.

We identified four significant risks to the charity during the June 2021 annual review of risks. Three of the risks identified relate to the Short-Term Financial Risks and Fraud category and one relates to the IT, Data Protection and Business Continuity category. Mitigation steps have been undertaken and contingencies will be put in place if needed.

IT, Data Protection and Business Continuity

Short-term Financial Risks and Fraud

Safeguarding

The risks in this category are significant. With an increase in cyberthreats within the sector, the charity runs the risk of data loss or security breaches and the charity has identified one high risk in this category. The mitigation steps for this risk category include:

ISO 27001 accreditation and CyberEssentials certification;
The charity has a business continuity plan, which outlines contingency steps needed should any risk occur;
The charity has an internal IT Support team to help with data security;
Two factor authentication on key accounts and systems;
The charity platforms are penetration tested annually;
The charity uses device management software that tracks the charity’s digital assets.

Three risks have been identified as being significant in this category. The mitigation steps for the risk category include:

The COO and Finance Director review income streams monthly;
The COO and Finance Director review the cash flow forecast monthly;
The Executive Leadership Team review the management accounts monthly;
The Board of Trustees review management accounts quarterly, with the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee completing a further review biannually;
The charity maintains sufficient reserves as per the reserves policy; • The charity has a qualified accountant on the Board of Trustees and Finance, Audit and Risk Committee and employs two full time accountants;
The charity has robust anti-fraud policies, training and systems in place.

All safeguarding risks are currently at an acceptable level, but the charity continues to monitor this risk closely so that it can work with schools and universities to fulfil its mission. The mitigation steps for this risk category include:

The charity has a designated Trustee with responsibility for Safeguarding and internal Safeguarding Leads;
The charity has robust policies and training for all staff and PhD tutors and has updated its Safeguarding Policy to take into account any additional risks;
The charity has designed digital delivery of its key programmes with safeguarding built in;
The charity completes an annual safeguarding review with a specialist safeguarding team at a law firm;
Safeguarding is a standing item on the Board of Trustees agenda.

The Brilliant Club

Report and Financial Statements 2021

Fundraising Statement

The Brilliant Club is registered with the Fundraising Regulator and adheres to the Code of Fundraising Practice to deliver fundraising activity that is transparent and meets regulatory requirements.

Fundraising is led by the External Affairs Director, who reports on fundraising progress quarterly to the Board of Trustees. The charity’s Executive Leadership Team attend regular Fundraising Governance meetings with the Fundraising Team. The External Affairs Director leads a team of fundraisers, including our Head of Philanthropy and Senior Fundraising Officer, both of whom are members of the Institute of Fundraising. Fundraising activity is supported by the External Affairs Team and wider organisation. We offer training, guidance and briefings to staff to ensure compliance with the Code of Fundraising Practice.

The processes for prospect research, making enquiries and applications and accepting donations, are managed and undertaken by the charity’s Fundraising Team, in line with the charity’s Donations Policy, which is available on our website.

We do not employ any third parties to fundraise directly on the charity’s behalf. This year, we have partnered with a consultancy to support the development of our approach to major donor fundraising, which we are undertaking in line with GDPR and our Privacy Policy. Any approaches are made by employees or trustees of the charity.

Safeguards are in place to ensure that all potential funders, including vulnerable people, are protected from unreasonable intrusion on their privacy, unreasonably persistent approaches or pressure to give. We do not canvas face to face, nor do we send out mass fundraising appeals via post.

The charity’s fundraising strategy is largely focused on trusts, foundations, corporates, and major gifts from individuals. We work with one foundation which seeks donations from corporate and individual donors on our behalf. We are well informed of this foundation’s approach, have regular contact with them and retain responsibility for all materials sent in our name.

We are registered with Just Giving, and with a text to donate service via Donr to enable us to receive donations from individuals. We promote both opportunities to support on our website, through social media and in our community newsletter, which people opt in to receiving. On our website, we invite anyone interested in supporting the charity to get in touch with the Senior Fundraising Officer. We have a Volunteer Fundraiser Agreement available on the website which is designed to be a helpful guide for anyone who expresses an interest in voluntarily fundraising in aid of The Brilliant Club and describes what they can expect from the charity and our expectations of them.

We have not received any complaints about the charity’s fundraising activity. If we were to receive a complaint, this would be managed in line with our Complaints Procedure, which is available on our website. Our fundraising team are committed to continually reviewing our approach to fundraising and to staying up-to-date with the latest regulations and best practice.

The Brilliant Club

33 Report and Financial Statements 2021

Financial Review

The charity had a strong financial year and posted a surplus of £1,126,000. This surplus was largely due to the addition of a new programme called The Brilliant Tutoring Programme, along with higher sales and cost savings from virtual delivery and remote working. The Brilliant Tutoring Programme added £2.26m in revenue to the charity accounts and absorbed a portion of the charity’s fixed support costs.

Due to school closures in 2019/20, a number of our planned Scholars Programme placements were unable to take place in the 2019/20 financial year. The majority of these placements were deferred to the 2020/21 academic year, and took place in Autumn 2020. The income and associated costs of postponed placements have been recognised in 2020/21, which has contributed to part of the charity’s surplus.

The charity did not experience any significant disruptions to planned income from Researchers in Schools, as the programme continued with minimal disruption. Finally, the charity experienced substantial cost savings due to virtual delivery of programmes for a large portion of the year and employees working mainly from home for the full financial year.

These above factors generated a planned surplus of £1,126,000 which has enabled the charity to add to its reserves and designate funds to invest in new strategic areas of work in line with the new five-year strategy, Join the Club.

The addition to the reserves provides the charity with security to withstand financial uncertainty with the planned winding down of the Researchers in Schools programme, mitigate risks associated with further school closures, maintain the higher reserves requirement linked to our growth and build resilience.

To invest in growth and implement our new five-year strategy, the Board of Trustees have designated £550,000 of the unrestricted surplus to meet the charity’s working capital requirements. The designated funds will be used to:

Support the charity’s early work in Communities and Student Success;
Provide upfront funding to allow the charity to engage with the Brilliant Tutoring Programme;
Mitigate the cashflow risk associated with further education disruptions; and
Scale up the work with The Scholars Programme and grow our new strategic areas of work over the five-year-strategy.

