How three young footballers are scoring big in school and sports alike

Playing for Arsenal and Southampton’s youth teams, Scarlett, Rae, and Betsy are working hard to achieve their football goals. It’s not an easy pathway, but thanks to King’s InterHigh, they can give those dreams their all without worrying about their education.

We talked to all three students and their families to find out how studying online has been a gamechanger for their daily lives and their sporting ambitions.

Scarlett’s journey

At just 14 years old, fresh off signing her new contract with the women’s under-16 team at Arsenal, Scarlett is already living the busy life of a professional athlete. Accepted to Arsenal at the age of just nine, she’s spent the last five years climbing through the academy ranks alongside attending school.

With sister Lillia balancing her own demanding schedule as an award-winning actress, life has always been incredibly packed for the family. Between hours-long training commutes, meeting up with friends miles away, and tournaments announced just weeks in advance, Scarlett and her family needed an education that could travel flexibly with her football ambitions rather than keeping her anchored to a classroom.

The challenges she faced

Looking back on her time at mainstream school, it’s no surprise that Scarlett describes those years as “quite challenging because of the tight schedule.” On top of that, moving from classroom to classroom throughout the school all day after long hours of training the evening before was “pretty tiring.”

Given the rush between all of her commitments, Scarlett often found herself struggling to retain what she was learning in lessons. Plus, outside the classroom, there was the social disconnect that came with pursuing a big goal at a young age. “When my friends were going out after school, I was at football,” says Scarlett. “It was a very different lifestyle.”

For the young footballer, the pressure of managing what Scarlett’s mum, Amanda, describes as “basically two full-time jobs” was taking its toll.

How online learning changed everything

That’s why King’s InterHigh has been such a remarkable change for Scarlett’s schedule since she joined us a few months into the school year. “The biggest differences have been more time and more energy,” she says, fitting live lessons and recorded classes around her morning and evening trainings. When she needs to travel abroad, there’s no need to ask for time off school: she simply packs up her laptop with her Arsenal kit.

Scarlett’s also noticed how much better she can absorb what she’s learning now, especially with the added benefit of lesson recordings. “At mainstream school, I struggled quite a bit to get the information to stay in my head,” she explains, “whereas at King’s InterHigh, I can take my time.”

She makes great use of one-to-one emails and lesson chats with her King’s InterHigh teachers, who she says are “really lovely.” Thanks to their encouraging approach, she’s shed any demotivation and feels genuinely supported to keep pushing forward academically.

And, beyond teacher support, Scarlett has already made great friends with some of her online classmates, who she chats with online.

A parent’s perspective

Amanda sums up the reality of getting home at 11:00 pm, waking up at 6:00 am, and balancing school with training poignantly: “We wouldn’t be able to do that as adults.” As a parent, she could see how unsustainable the pressure was for both her daughters, and she knew the family needed a solution.

“Finding King’s InterHigh was a relief,” she explains, “because it meant that I could get them away from that situation at mainstream school.” Now, the newfound flexibility of online learning has restored balance for the whole family.

Looking ahead, Scarlett has her sights set on becoming a first-team player at Arsenal, though she won’t rule out the possibility of playing abroad one day too. Until then, no matter where she goes, her education goes with her.

Rae’s journey

Before she started learning online, 15-year-old Southampton under-16s player Rae was caught in a very tiring cycle that made balancing education and football tricky. Since she was scouted by Arsenal at age 11, running home from school to make training, eating dinner in the car, and squeezing homework into early mornings have all been part of Rae’s norm. Despite her academic skills and her genuine passion for learning, it’s no surprise that school became an added layer of exhaustion.

Now, just one month after joining King’s InterHigh, Rae’s wellbeing has improved so much that even family friends can see how much happier she is.

The challenges she faced

At mainstream school, like many athletes, Rae barely had enough hours in the day to balance her life. With three hours of training in the evenings, plus an hour’s travel each way, she often wouldn’t arrive home for the day until late at night. “It was exhausting,” says Rae, recalling how she’d still have to get up at 7:00am the next morning for school.

“I’d be so tired during the day,” she explains, “I wouldn’t even be able to focus at school because I had so much going on.” On top of that, she still had to fit homework and revision into the few gaps she had — like early mornings before school, or rare days without training.

Plus, there was the added stress of getting time off school for tournaments, particularly back when she played international matches as a team captain at Arsenal. While her teachers were always supportive of her dreams, Rae still faced the pressure of catching up with missed lessons when she got home.

