Helping gifted and talented students reach their full potential, the Sirius Group is unique to York College and is set up especially for students who are considering applying for prestigious courses, such as medicine or law, or universities such as Oxford, Cambridge or other Russell Group institutions.

Its aims are:

• To develop a broader background for students, e.g. through introducing them to a range of cultural opportunities and philosophical concepts.
• To develop more confident presentational skills, in formal and informal contexts.
• To help students become better at thinking on their feet, e.g. through debate and discussion.
• To create a stimulating and challenging intellectual peer group.

This is not simply about preparing students directlly for the selection processes employed by top level universities and courses. It is intended to develop students' higher level skills in a way that makes them genuinely better candidates for their chosen courses, and to develop an intellectual breadth through a broad range of activities.

The Sirius Group requires commitment from students who sign up to it. Students will attend one session a week, they will put in work outside the sessions (e.g. reading, which is reported back to the group), and also participate in discussion and debate.

Students can enrol to the group through the college's
Xtra-Curricular programme, the Sirius Group goes very well alongside the Extended Project Qualification.