The Brilliant Club

Report and Financial Statements 2021

Financial Review

Income

2021 2020 Total Income Total Income £8.3m £6.6m 2021 Total Income in £000's 2020 Total Income in £000's Donations and legacies £432k/5.21% Donations and legacies £468k/7.1% Gift in Kind £263k/3.17% Gift in Kind £1,658k/25.1% Charitable Activities £7,599k/91.61% Charitable Activities £4,475k/67.7% Trading Activities £1k/0.01% Trading Activities £6k/0.1%

Total income for the year was £8,294,679 (2020 - £6,606,729) of which, £262,929 (2020 - £1,657,614) relates to gift in kind pro bono support.
Revenue without gift in kind was £8,031,750 (2020 - £4,949,115).
The increase in revenue is linked to the addition of the Brilliant Tutoring Programme, higher special projects income and deferred Scholars Programme sales from 2019/20 being recognised in 2020/21.
Of the total revenue, £4,695,485 (2020 – £4,243,404) was unrestricted revenue and £3,599,194 (2020 - £2,363,325) was restricted revenue.
As part of its commitment to financial sustainability, The Brilliant Club has a number of income streams.
Unrestricted charitable activities generated 48.22% (2020 – 32.27%) of the charity’s income, with The Scholars Programme continuing to account for the majority of unrestricted charitable activities, through sales to schools and university revenue.
The funding from the Education Endowment Fund through the National Tutoring Programme for The Brilliant Tutoring Programme, accounted for 20.9% (2020 – nil) of revenue. This was a new programme added in the year and was the largest single source of revenue in 2020/21.
Department for Education funding for Researchers in Schools accounted for 18.66% (2020 – 32.39%) of total income and was the second largest single source of revenue in 2020/21. The decrease in revenue is a result of decrease in the Department for Education contract value for the 2019, 2020 and 2021 cohorts.
Revenue from external sources such as grants and donations accounted for 9.05% of income (2020 – 10.25%), which is in line with the charity’s financial targets.
Of the restricted funds from funders, 29% (2020 – 43%) was restricted to programme IT development, 44% (2020 – 38%) to The Scholars Programme placement costs, 6% (2020 – 6%) to Researchers in Schools costs and 22% (2020 – 13%) to additional programme costs.
Gift in Kind support accounted for 3.17% (2020 – 25.09%). The higher gift in kind revenue in 2019/20 was due to substantial pro bono support for the new five-year strategy development process and the government contract bid for Researchers in Schools.

The Brilliant Club

Report and Financial Statements 2021

Financial Review

Expenditure

Expenditure for the year was £7,168,671 (2020 - £6,882,818) of which £262,929 (2020 - £1,657,614) related to gift in kind pro bono support.
Expenditure before gift in kind increased in 2021 to £6,905,742 from £5,225,204 in 2020. This increase was due to The Brilliant Tutoring Programme, a new programme delivered by the charity in 2020/21.
Unrestricted charitable activities accounted for £3,427,727 (2020 - £4,216,288) of total expenditure. The decrease is linked to a decrease in gift in kind costs.
The cost of raising funds accounted for £156,854 (2020 - £87,434) and the increase is due to the increase in size of the fundraising team.
Restricted charitable activities accounted for £3,584,090 (2020 - £2,579,096) of total expenditure and the increase in cost is linked to the new Brilliant Tutoring Programme.

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3,755
4,000
2,915
3,000 2,553 2,379
2,000 1,598
1,000 487
157 87 119
0
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Expenditure on fundraising costs accounted for 2.19% (2020 – 1.27%) of total costs and charitable activities accounted for 97.81% (2020 – 98.73%) of total costs.
Expenditure on The Scholars Programme accounted for £2,915,399 (2020 - £3,755,246) which is 41.58% (2020 - 55.3%) of costs linked to charitable activities. Scholars Programme costs decreased despite the increase in revenue as a result of the fixed nature of the majority of the programme costs linked to staffing and the virtual delivery of the programme during school closures.
Expenditure on The Brilliant Tutoring Programme accounted for £2,378,816 (2020 – nil) which is 33.93% (2020 – nil) of charitable activity cost.
Expenditure on Researchers in Schools accounted for £1,598,386 (2020 - £2,553,438) which is 22.8% (2020 - 37.6%) of charitable activities. The decrease in cost is a result of decrease in the Department for Education contract value for the 2019, 2020 and 2021 cohorts.
Other Programme costs accounted for 1.69% (2020 - 7.1%) of the cost and are made up of costs incurred by the charity but not directly linked to the programmes. The charity received higher pro bono support in 2019/20 to support with the five-year strategy compared to 2020/21.

The Brilliant Club 38

39 Report and Financial Statements 2021

Financial Review

Reserves Policy

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2021 2020
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Reserves Breakdown in £000’s

Designated reserves - (2021 - £550 / 2020 - £0) Restricted reserves - (2021 - £42 / 2020 - £27) Fixed Asset reserves - (2021 - £35 / 2020 - £21) Free reserves - (2021 - £1,450 / 2020 - £903)

The Brilliant Club’s reserves policy is to maintain a sufficient level of reserves to enable operating activities to continue, taking account of potential risks and contingencies that may arise from time to time.

The Board of Trustees has set the charity’s reserves requirement as at least three but not more than four months of certain core costs. This corresponds to one school term, which is the basis of the charity’s invoicing cycle. According to this policy, the charity needs to ensure general reserves of approximately £1,100,000 - £1,500,000 at the end of the 2020/21 financial year.

The balance sheet shows total funds of £2,076,646 at 31st July 2021 (2020: £950,638), which includes:

Free reserves of £1,449,816 (2020 - £902,948) which are in line with the charity’s reserves policy.
Designated funds of £550,000 (2020 - nil).
Restricted funds of £42,219 (2020 - £27,115).
Fixed asset reserves of £34,611 (2020 - £20,575); and

We anticipate posting a surplus in our 2021/22 financial year resulting in an increase to our reserves within our reserves policy. As such, we will have sufficient reserves to continue as a going concern.

The Brilliant Club

41 Report and Financial Statements 2021

Statement of Trustees’ Responsibilities

The Trustees (who are also directors of The Brilliant Club for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the Trustees’ Report and Financial Statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

Company law requires the Trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable company for that period.

In preparing these financial statements, the Trustees are required to:

Select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
Observe the methods and principles in Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102);

Auditors

Buzzacott LLP were appointed as the auditors for the fourth year and a resolution for their reappointment will be submitted to the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee.

This report has been prepared in accordance with the Statement of Recommended Practice, ‘Accounting and Reporting by Charities’, and in accordance with the special provisions of Part 15 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small entities.

Dr Josephine Valentine OBE Chair of the Board of Trustees

Make judgments and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
State whether applicable United Kingdom Accounting Standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements;
Prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charitable company will continue in operation.

The Trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charitable company and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006, the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charitable company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

Each of the Trustees confirms that:

So far as the Trustee is aware, there is no relevant audit information of which the charitable company’s auditor is unaware; and
the Trustee has taken all the steps that he/she ought to have taken as a Trustee in order to make himself/herself aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the charitable company’s auditor is aware of that information.

This confirmation is given and should be interpreted in accordance with the provisions of s418 of the Companies Act 2006.

The Trustees are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the corporate and financial information included on the charitable company’s website. Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.

