The Undergraduate Ambassadors Scheme provides an opportunity for students in their final year of the chemistry degree course at the University of Reading to choose an educational project as an alternative to practical research. The undergraduates work in schools where they can be regarded as role models and offer one way of inspiring pupils to consider studying science subjects at a higher level. Students at school level can often be more effectively influenced by people who are only slightly older than by the adults around them or famous characters from history.