How three Arsenal footballers are scoring big in school and sports online

Playing for Arsenal’s youth team, Poppy, Scarlett, and Betsy are working hard and dreaming big to achieve their goals in football. But for so many young athletes who make it into elite sports, finding a way to pursue those dreams without sacrificing everything else that’s important (including learning) can be just as difficult.

With flexible, high-quality education at King’s InterHigh, young sports starts van put everything into their athletic ambitions without worrying about falling behind in school. 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 football careers.

Poppy’s journey

Poppy has been part of the Arsenal family since she was eight years old, working her way steadily through the academy to her impressive current position in the Under 16s team. For years, managing school alongside football was just about doable, but as the demands of both her passion and her education grew, Poppy’s mum Caroline said it became “increasingly difficult” to find a balance that worked.

Now in Year 10 and working towards her IGCSEs, Poppy joined King’s InterHigh at the beginning of this academic year in September, and it couldn’t have come at a better time.

The challenges she faced

As Poppy rose through Arsenal’s ranks, the gap between her school commitments and her football life kept widening. Fridays were dedicated to training, and tournaments meant spending regular time away from school, which made catching up with missed work a constant pressure.

“School wasn’t that big of a deal when I was young,” Poppy reflects. “But when I joined the Under 16s team, I went into Year 10 and started GCSE content, so I got a lot more work.” In fact, right before moving to King’s InterHigh, Poppy spent a few days of the new year in mainstream school, having missed the beginning of the year due to football commitments. In that short time, the pile of work waiting for her was already overwhelming. “I only went in for about three days, but I already had loads of homework, we were already starting coursework, and there wasn’t an introduction or anything,” says Poppy.

Ultimately, it was an unmanageable situation. For mum Caroline, who works in a school herself, online learning hadn’t been an obvious solution. “A couple of her friends from Arsenal were already at King’s InterHigh,” explains Caroline, “but it wasn’t something we’d really entertained yet.” To her, “the whole online schooling system felt very different.”

But watching her daughter struggle not just with her workload, but with things as basic as eating during the school day, changed things for Caroline. “Over the summer, Poppy said to me that she was really quite worried about how she was going to manage and juggle it all,” says Caroline. That was the moment they decided to seriously look into making a change.

How online learning changed everything

Just a few days after that difficult return to mainstream school, Poppy started at King’s InterHigh, and the difference was immediate. “The work was so much more manageable,” she says. “I can catch up on it because I’m at home. It’s just a lot better than being in mainstream school.”

In particular, the flexibility has been a true transformation for Poppy. Since she needs to be at Arsenal from lunchtime on Fridays, Caroline contacted our team to see if there was anything we could do to fit lessons around her training. Naturally, Poppy’s timetable was rearranged straight away, so now she finishes lessons before she has to head out. “Any correspondence has been amazing,” Caroline says. “We get answers very quickly.”

That ability to shape Poppy’s education around her career makes a huge difference at times like these, especially as she has been selected for England camp (a prestigious development programme opportunity in youth football) for the third time. With King’s InterHigh, learning flexes around every trip. On season, Poppy travels to games up to four days a week, but now she can join lessons on the way to games and practice, with everything she needs accessible from the car.

The impact on Poppy’s wellbeing has been just as significant. In mainstream school, she was often awake until midnight and back up at seven the next morning. “I would be up until midnight still trying to study for tests. My sleep wasn’t the best, and that’s one of the best ways to recover from football,” explains Poppy. Now, she can structure her day properly, with plenty of sleep before her first lesson in the morning, study time during the day, training in the afternoon, and proper rest when she gets home. Caroline puts the change succinctly: “It’s all those different things that you forget are really important when you’re playing football at that level.”

A parent’s perspective

Looking ahead, Poppy has a big season coming up: this year could determine whether she progresses to Arsenal’s Under 21s, and she’s approaching it with everything she has. “Don’t give up,” she advises other young people on similar paths in sports. “Always give one hundred percent. Even if you don’t feel the greatest, give as much as you can and work hard.”

Caroline, meanwhile, has a top tip for parents supporting their children following journeys like Poppy’s: “Enjoy the world around you, because it can become all-consuming. And don’t look too far ahead. Just live in the moment as it happens and enjoy each one of those games, one step at a time.”

As for what King’s InterHigh has meant for them as a family, she’s in no doubt. The change in Poppy has been remarkable, and deeply significant given Caroline’s own career. “It was a huge change, especially working in education myself,” she says, “but I would absolutely recommend it to anybody.”

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.

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.