The Brilliant Club

Report and Financial Statements 2021

Statement of Financial Activities, Balance Sheet and Cash Flow Statement

Statement of Financial Activities

(Including the Income and Expenditure Account) For the Year Ended 31 July 2021

Statement of Financial Activities

(Including the Income and Expenditure Account) For the Year Ended 31 July 2020

	Notes	Unrestricted	Restricted	Total funds		Notes	Unrestricted	Restricted	Total funds
		funds	funds	2021			funds	funds	2020
		£	£	£			£	£	£
Income and endowment from					Income and endowment from
Donations and legacies	2A	432,067	-	432,067	Donations and legacies	2A	448,400	20,000	468,400
Gift in Kind	2B	262,929	-	262,929	Gift in Kind	2B	1,657,614	-	1,657,614
Charitable activities	3	3,999,401	3,599,194	7,598,595	Charitable activities	3	2,131,852	2,343,325	4,475,177
Trading activities	4	1,088	-	1,088	Trading activities	4	5,538	-	5,538
Total income		4,695,485	3,599,194	8,294,679	Total income		4,243,404	2,363,325	6,606,729
Expenditure on					Expenditure on
Raising funds	5	156,854	-	156,854	Raising funds	5	87,434	-	87,434
Charitable activities	5	3,427,727	3,584,090	7,011,817	Charitable activities	5	4,216,288	2,579,096	6,795,384
Total expenditure		3,584,581	3,584,090	7,168,671	Total expenditure		4,303,722	2,579,096	6,882,818
Net income		1,110,904	15,104	1,126,008	Net (expenditure)		(60,318)	(215,771)	(276,089)
Net movement in funds		1,110,904	15,104	1,126,008	Net movement in funds		(60,318)	(215,771)	(276,089)
Fund balances brought forward 1 August 2020		923,523	27,115	950,638	Fund balances brought forward 1 August 2019		983,841	242,886	1,226,727
Fund balances carried forward 31 July 2021	15/16	2,034,427	42,219	2,076,646	Fund balances carried forward 31 July 2020	15/16	923,523	27,115	950,638

All income and expenditure is derived from continuing activities.

The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised during the year.

The notes on pages 53 to 75 form part of the financial statements.

All income and expenditure is derived from continuing activities.

The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised during the year.

The notes on pages 53 to 75 form part of the financial statements.

The Brilliant Club

Report and Financial Statements 2021

Balance Sheet

Cash Flow Statement

Balance Sheet

For the Year Ended 31 July 2021 (Company Number: 07986971)

	Notes	2021	2020
		£	£
Fixed assets
Tangible fixed assets	11	34,611	20,575
Total fixed assets		34,611	20,575
Current assets
Debtors	12	1,034,631	527,240
Cash at bank and in hand		1,470,846	1,486,295
Total current assets		2,505,477	2,013,535
Liabilities
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year Net current assets	13	(463,442) 2,042,035	(1,083,472) 930,063
Total assets less current liabilities		2,076,646	950,638
Total net assets		2,076,646	950,638
Represented by
Designated funds	16	550,000	-
General funds	16	1,484,427	923,523
Total unrestricted funds		2,034,427	923,523
Total restricted funds	15	42,219	27,115
Total		2,076,646	950,638

Cash Flow Statement

For the Year Ended 31 July 2021

	Notes	2021	2020
		£	£
Cash flow from operating activities
Cash generated from operations	20	14,332	792,270
Net cash flow from operating activities		14,332	792,270
Cash flow from investing activities
Payments to acquire tangible fixed assets	11	(29,781)	(21,335)
Net cash flow from investing activities		(29,781)	(21,335)
Cash flow from financing activities
Repayment of finance lease liabilities		-	(2,110)
Net cash flow from financing activities		-	(2,110)
Net (decrease)/increase in cash and cash equivalents		(15,449)	768,825
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the reporting period		1,486,295	717,470
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the reporting period		1,470,846	1,486,295

The notes on pages 53 to 75 form part of the financial statements.

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the special provisions of Part 15 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small entities.

Approved by the Board of Trustees on and signed on their behalf on 16th December 2021 by:

Dr Josephine Valentine OBE - Chair of the Board of Trustees The notes on pages 53 to 75 form part of these financial statements.

The Brilliant Club

Report and Financial Statements 2021

Notes to the Financial statements

Notes to the Financial Statements

1. Accounting Policies

a) General information and basis of preparation

The Brilliant Club is a company limited by guarantee in the United Kingdom. The address of the registered office is given in the charity information on page 84 of these financial statements. The nature of the charity’s operations and principal activities are set out on pages 8 to 17.

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice (Charities SORP (FRS 102)), the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102), the Companies Act 2006 and UK Generally Accepted Practice.

The charity constitutes a public benefit entity as defined by FRS 102.

The financial statements are prepared in sterling which is the functional currency of the charity.

b) Going concern

The Trustees have assessed whether the use of the going concern assumption is appropriate in preparing these financial statements. The Trustees have made this assessment in respect to a period of at least one year from the date of approval of these financial statements.

The Trustees have considered several factors in concluding that the adoption of the going concern basis in the preparation of these financial statements is appropriate.

These have included:

the level of reserves held;
the expected level of income and expenditure for the 2021/22 financial year;
cost control initiatives being put in place to manage the current and future year budgets;
cash management to mitigate potential risks of late payment by suppliers and funders and that restricted grants are being appropriately managed.

The Brilliant Club 52

53 Report and Financial Statements 2021

Notes to the Financial Statements

c) Judgements and key sources of estimation uncertainty

Accounting estimates and judgements are continually evaluated and are based on historical experience and other factors, including expectations of future events that are believed to be reasonable under circumstances. The following judgements (apart from those involving estimates) have been made in the process of applying the above accounting policies that have had the most significant effect on amounts recognised in the financial statements:

Useful economic lives of tangible assets - the annual depreciation charge for tangible assets is sensitive to changes in the estimated useful economic lives and residual values of the assets. The useful economic lives and residual values are re-assessed annually. They are amended when necessary to reflect current estimates, based on technological advancement, future investments, economic utilisation and physical condition of the assets. See note 11 for the carrying amount of the plant and equipment and note 1.J for the useful economic lives for each class of assets.

The key areas where judgments and estimations have been applied in the financial statements are as follows:

Estimating the useful economic lives of tangible fixed assets for the purpose of determining the annual depreciation charge;
Estimating the value to the charity of gifts in kind provided by third parties;
Estimating the value of income to be recognised in respect of ongoing projects; and
Estimating future income and expenditure for the purposes of assessing going concern.