How online learning changed everything

Thankfully, Rae and her family discovered King’s InterHigh through a friend on the Arsenal team. “Being at King’s InterHigh has been a lot easier,” she says, “because I’ve got that time back now.” These days, it’s easy to fit her lessons around her football life. Whether she’s training, competing, or travelling the country with Southampton, she can finally give school her all without sacrificing her goals.

Rae also says that King’s InterHigh’s approach to learning works even better for her. “I like the way the teachers teach,” she notes, adding that she can also focus better and absorb more information in her online classes. Her mum, Keri, has noticed the difference too, and even recently caught Rae making study notes at 9:00pm — something she’d never have done during her mainstream school days.

A parent’s perspective

Like many parents who are new to the idea of a fully online school, Rae’s parents wanted to make sure they were making the best decision for their daughter. So, Keri turned to an interesting place for advice: Rae’s mainstream school itself. When she invited the Head of Year to discuss King’s InterHigh without revealing why, “he just looked at Rae and said, ‘What an opportunity!’”

Any initial worries are long since gone. Rae has her own workspace, so there’s no conflict with her parents’ work-from-home productivity, and Keri’s reservations about socialisation have proved unfounded. Not only does Rae have plenty of time to socialise with friends in and out of football, “the way the classes are run, everyone chats,” Keri explains. “Everyone’s introduced to each other, and you can take that however far you want to.”

“From my perspective, it’s absolutely blown me away,” she says. Of course, what’s most significant to Rae’s mum is just how much happier she is now she’s learning online. “That has been commented by several friends who’ve come round,” says Keri. “They say, ‘Oh my god, she’s a different child. She’s chatty. She’s engaging.’”

Right now, Rae is working on her GCSEs and hoping for a spot on the England team, but she has her options open for the future. She’d love to join Southampton’s under-21s team next or return to playing for Arsenal. Alternatively, she’s also exploring the idea of sports scholarships in Australia or the USA — or even studying sports psychology, now she knows she can balance her passions for education and football together. “She genuinely loves learning,” says Rae’s mum, “and now she doesn’t feel that pressure. She’s just a happier child.”

Betsy’s journey

Since Betsy was young, football has run through every corner of her family life. Growing up in a house of sporty siblings, she was first discovered at just five years old while on the sidelines at her older sister’s Chelsea training sessions. Her older brother played for Fulham at the time, so the family’s dynamic revolved around sporting commitments. Thinking back to those early years, dad Daron says, “It was like a merry-go-round, to be honest.”

Now 14 and thriving at Arsenal, Betsy needed an education that could work around her own personal ambitions to succeed as a footballer.

The challenges she faced

Back in traditional education, the structure of the school day created constant friction. Finishing lessons at 3:30pm meant a frantic rush to reach training on time, with a 90-minute commute each way. By the time she returned home, she’d need to wash up, eat, and attempt homework before collapsing into bed — only to repeat the cycle the next day.

With Arsenal training three times weekly (including Friday afternoon sessions and Saturday matches), the scheduling conflicts were constant. Things only became more difficult with events like multi-day tournaments and international trips, which meant regular days off school. Unsurprisingly, the rigid timetables simply weren’t flexible enough for the unpredictable nature of a football career.

On top of the academic side, the social cost was mounting for Betsy too. The more she dedicated herself to football, the more she found herself missing parties and social events with school friends. Such a demanding schedule left little room for the typical teenage experiences many of her classmates took for granted.

How online learning changed everything

Then, Betsy’s family discovered King’s InterHigh through none other than Scarlett and her parents. Like many of her fellow footballers at King’s InterHigh, Betsy says the main difference with online learning has been “more energy.” In the past, rushing from school to training was tiring. “Now,” she explains, “in between lessons, I can go to the gym or go to football one-to-ones. Mentally, it’s helped a lot.”

When she’s not training or competing, Betsy can attend her lessons live, just as she would do at a traditional school. When she’s busy and football takes priority, she can easily catch up with class recordings later. That same flexibility has been great for Betsy socially too. With more control over her schedule, there’s more time to join in activities with friends that she’d ordinarily have missed out on.

A parent’s perspective

For Daron, King’s InterHigh has been a transformation beyond education alone. “The biggest impact has been on Betsy as a person — her tiredness and fatigue,” he says. “The schedule can take its toll, so I think she’s become more confident and energetic now.”

Going forward, Betsy has set her sights on Arsenal’s first team and the England women’s team, and she’s building towards her big goals with energy and focus. “You need to have goals,” she explains, “and you need to believe that you can do it.”

Betsy’s dad, meanwhile, encourages other parents to “support your child as much as you can” in those ambitions. For many families, that may mean switching to online school for a better learning fit.