Alina Khan, Forest Gate Community School

At Forest Gate Community School, we believe that high attainment and high aspiration should never be limited by background. For many of our students, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds, access to elite educational pathways can feel distant or inaccessible. Yet, with the right guidance, challenge and encouragement, students can flourish in spaces they may never previously have imagined themselves occupying.

Our Prestigious Colleges Programme was designed with this belief at its heart. Working primarily with our most able students in Years 9 and 10, particularly those eligible for Pupil Premium, the programme prepares students to apply for competitive bursaries and funded places at some of the country’s leading independent schools.

Over recent years, our students have secured offers from institutions including Westminster School, City of London School, Bancroft’s School and Forest School.

However, the programme is about much more than applications and offers. It is about creating a culture where intellectual curiosity, ambition and confidence are actively nurtured.

Creating a culture of aspiration

One of the greatest barriers faced by disadvantaged high attainers is not necessarily academic ability, but access to social and cultural capital. Research by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) has consistently highlighted the importance of aspiration, enrichment and academic challenge for disadvantaged pupils, particularly when these approaches are sustained and carefully structured. The Sutton Trust has similarly argued that highly able disadvantaged students are often underrepresented in elite educational pathways despite having the academic potential to succeed.

Many of our students are the first in their families to consider pathways into highly selective educational environments. Because of this, we recognise that aspiration must be deliberately cultivated.

Our Prestigious Colleges Programme begins with conversations. We introduce students to opportunities they may never have encountered before and ensure they understand that these pathways are genuinely within reach. We speak openly about scholarships, bursaries and selective admissions processes, demystifying systems that can often appear intimidating.

Importantly, students are surrounded by peers with similar ambitions. This creates a powerful culture of academic ambition where challenge becomes normalised rather than exceptional.

Stretch and challenge beyond the classroom

Central to the programme is our commitment to providing sustained academic stretch.

Each week, students participate in a current affairs club where they discuss national and global issues, debate contemporary topics and develop the confidence to articulate sophisticated viewpoints. These sessions encourage students to think critically, listen carefully and engage with perspectives beyond their immediate experiences.

The impact of these discussions is significant. Students become more articulate, more reflective and increasingly confident when speaking in unfamiliar or high-pressure situations.

Alongside this, students attend specialist morning lectures designed and delivered by subject leaders across the school. These sessions deliberately move beyond the standard curriculum, exposing students to complex ideas, disciplinary thinking and academic scholarship.

A history lecture might explore interpretations of empire and historical memory. A science session may introduce students to concepts typically encountered at A Level or beyond. English lectures encourage engagement with challenging texts and sophisticated critical perspectives.

This approach reflects evidence-informed practice around cognitive challenge and high expectations. Research surrounding ‘powerful knowledge’ and curriculum challenge suggests that students benefit significantly when they are exposed to disciplinary thinking and intellectually demanding content beyond minimum curriculum expectations. The Sutton Trust has repeatedly emphasised that disadvantaged students particularly benefit from academically demanding enrichment opportunities which broaden knowledge, confidence and cultural awareness.

Building confidence through preparation

Academic excellence alone is rarely enough in competitive scholarship processes. Students must also learn how to present themselves with confidence, resilience and authenticity.

For many students, interviews can feel especially daunting. They may never previously have encountered formal interview settings or experienced formal/professional styles of questions.

To address this, we run a series of mock interviews that replicate the experience students are likely to encounter during selective school assessments.

Staff deliberately ask probing questions designed to stretch students intellectually while helping them develop composure under pressure. Students learn how to articulate ideas clearly, reflect thoughtfully and speak confidently about their interests and achievements.

What is often most striking is the transformation in students’ self-belief.

Students who initially speak quietly and cautiously begin to communicate with confidence and authority. They start to recognise that their ideas matter and that they belong in academically selective spaces. This aligns closely with research into self-efficacy and belonging, which suggests that students’ beliefs about their own capabilities can significantly influence academic outcomes and aspirations.

This confidence frequently transfers back into the classroom. Students become more willing to contribute, take risks and engage deeply with challenging material.

The wider impact on school culture

Although the Prestigious Colleges Programme focuses on a specific cohort, its influence extends much further across the school community.

Younger students begin to see prestigious pathways as attainable. Families become increasingly aware of opportunities available to their children. Staff conversations around stretch and challenge become sharper and more ambitious.

Most importantly, the programme reinforces a key message: disadvantages should never determine educational ceilings.

Lessons we have learned

For schools considering similar programmes, several principles have been particularly important for us:

• Start early. Aspirations and confidence take time to develop.
  
• Prioritise cultural capital alongside academic attainment.
  
• Create opportunities for purposeful discussion and debate.
  
• Provide explicit preparation for interviews and selective processes.
  
• Maintain consistently high expectations.
  
• Celebrate intellectual curiosity publicly and proudly.
  

Perhaps most importantly, students need adults who genuinely believe they can succeed.

When schools combine ambition with structured support, remarkable things can happen.

Final reflections

The success of our students in securing offers from highly selective independent schools is something we are enormously proud of. Yet the true success of the Prestigious Colleges Programme lies in something deeper.

It lies in students seeing themselves differently.

It lies in students recognising that their background does not limit their potential.

And it lies in creating a school culture where excellence, scholarship and aspiration are accessible to all.

For our students, this programme doesn’t just open doors, it changes what they believe they can do.

References and further reading

• Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. New York: Freeman.
  
• Education Endowment Foundation (2021). Teaching and Learning Toolkit. Available at: https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/education-evidence/teaching-learning-toolkit
  
• Myatt, M. (2020). High Challenge, Low Threat. Woodbridge: John Catt Educational.
  
• The Sutton Trust (2018). Potential for Success: Fulfilling the promise of highly able disadvantaged students. London: The Sutton Trust.
  
• The Sutton Trust (2021). Elitist Britain 2021. London: The Sutton Trust.
  
• Young, M. (2007). Bringing Knowledge Back In: From Social Constructivism to Social Realism in the Sociology of Education. London: Routledge.
• Young, M. (2013). Overcoming the crisis in curriculum theory: A knowledge-based approach. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 45(2), 101–118.

About the author

Alina Khan is the Deputy MAS Lead at Forest Gate Community School, where she leads and supports provision for high attaining students. The school’s work focuses on widening access to academically ambitious opportunities and ensuring that disadvantaged students are empowered to thrive in highly selective educational environments.

Forest Gate Community School has been accredited with the NACE Challenge Award since 2016. Its Prestigious Scholars Programme is featured as a case study in NACE’s publication, Removing Barriers to Opportunity and Achievement. 

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