As set out in these accounting policies under “going concern”, the Trustees have considered the impact of the pandemic on the charity and have concluded that although there may be some negative consequences, it is appropriate for the charity to continue to prepare its accounts on the going concern basis.

d) Legal status

The Brilliant Club is a company limited by guarantee and has no share capital. The liability of each member in the event of a winding up is limited to £1.

f) Income

All income is included in the Statement of Financial Activities (SoFA) when the charity is legally entitled to the income after any performance conditions have been met, the amount can be measured reliably, and it is probable that the income will be received.

The following specific policies are applied to particular categories of income:

Donation income including core grants, sponsorship and donations is included in full in the Statement of Financial Activities when receivable. Grants, where entitlement is not conditional on the delivery of a specific performance by the charity, are recognised when the charity becomes unconditionally entitled to the grant.
Gift in kind - Where goods or services are provided to the charity as a donation that would normally be purchased from suppliers, this contribution is included in the financial statements as both income and expenditure at its estimated fair value based on the value of the contribution to the charity.
Income from charitable activities includes income from performance fees received under contract. Grant income included in this category provides funding to support performance activities, touring or education projects and is recognised where there is entitlement, certainty of receipt and the amount can be measured with sufficient reliability.
All trading income is represented by rental and investment income and is included in the accounts for the period it relates to.

g) Expenditure

All expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis and has been classified under headings that aggregate all costs related to the category. Expenditure is recognised where there is a legal or constructive obligation to make payments to third parties, it is probable that the settlement will be required and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. The irrecoverable element of VAT is included with the item of expense to which it relates. It is categorised under the following headings:

Costs of raising funds are those costs incurred in attracting donation income.
Charitable expenditure comprises those costs incurred by the charity in the delivery of its activities and services for its beneficiaries. It includes both costs allocated directly to such activities and those costs of an indirect nature necessary to support them.

e) Funds accounting

Restricted funds – these are funds which can only be used for specific restricted purposes within the objects of the charity. Restrictions arise when specified by the donor or when funds are raised for particular restricted purposes. The aim and use of each restricted fund is set out in the notes to the financial statements.

Designated funds – these are funds which have been set aside by the Board of Trustees to be used for specific projects as outlined in the notes to the financial statements.

Unrestricted general funds – these are funds which can be used in accordance with the charitable objects at the discretion of the Trustees.

h) Support costs allocation

Support costs are those that assist the work of the charity but do not directly represent charitable activities and include office costs, governance costs, administrative and payroll costs. They are incurred directly in support of expenditure on the objects of the charity and include project management carried out at Headquarters. Costs relating to a particular activity are allocated directly; others are apportioned on an appropriate basis, for example, time spent, per capita or floor area.

i) Taxation

The charitable company is considered to pass the tests set out in Paragraph 1 Schedule 6 of the Finance Act 2010 and therefore it meets the definition of a charitable company for UK corporation tax purposes. Accordingly, the charity is potentially exempt from taxation in respect of income or capital gains received within categories covered by Chapter 3 Part II Corporation Tax Act 2010 or Section 256 of the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992, to the extent that such income or gains are applied exclusively to charitable purposes.

The Brilliant Club

Report and Financial Statements 2021

Notes to the Financial Statements

j) Tangible fixed assets

Tangible fixed assets are stated at cost less depreciation. Depreciation is provided at rates calculated to write off the cost or valuation of fixed assets, less their estimated residual value, over their expected useful lives as follows: Computer equipment – 33% on cost.

k) Debtors

Prepayments are valued at the amount prepaid. Accrued income is measured at the amount due to be received.

l) Cash and cash equivalents

Cash at bank and cash in hand includes cash and short term, highly liquid investments with a short maturity of three months or less from the date of acquisition or opening of the deposit or similar account.

m) Creditors

Creditors are recognised when there is a present obligation resulting from a past event that will probably result in the transfer of funds to a third party and the amount due to settle the obligation can be measured or estimated reliably. Other creditors and accruals are recognised at their settlement amount due.

n) Financial instruments

The charity only has financial assets and financial liabilities of a kind that qualify as basic financial instruments. Basic financial instruments are initially recognised at transaction value and subsequently measured at their settlement value.

o) Leases

Rentals payable and receivable under operating leases are charged to the SoFA on a straight-line basis over the period of the lease.

The Brilliant Club 56

57 Report and Financial Statements 2021

Notes to the Financial Statements

2A. Income from Donations and Legacies

2A. Income from Donations and Legacies (continued)

2020-21

2019-20

Grants Epic Foundation UK Limited Garfield Weston Foundation The Mohn Westlake Foundation Epic Foundation Inc Pavers Foundation Epic Foundation France HMRC Donations Kleinwort Hambros Handpicked Society Other Restricted funds £ - - - - - - - - - - Unrestricted funds £ 116,648 100,000 100,000 81,587 5,000 2,116 2,045 2,250 1,091 21,330 116,648 100,000 100,000 81,587 5,000 2,116 2,045 2,250 1,091 21,330 Total funds 2021 £ Total core grants and donations receivable - 432,067 432,067	Grants Funding towards IT development Man Group plc Charitable Trust Garfield Weston Foundation Epic Foundation UK Limited Epic Foundation Inc HMRC Restricted funds £ 20,000 - - - - - Unrestricted funds £ - 50,000 100,000 105,507 82,260 67,316 20,000 50,000 100,000 105,507 82,260 67,316 Total funds 2020 £
	Donations BCS Consulting Handpicked Society Other - - - 38,900 1,700 2,717 38,900 1,700 2,717 Total core grants and donations receivable 20,000 468,400 448,400

Grants
Epic Foundation UK Limited
Garfield Weston Foundation
The Mohn Westlake Foundation
Epic Foundation Inc
Pavers Foundation
Epic Foundation France
HMRC
Donations
Kleinwort Hambros
Handpicked Society
Other
Restricted
funds
£
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Unrestricted
funds
£
116,648
100,000
100,000
81,587
5,000
2,116
2,045
2,250
1,091
21,330
116,648
100,000
100,000
81,587
5,000
2,116
2,045
2,250
1,091
21,330
Total funds
2021
£
Total core grants and donations receivable
-
432,067
432,067

Grants
Funding towards IT development
Man Group plc Charitable Trust
Garfield Weston Foundation
Epic Foundation UK Limited
Epic Foundation Inc
HMRC
Restricted
funds
£
20,000
-
-
-
-
-
Unrestricted
funds
£
-
50,000
100,000
105,507
82,260
67,316
20,000
50,000
100,000
105,507
82,260
67,316
Total funds
2020
£

Donations
BCS Consulting
Handpicked Society
Other
-
-
-
38,900
1,700
2,717
38,900
1,700
2,717
Total core grants and donations receivable
20,000
468,400
448,400

2B. Income from Gift in Kind

	Unrestricted	Total funds	Unrestricted	Total funds
	funds 2021	2021	funds 2020	2020
	£	£	£	£
Gift in Kind income	262,929	262,929	1,657,614	1,657,614
Total	262,929	262,929	1,657,614	1,657,614

