Three Sheffield sixth-form students awarded prestigious engineering scholarships

The trio from King Ecgbert School, in Dore, joined over 400 of the country’s most talented students as they received an Arkwright Engineering Scholarship from one of the UK’s leading engineering programmes.

Freya Miller, Matthew Giles and Fred Dally, who are all in Year 12, each undertook a rigorous, year-long application process, to gain their scholarships which are designed to seek out and nurture the skills of future leaders of the engineering sector.

After learning they had been successful, they were then invited to receive their accolade at ceremonies held at the Institute of Engineering and Technology in London and the International Conference Centre in Edinburgh.

Sarah Hale, Head of Chemistry at King Ecgbert School, who guided the students through their application said: “We are incredibly proud of Freya, Matthew and Fred. This has been a tough, fiercely competitive process, they are now at the start of what we hope will be a successful career in engineering.”

The Arkwright Engineering Scholarships programme is the most prestigious scholarship scheme of its type in the UK, with over 5,500 scholarships having been awarded to date.

It is run by the Smallpiece Trust, a national Science Technology Engineering and Maths education charity which has been providing scholarships to students since 1991.

Scholars are selected for their potential as future engineering leaders based on their academic, practical and leadership skills in engineering disciplines.

These are gauged through a process comprising of an assessed application form including a teacher’s reference; a two-hour, problem-solving aptitude exam; and a university-based interview.

The pupils will receive financial and mentoring support, including a £600 personal financial award and a £400 school financial award through their sixth form studies.

They will also be given the opportunity to access a range of enrichment experiences such as industry conferences, Connect Days, residential courses and university VIP days in the hope of encouraging them to go onto study at top universities or take up higher apprenticeships.