Let’s Pitch It!

Case Studies

A group of year 9 learners from The Pingle Academy in South Derbyshire have pitched their way to victory in a national competition run by Gogglebox’s Baasit Siddiqui, TV personality and educational entrepreneur.

The competition formed the finale of a project run by Siddiqui Education, which encourages young people to harness their creative talents and pitch an idea for a TV show to studio executives from Googlebox. Participants plan, present and create a two-minute promotional advert for their concept, hoping to be shortlisted so they can win a variety of prizes for their school and themselves. Lyddia, Lia and Lauren (year 9) from

The Pingle Academy wowed Gogglebox producer Tania Alexander with their ‘Fright Night’ production, a tense teaser starring themselves, their friends and their teachers – and even a cameo from school dog, Winston!

Baasit Siddiqui has ten years of teaching experience and his company, Siddiqui Education, works to support schools, alternative education providers and community programmes to advise and motivate children of all ages with their personal aspirations, career choices and future goals. In response to the win, Baasit said:

“The winners of my “Let’s Pitch It” competition were truly deserving. You could see how much hard work, teamwork and creativity had gone in to the making of the two-minute video. This was complimented by a well-detailed and professional plan and presentation. I am so pleased for the girls from Pingle Academy who have won some great prizes for their school and themselves. The icing on the cake is that they will now get to go to London to meet Tania Alexander, the creator of Gogglebox who was truly amazed by the girls winning entry. A massive well done.”

The “triple L” team have won an amazing array of prizes for themselves and the academy, and travelled to London with Baasit to meet the creator of Gogglebox on November 19th.

Messages of support have been flooding in on social media, with the team behind @TTSResources commenting on Twitter:

“Our social media team have just watched the video and they think it’s incredible.  Some of us have degrees in media and the girls certainly have bright futures if they can achieve this in Year 9!”

DANCOP will be collaborating again with Siddiqui Education until July 2021, giving other local young people the opportunity to explore this exciting field and develop their skills and aspirations. Schools and colleges that work with DANCOP in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire are welcome to apply to be a part of the programme, and can do so by emailing dancop@derby.ac.uk

For more information about Siddiqui Education, please visit: https://siddiqui-education.co.uk/

You can see the winning film here