Meliorando se ipsum, alios, et mundum
Bettering oneself, the others, and the world
A boutique academic society in London — offering in-person and online courses,
enrichment programmes, and educational consulting for scholars and leaders of tomorrow.
Scholar & Gown is a boutique education company in London, offering in-person and online academic courses, enrichment programmes, and educational consulting.
Scholar & Gown was envisioned in early 2013 at Oxford University as an elite academic society — its name reminiscent of the traditional pubs at Oxford, Cambridge, and London which became literary hubs and intellectual hotspots, such as The Eagle and Child in Oxford, frequented by C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, and The Lamb and Flag in London, a favourite of Charles Dickens. The abbreviation S&G was envisioned to bring to mind the word sage, a wise scholar (from the Latin sapere).
The initial idea came to two Oxford students at St Giles's Memorial Garden, right between those two iconic pubs. Black academic gowns are traditionally worn at both Oxford and Cambridge, emphasising the famous town vs. gown rivalry. The founders united this symbolically: Scholar representing a sage of any affiliation, and Gown the official academic world. Their core belief is that education and knowledge should be wide-reaching, democratic, and available to anyone curious and diligent.
In its nature, Scholar & Gown is more of a secret society than a company, more an intellectual community than a business, more a School than a course. Built on virtue and values, it insists on deeply human, humanistic, and humane principles. Its inspiration stems from The School of Athens fresco by Raphael, from Oxford and Cambridge's student societies, from the excitement of genuine intellectual flow, and from the firm belief that humans have the responsibility to become better — and to better the world.
There are many tutoring companies on the market. We are the only educational company consciously founded on three unique principles.
We utilise the classical academic model dating back to the dawn of organised education — where our student, our Fellow, is treated as a peer, a true scholar, and a future leader. We view our students as a continuation of the great teacher-student pipeline: Aspasia — Socrates — Plato — Aristotle — Alexander the Great. In a world where the majority outsources its thinking to machines, critical reasoning is a competitive advantage. Leaders of tomorrow think independently, and Scholar & Gown is on a mission to teach, nurture, and advance human reasoning.
Scientifically proven, effective education is face-to-face education. The Scholar & Gown approach is firmly unique, tailored, and personal. We utilise peer-reviewed and evidence-based approaches to teaching, the science of social learning, and the overall superiority of direct human instruction. With all the materials, systems, and AI available at one's fingertips, nothing comes close — neurologically speaking — to learning from a dedicated tutor, 1-on-1. This principle is deeply rooted in biology and neuroscience, with our tutors conscious of brain rewiring, neural pathways, and neuroplasticity.
The third principle is transdisciplinary, future-proof scholarship — in which education transcends subjects and disciplines, and explores themes and topics. We utilise not only the depth of research on a chosen topic, but the full picture of human knowledge: past, future, cultural, economic, social, scientific, and practical. It is akin to the Finnish approach to institutional learning, and transcends both traditional super-tutoring and traditional online teaching. Scholar & Gown treats students as Fellows: complex, competitive, competent, and most importantly, unique scholars and individuals.
Twenty-eight distinct programmes — academic research, incubators, clubs, workshops, skill-building, and CV-boosting — each designed to produce a real, tangible output. Use the finder below to narrow these down to the two or three that actually fit you. Taught exclusively by Oxbridge and Ivy League graduates. Acceptance subject to faculty decision.
Meliorando se ipsum, alios, et mundum
Bettering oneself, the others, and the world
Testimonials collected on a rolling basis from programme graduates.
"The programme was life-altering. I came in a student and left a scholar. Nothing in my school education came close to the standard of intellectual challenge I was held to here."
"Illuminating. There is no other word for it. The way my tutor engaged with my ideas — as a genuine intellectual peer — transformed the way I think about my subject."
"I launched an initiative that is still running. I published work I am proud of. I got into my first-choice university. Scholar & Gown was the turning point in all three."
Every member of our faculty holds a degree from Oxford or Cambridge, has taught within the Oxbridge system, and brings genuine insider knowledge of what admissions tutors expect.
Scholar & Gown faculty are not tutors in the conventional sense. They are researchers, fellows, and educators who have lived inside the academic systems they teach — holding DPhil, MSc, and doctoral degrees from Oxford, Cambridge, and leading European universities, and publishing original research presented at international conferences from Edinburgh to St Louis.
Our faculty bring genuine cross-disciplinary depth: expertise spanning experimental psychology, cognitive science, economics, behavioural economics, social science, and organisational psychology, complemented by fluency in quantitative research methods, data analysis, and qualitative scholarship. They have lectured at Oxford and Stanford, led programmes in India, Peru, and across Europe, and contributed to research collaborations with Oxford’s Wellbeing Research Centre.
Beyond the academy, Scholar & Gown educators bring real-world experience in consulting, learning and development, and leadership training — with work spanning international organisations, technology companies, and educational institutions across three continents. Several hold competitive scholarships awarded by their universities, and have delivered talks at Oxford colleges, European research institutes, and international academic conferences.
What unites them is a commitment to the Scholar & Gown model: treating every student as a Fellow, engaging with genuine intellectual curiosity, and holding the standard of teaching to the same level of rigour they bring to their research. They are not here to transmit information. They are here to transform thinking.
Few academics inhabit the intersection of architecture and neuroscience as completely as this member of our faculty. Currently completing a doctorate at Cambridge University's Jesus College, she holds a Master in Film Aesthetics from Magdalen College, Oxford, a Master in Neuroscience from King's College London, and two Masters in Cognitive Science from the universities of Vienna and Ljubljana — alongside a professional architecture degree and licensure equivalent to RIBA II.
Her academic career spans Oxford, Cambridge, and Stanford. She was Undergraduate Lecturer in Aesthetics and Philosophy at Oxford's Faculty of Medieval and Modern Languages, Director of Strategy at the Centre for Theoretical Neuroscience and Artificial Intelligence within Oxford's Experimental Psychology Department, and Graduate Lecturer at Cambridge. She founded the Oxford School of Architecture — the only architecture programme at the University of Oxford — delivered at Pembroke, Corpus Christi, and St Antony's College, and led the Wellbeing in Gaming Initiative in collaboration with Oxford's Wellbeing Research Centre.
Her research sits at the frontier of neuroaesthetics and neuroformology — the study of how the brain responds to built form and aesthetic experience. She has presented at UCL, the Bartlett School of Architecture, Somerville College Oxford, and international conferences from Vienna to Liverpool, and has exhibited as a visual artist and contributed to the Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford, as Researcher and Assistant Curator of Modern Art. She is also a two-time National Champion in ultramarathon running.
At Scholar & Gown she teaches across architecture, creative arts, neuroscience, design, and the emerging disciplines at their intersection — including portfolio development, creative thinking, and the application of scientific frameworks to aesthetic and spatial questions.
Places are limited and acceptance is subject to faculty decision. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis — secure your place before the next intake closes.
Scholar & Gown is an independent education provider and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by, or connected to the University of Oxford or the University of Cambridge in any way. References to Oxford and Cambridge on this website are purely descriptive of the universities our courses prepare students to apply to, and of the universities attended by members of our faculty. Oxford and Cambridge are registered trademarks of their respective universities.