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The Brilliant Club 58
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Report and Financial Statements 2021

Notes to the Financial Statements

3. Income from Charitable Activities

2020-21

			General	Restricted	Total funds
			funds	funds	2021
			£	£	£
Revenue	from	The Scholars Programme	2,886,893	-	2,886,893
Revenue	from	The Brilliant Tutoring Programme	522,773	1,733,815	2,256,588
Revenue	from	Researchers in Schools	183,000	1,547,401	1,730,401
Revenue	from	other projects	406,735	-	406,735
Revenue	from	fundraising	-	317,978	317,978
Total			3,999,401	3,599,194	7,598,595
2019-20
			General	Restricted	Total funds
			funds	funds	2020
			£	£	£
Revenue	from	The Scholars Programme	1,723,764	-	1,723,764
Revenue	from	Researchers in Schools	184,000	2,139,756	2,323,756
Revenue	from	other projects	224,088	-	224,088
Revenue	from	fundraising	-	203,569	203,569
Total			2,131,852	2,343,325	4,475,177

4. Income from Trading Activities

	Unrestricted funds 2021	Total funds 2021	Unrestricted funds 2020	Total funds 2020
	£	£	£	£
Rental & investment income	1,088	1,088	5,538	5,538
Total	1,088	1,088	5,538	5,538

5. Expenditure

2020-21

	Staff costs	Direct costs	Support costs	Total costs
	(note 9)		(note 6)	2021
	£	£	£	£
Raising funds
Fundraising costs	123,327	-	33,527	156,854
Charitable activities:
The Scholars Programme	2,423,869	231,389	260,141	2,915,399
The Brilliant Tutoring Programme	1,710,628	373,351	294,837	2,378,816
Researchers in Schools	1,115,026	233,618	249,742	1,598,386
Other Programme costs	-	-	119,216	119,216
Total charitable activities	5,249,523	838,358	923,936	7,011,817
Total expenditure	5,372,850	838,358	957,463	7,168,671

2019-20

	Staff costs	Direct costs	Support costs	Total costs
	(note 9)		(note 6)	2020
	£	£	£	£
Raising funds
Fundraising costs	75,307	-	12,127	87,434
Charitable activities:
The Scholars Programme	2,270,336	375,857	1,109,053	3,755,246
Researchers in Schools	1,138,483	805,104	609,851	2,553,438
Other Programme costs	-	-	486,700	486,700
Total charitable activities	3,408,819	1,180,961	2,205,604	6,795,384
Total expenditure	3,484,126	1,180,961	2,217,731	6,882,818

The Brilliant Club

Report and Financial Statements 2021

Notes to the Financial Statements

6. Support Costs

2020-21

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||||| |---|---|---|---| |Fundraising|Charitable|Total cost| |costs|activities|2021| |£|£|£| |-| |Governance (note 7)|68,294|68,294| |Depreciation|815|14,721|15,536| |Loss on disposal of fixed assets|-|209|209| |Office costs|19,829|358,024|377,853| |Other staff costs|2,964|92,792|95,756| |Computer costs|6,242|112,701|118,943| |Travel|-|741|741| |Gift in Kind|-|262,929|262,929| |Other|3,677|13,525|17,202| |Total governance and support costs|33,527|923,936|957,463|

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7. Governance Costs

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|||| |---|---|---| |2021|2020| |£|£| |Auditor’s remuneration – for audit|12,600|15,840| |Auditor’s remuneration – non-audit|-|1,740| |Consultancy fees|33,665|10,404| |Other professional fees|22,029|24,538| |Total|68,294|52,522|

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8. Trustees’ Remuneration and Benefits

None of the Trustees received any remuneration or other financial benefits during the year (2020: Nil).

During 2021, none of the Trustees (2020: two) were reimbursed (2020: £97) for travel and accommodation costs in relation to charity meetings.

2019-20

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||||| |---|---|---|---| |Fundraising|Charitable|Total cost| |costs|activities|2020| |£|£|£| |-| |Governance (note 7)|52,522|52,522| |Depreciation|224|10,487|10,711| |-|-|-| |Loss on disposal of fixed assets| |Office costs|7,768|362,507|370,275| |Other staff costs|927|69,696|70,623| |Computer costs|409|19,110|19,519| |Travel|281|14,840|15,121| |Gift in Kind|-|1,657,614|1,657,614| |Other|2,519|18,827|21,346| |Total governance and support costs|12,128|2,205,603|2,217,731|

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The Brilliant Club

Report and Financial Statements 2021

Notes to the Financial Statements

9. Staff Costs and Key Management Personnel

	2021	2020
Employee Numbers during the year were:	No.	No.
Average number of staff employed by the company	102	72
Average number of tutors employed by the company	484	164
Employee costs during the year were:	£	£
Salaries and wages	4,795,381	3,045,509
Employer’s NI	375,475	280,845
Employer’s pension	201,994	157,772
Total	5,372,850	3,484,126

Tutors are part-time doctoral or postdoctoral researchers and are paid between £500 - £600 per placement for The Scholars Programme and £500 per placement for The Brilliant Tutoring Programme.

The following number of employees received employee benefits (excluding employer pension costs) during the year between:

		2021 No	2020 No
£60,000	- £69,999	2	1
£70,000	- £79,999	1	3
£80,000	- £89,999	-	-
£90,000	- £99,999	1	-

In 2020/21 the key management personnel of the charity comprised of the Chief Executive Officer, the Chief Operating Officer, the Chief Programmes and Communities Officer, the Finance Director, the National Programme Director for The Scholars Programme and Heads of Departments (as listed on page 85 of the financial statements). The total employee benefits of the key management personnel of the charity were £786,505 (2020 - £760,349)

10. Net Income for the Year

	2021	2020
	£	£
This is stated after charging
Auditor’s remuneration
For audit	12,600	15,840
For other services	-	1,740
Rental payments under operating leases	275,763	278,130
Depreciation	15,536	10,711
Loss on disposal of fixed assets	209	-

11. Tangible Fixed Assets

		Office equipment
		£
	Cost
	As at 1 August 2020 Additions	56,461 29,781
	Disposals	(15,402)
	As at 31 July 2021	70,840
	Depreciation
	As at 1 August 2020	35,886
	Charge for year	15,536
	Disposals	(15,193)
	As at 31 July 2021	36,229
	Net book values at 31 July 2021	34,611
	At 31 July 2020	20,575

The Brilliant Club

Report and Financial Statements 2021

Notes to the Financial Statements

12. Debtors

	2021	2020
	£	£
Trade debtors	800,906	288,124
Prepayments	82,816	108,048
Other debtors Accrued income Total	6,991 143,918 1,034,631	7,068 124,000 527,240

13. Creditors

Creditors: Amounts Falling Due Within One Year

	2021	2020
	£	£
Trade creditors	121,554	50,059
Accrued expenses	75,832	45,861
Deferred income (note 14)	212,451	915,578
Other payables	53,605	71,974
Total	463,442	1,083,472

14. Deferred Income

15. Restricted Funds

2020-21

Balance	Balance	Income	Expenditure	Balance
31 July 2020				31 July 2021
	£	£	£	£
Education Endowment Fund contract	-	1,733,815	(1,733,815)	-
Department for Education contract	-	1,547,401	(1,547,401)	-
Nesta	-	91,600	(91,600)	-
Man Group plc Charitable Trust	-	50,000	(12,500)	37,500
The Dulverton Trust	-	30,000	(30,000)	-
AKO Foundation	10,000	25,000	(35,000)	-
Kusuma Trust	-	21,000	(21,000)	-
The Taylor Family Foundation	-	20,000	(20,000)	-
Social Business Trust	7,115	18,828	(21,224)	4,719
The Portal Trust	-	18,550	(18,550)	-
The Aldgate and Allhallows Foundation	-	15,000	(15,000)	-
The Waterloo Foundation	-	15,000	(15,000)	-
Allen & Overy Foundation (Belfast)	10,000	-	(10,000)	-
The Hugh Fraser Foundation	-	8,000	(8,000)	-
Bristol Masonic Benevolent Institution	-	2,000	(2,000)	-
Lodge of Harmony 7127	-	2,000	(2,000)	-
Funding towards The Scholars Programme in Bristol	-	1,000	(1,000)	-
Total	27,115	3,599,194	(3,584,090)	42,219

	2021	2020
	£	£
Balance at 1 August	915,578	74,892
Amount released to incoming resources	(883,078)	(49,362)
Amount deferred in year	179,951	890,048
Balance as at 31 July	212,451	915,578

The deferred income includes revenue that was invoiced in the 2020/21 financial year but pertains to partnerships for the 2021/22 and 2022/23 financial year.

The Brilliant Club

67 Report and Financial Statements 2021

Notes to the Financial Statements

15. Restricted Funds (continued)

2019-20

	Balance	Income	Expenditure	Balance
	31 July 2019			31 July 2020
	£	£	£	£
Funding Towards IT Developments The Dulverton Trust	179,860 34,000	20,000 -	(199,860) (34,000)	- -
Bank of America Charitable Foundation	10,866	-	(10,866)	-
Man Group plc Charitable Trust	10,000	-	(10,000)	-
Allen & Overy Foundation (London)	5,120	-	(5,120)	-
Allen & Overy Foundation (Belfast)	3,040	20,000	(13,040)	10,000
Department for Education contract	-	2,139,756	(2,139,756)	-
AKO Foundation Social Business Trust	- -	55,000 50,019	(45,000) (42,904)	10,000 7,115
The Waterloo Foundation	-	25,000	(25,000)	-
The Drapers’ Charitable Fund	-	20,000	(20,000)	-
The Portal Trust	-	18,550	(18,550)	-
The Aldgate and Allhallows Foundation	-	15,000	(15,000)	-
Total	242,886	2,363,325	(2,579,096)	27,115

15. Restricted Funds (continued)

Education Endowment Fund: This is the National Tutoring Programme contract with the Education Endowment Fund for £1,733,815. This funding is to support the delivery of The Brilliant Tutoring Programme.

Department for Education contract: This is the contract from the Department for Education, as part of which the charity delivers the Maths and Physics Chairs Programme. The funding is broken down into two main areas: general programme costs and salary uplift. The former includes operating costs and overheads for the programme; the latter includes a series of payments that are made to The Brilliant Club and then transferred to participants via their schools.

Nesta: Nesta’s Digital Development Grant for the National Tutoring Programme Tuition Partners supported the charity to develop and scale our digital tutoring provision as part of The Brilliant Tutoring Programme.

Man Group Plc Charitable Trust: The Man Group Plc Charitable Trust supported the charity’s activities through funding towards the charity’s Research and Impact work.

The Dulverton Trust: The Dulverton Trust supported The Scholars Programme in the South West of England.

AKO Foundation: AKO Foundation supported The Scholars Programme in East Anglia and our digital delivery of The Scholars Programme.

Kusuma Trust: Kusuma Trust supported The Scholars Programme in London.

The Taylor Family Foundation: The Taylor Family Foundation supported The Scholars Programme in London.

Social Business Trust: Social Business Trust (SBT) supported The Brilliant Club as one of their chosen portfolio charities. They have provided funding to support our special projects, and secured pro-bono support from partners in their portfolio, including professional support from Bain & Company on strategy and operations.

The Portal Trust: The Portal Trust supported Uni Pathways (delivered by Researchers in Schools participants) in inner London.

The Aldgate and Allhallows Foundation: The Aldgate and Allhallows Foundation supported The Scholars Programme in primary schools in Tower Hamlets in London.

The Waterloo Foundation: The Waterloo Foundation supported The Scholars Programme in Wales.

The Brilliant Club 68

Report and Financial Statements 2021

Notes to the Financial Statements

15. Restricted Funds (continued)

Allen & Overy Foundation (Belfast): The Allen & Overy Foundation (Belfast) supported The Scholars Programme in Belfast in Northern Ireland.

The Hugh Fraser Foundation: The Hugh Fraser Foundation supported The Scholars Programme in Glasgow and the West of Scotland.

Funding towards The Scholars Programme in Bristol: This funding supported The Scholars Programme in Bristol. The funder wishes to remain anonymous.

Bristol Masonic Benevolent Institution: The Bristol Masonic Benevolent Institution supported The Scholars Programme in Bristol.

Lodge of Harmony 7127: The Lodge of Harmony 7127 supported The Scholars Programme in Bristol.

Funding Towards IT Developments: Funding supported the development of the charity’s digital dashboards and Virtual Learning Environment. The funder wishes to remain anonymous.

16. Unrestricted Funds

2020-21

	Balance	Income	Expenditure	Transfers	Balance
	31 July 2020				31 July 2021
	£	£	£	£	£
General funds Designated funds	923,523	4,145,485	(3,584,581)	-	1,484,427
Strategic Fund	-	550,000	-	-	550,000
Total designated funds	-	550,000	-	-	550,000
Total unrestricted funds	923,523	4,695,485	(3,584,581)	-	2,034,427

The designated funds represents money set aside to meet the charity’s working capital requirements as it implements its new strategy for 2021-2026. The designated funds will be used to:

Support the early work in Communities and Student Success;

Bank of America Charitable Foundation: Bank of America Charitable Foundation supported the Researchers in Schools programme in the North-West of England.

Allen & Overy Foundation (London): The Allen & Overy Foundation (London) supported The Scholars Programme in Hackney and Tower Hamlets.

The Drapers’ Charitable Fund: The Drapers’ Charitable Fund supported The Scholars Programme in Central and East London.

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The Brilliant Club 70
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Provide upfront funding to allow the charity to engage with The Brilliant Tutoring Programme;
Mitigate the cashflow risk associated with further education disruptions; and
Scale up the charity’s work with The Scholars Programme and grow our new strategic areas of work over the five-year strategy.

2019-20

	Balance	Income	Expenditure	Transfers	Balance
	31 July 2019				31 July 2020
	£	£	£	£	£
General funds	880,658	4,243,404	(4,243,755)	43,216	923,523
Designated funds					-
External evaluation	43,183	-	(43,183)	-	-
Researchers in Schools recruitment	60,000	-	(16,784)	(43,216)	-
Total designated funds	103,183	-	(59,967)	(43,216)
Total unrestricted funds	983,841	4,243,404	(4,303,722)	-	923,523

71 Report and Financial Statements 2021

Notes to the Financial Statements

17. Allocation of Net Assets Between Funds

2020-21

The funds of the charity are represented by the following net assets:

	Unrestricted funds	Designated funds	Restricted funds	Total funds
	£	£	£	£
Tangible fixed assets	34,611	-	-	34,611
Current assets	1,913,258	550,000	42,219	2,505,477
Current liabilities	(463,442)	-	-	(463,442)
Total	1,484,427	550,000	42,219	2,076,646

2019-20

	Unrestricted funds	Restricted funds	Total funds
	£	£	£
Tangible fixed assets	20,575	-	20,575
Current assets	1,986,420	27,115	2,013,535
Current liabilities	(1,083,472)	-	(1,083,472)
Total	923,523	27,115	950,638

18. Leases

a) Operating Lease

The charity had total commitments under operating leases as follows:

	2021	2020
	Property	Property
	£	£
Within one year	192,991	265,435
Between one and five years	308,060	123,470
Total	501,051	388,905

The Brilliant Club

73 Report and Financial Statements 2021

Notes to the Financial Statements

19. Related Party

Expense of £nil (2020 - £31,941) and income of £37,471 (2020 - £24,600) was made to The University of Cambridge and its departments during the year to 31 July 2021 where a Trustee, John Munns is a Director of Studies and a Trustee at Magdalene College, Cambridge, a Fellow, Tutor and Admissions Tutor at The University of Cambridge and the Director of Studies at Robinson College, Cambridge.

Income of £nil (2020 - £800) and expense of £nil (2020 - £228) was made to Challenge Partners during the year to 31 July 2021 where a Trustee, Dame Sue John was an Executive Director – Part Time and another Trustee, Josephine Valentine was the Professional Lead of Growing the Top programme.

Income of £10,140 (2020 - £3,840) was received from partner schools belonging to the Haberdasher Aske’s MAT during the year to 31 July 2021 where a Trustee Dame Sue John was a Trustee.

Income of £13,645 (2020 - £1,920) was received from Danes Educational Trust and its partner schools during the year to 31 July 2021 where a Trustee, Josephine Valentine is the CEO.

Income of £12,240 (2020 - £6,400) was received from partner schools belonging to the Middlesex Learning Trust during the year to 31 July 2021 where a Trustee, Josephine Valentine is a Trustee.

Income of £450 (2020 - £nil) was received from Oak National Academy during the year to 31 July 2021 where a Trustee, Matthew Hood was an employee.

No expense and no income amounts were outstanding at year end.

20. Reconciliation of Net Income to Net Cash Flow from Operating Activities

		2021 £	2020 £
Net income/(expenditure) for the reporting	period	1,126,008	(276,089)
(as per the statement of financial activities)
Adjustments for:
Depreciation charges Loss on disposal of tangible fixed assets		15,536 209	10,711 -
(Increase)/decrease in debtors		(507,391)	321,571
(Decrease)/increase in creditors		(620,030)	736,077
Net cash provided by operating activities		14,332	792,270
21. Analysis of Changes in Net Debt
2020-21
	At 1 August 2020	Cash Flows	At 31 July 2021
	£	£	£
Cash at bank and in hand	1,486,295	(15,449)	1,470,846
Total	1,486,295	(15,449)	1,470,846
2019-20
	At 1 August 2019	Cash Flows	At 31 July 2020
	£	£	£
Cash at bank and in hand	717,470	768,825	1,486,295
Total	717,470	768,825	1,486,295

The Brilliant Club

Report and Financial Statements 2021

Independent Auditor’s Report to the Trustees and Members of The Brilliant Club

Independent Auditor’s Report to the Trustees and Members of The Brilliant Club

We have audited the financial statements of The Brilliant Club (the ‘charitable company’) for the year ended 31 July 2021 which comprise the statement of financial activities, the balance sheet, the cash flow statement, and the notes to the financial statements including the principal accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102 ‘The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland’ (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

In our opinion, the financial statements:

give a true and fair view of the state of the charitable company’s affairs as at 31 July 2021 and of its income and expenditure for the year then ended;
have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice; and
have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006, the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and regulation 8 of the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended).

Basis for Opinion

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the charitable company in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC’s Ethical Standard, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

Conclusions Relating to Going Concern

In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the Trustees’ use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.

Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the charitable company’s ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.

Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the Trustees with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.

Other Information

The Trustees are responsible for the other information. The other information comprises the information included in the annual report, other than the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon. In connection with our audit of the financial statements, our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether there is a material misstatement in the financial statements or a material misstatement of the other information. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.

We have nothing to report in this regard.

Opinions on Other Matters Prescribed by the Companies Act 2006

In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of the audit:

the information given in the Trustees’ report, which is also the directors’ report for the purposes of company law, for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements; and
the Trustees’ report, which is also the directors’ report for the purposes of company law, has been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements.

Matters on Which We Are Required to Report by Exception

In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the charitable company and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the Trustees’ report.

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Companies Act 2006 and the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended) requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:

proper and adequate accounting records have not been kept, or returns adequate for our audit have not been received from branches not visited by us; or
the financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or
certain disclosures of Trustees’ remuneration specified by law are not made; or
we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit; or

The Brilliant Club

Report and Financial Statements 2021

Independent Auditor’s Report to the Trustees and Members of The Brilliant Club

Matters on Which We Are Required to Report by Exception (continued)

the Trustees were not entitled to prepare the financial statements in accordance with the small companies regime and take advantage of the small companies’ exemptions in preparing the Trustees’ report and from the requirement to prepare a strategic report.

Responsibilities of Trustees

As explained more fully in the Trustees’ responsibilities statement, the Trustees (who are also the directors of the charitable company for the purposes of company law) are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the trustees determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

In preparing the financial statements, the Trustees are responsible for assessing the charitable company’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the Trustees either intend to liquidate the charitable company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

Auditor’s Responsibilities for the Audit of the Financial Statements

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor’s report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.

Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud. The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud is detailed below:

Our approach to identifying and assessing the risks of material misstatement in respect of irregularities, including fraud and non-compliance with laws and regulations, was as follows:

the engagement partner ensured that the engagement team collectively had the appropriate competence, capabilities and skills to identify or recognise non-compliance with applicable laws and regulations;

Auditor’s Responsibilities for the Audit of the Financial Statements (continued)

We assessed the susceptibility of the charitable company’s financial statements to material misstatement, including obtaining an understanding of how fraud might occur, by:

making enquiries of management as to their knowledge of actual, suspected and alleged fraud; and
considering the internal controls in place to mitigate risks of fraud and non-compliance with laws and regulations.

To address the risk of fraud through management bias and override of controls we:

performed analytical procedures to identify any unusual or unexpected relationships; and
tested journal entries to identify unusual transactions; and
assessed whether the judgements and the assumptions made in determining accounting estimates for the recognition of income and the valuation of gifts in kind were indicative of potential bias.

In response to the risk of irregularities and non-compliance with laws and regulations, we designed procedures which included, but were not limited to:

reading the minutes of meetings of those charged with governance; and
enquiring of management as to actual and potential litigation and claims.

There are inherent limitations in our audit procedures described above. The more removed that laws and regulations are from financial transactions, the less likely it is that we would become aware of non-compliance. Auditing standards also limit the audit procedures required to identify non-compliance with laws and regulations to enquiry of the trustees and other management and the inspection of regulatory and legal correspondence, if any.

Material misstatements that arise due to fraud can be harder to detect than those that arise from error as they may involve deliberate concealment or collusion.

A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our auditor’s report.

we obtained an understanding of the legal and regulatory frameworks that are applicable to the charitable company and determined that the most significant frameworks which are directly relevant to specific assertions in the financial statements are those that relate to the reporting framework (Statement of Recommended Practice Accounting and Reporting by Charities preparing this accounts in accordance with the Financial reporting Standard applicable in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102), the Charities Act 2011, the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and regulation 8 of the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended), the Companies Act 2006), those legislative frameworks that relate to data protection (General Data Protection Regulation) and those in relation to safeguarding.

The Brilliant Club

Report and Financial Statements 2021

Independent Auditor’s Report to the Trustees and Members of The Brilliant Club

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Notes to The Financial Statments
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Use of Our Report

This report is made solely to the charitable company’s members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006 and to the charity’s trustees as a body, in accordance with Section 44(1)(c) of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and Regulation 10 of the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charitable company’s members those matters we are required to state to them in an auditor’s report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the charitable company and the charitable company’s members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

Catherine Biscoe (Senior Statutory Auditor)

For and on behalf of Buzzacott LLP, Statutory Auditor

130 Wood Street

London

EC2V 6DL

Date: 16th December 2021

Buzzacott LLP is eligible to act as an auditor in terms of section 1212 of the Companies Act 2006.

The Brilliant Club

83 Report and Financial Statements 2021

Reference and Administrative Details

Key Management Personnel

Reference and Administrative Details

Trustees

Chief Executive Officer

Charity Registration Number Scottish Charity Registration Number Company Registration Number Registered Office

Auditor

Banker

Dame S John (Resigned 2nd September 2020)

J B Williams

J E Turner (Resigned 8th June 2021)

J Timothy

M Hood (Resigned 14th September 2021) H N Chukwu (Appointed 9th March 2021)

C J Carter

P Dhir (Appointed 9th March 2021)

Dr J M Munns

Dr J A Valentine

F J Walding A Selage (Appointed 9th March 2021) D J Herrington (Appointed 2nd September 2020)

Anne-Marie Canning MBE

1147771 SC048774 07986971 (England and Wales) 17th Floor, Millbank Tower, 21-24 Millbank London SW1P 4QP Buzzacott LLP 130 Wood Street London, EC2V 6DL HSBC Bank 17 Gerrard Street London, W1D 6HB

Key Management Personnel

Chief Executive Officer

Chief Operating Officer

Chief Programme Officer

(Resigned 5th February 2021)

Interim Chief Operating Officer

(Appointed 1st July 2021 from Operations Director)

Chief Programmes and Communities Officer

(Appointed 15th September 2021 from National Programme Director, TSP)

Finance Director

National Programme Director, RIS

(Resigned 9th September 2021)

Research and Impact Director

National Programme Director, TSP Tech & Product Director External Affairs Director

Anne-Marie Canning MBE

Ciara Lynch

Richard Eyre

Siobhan Haire

Susie Whigham

Angel-Ann D’Souza

Kike Agunbiade

Dr Lauren Bellaera Leanne Adamson Nikki Labrum Sabrina Luisi

The Brilliant Club

Report and Financial Statements 2021

We mobilise the PhD community to support students who are less advantaged to access the most competitive universities and succeed when they get there

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Registered charity no: 1147771 (England and Wales) SC048774 (Scotland)

The Brilliant Club is a registered company limited by guarantee in England and Wales (no. 07986971)

2021-07-31-accounts

The Brilliant Club

Welcome from our Chair of Trustees

We mobilise the PhD community to support students who are less advantaged to access the most competitive universities and succeed when they get there.

Our Programmes

The Scholars Programme

Researchers in Schools

The Brilliant Tutoring Programme

Capabilities

Research and Impact

External Affairs

Operations

Technology

Diversity and Inclusion

Achievements and Performance

Reach

Our Year in Numbers

The Scholars Programme

The Brilliant Tutoring Programme

Researchers in Schools

Impact

The Scholars Programme

The Brilliant Tutoring Programme

Researchers in Schools

Future Plans

New Strategy: Join the Club

Governance

Constitution

Management

Public Benefit Statement

Pay and Remuneration of Key Management

Board of Trustees

Risk Management

Fundraising Statement

Financial Review

Income

Expenditure

Reserves Policy

Reserves Breakdown in £000’s

Statement of Trustees’ Responsibilities

Auditors

Statement of Financial Activities

Statement of Financial Activities

Balance Sheet

Cash Flow Statement

Notes to the Financial Statements

1. Accounting Policies

a) General information and basis of preparation

b) Going concern

These have included:

c) Judgements and key sources of estimation uncertainty

d) Legal status

f) Income

g) Expenditure

e) Funds accounting

h) Support costs allocation

i) Taxation

j) Tangible fixed assets

k) Debtors

l) Cash and cash equivalents

m) Creditors

n) Financial instruments

o) Leases

2A. Income from Donations and Legacies

2A. Income from Donations and Legacies (continued)

2020-21

2019-20

2B. Income from Gift in Kind

3. Income from Charitable Activities

2020-21

4. Income from Trading Activities

5. Expenditure

2020-21

2019-20

6. Support Costs

2020-21

7. Governance Costs

8. Trustees’ Remuneration and Benefits

2019-20

9. Staff Costs and Key Management Personnel