Private School News

RGS Worcester Number 1 in the Midlands

At a ceremony held at the Institution of Engineering & Technology, Savoy Place London, on 30th October 2009, Robin Hearn, Jonathan Horne, Joseph Perry and Douglas Wilkie from RGS Worcester were awarded prestigious Arkwright Scholarships for their outstanding work in design & technology.

Robin Hearn’s Scholarship is sponsored by The Happold Trust, Jonathan Horne’s is sponsored by The Worshipful Company of Salters, with The Industrial Careers Foundation sponsoring Joseph Perry’s Scholarship and The Royal Aeronautical Society sponsoring Douglas Wilkie’s Scholarship.

Only 249 Arkwright Scholarships were awarded across the UK this year, following applications from 770 students.
Scholars are selected following a rigorous selection process comprising an application, Arkwright Aptitude Paper and interview. During the interview students presented their GCSE project work to a panel of interviewers and discussed their commitment to design, engineering and technology. Interviews are hosted across the country by universities. Interviewees participate in a team activity and tour the engineering/design departments.
The Institution of Engineering and Technology hosted the Presentation of Awards at their prestigious building in Savoy Place, London for the 9th year.
Agnes Segal, Membership Services Manager for the IET said,
“It is a great privilege for the IET to welcome these talented young people to our London home. We hope that they will go on to become the leading scientific and engineering minds who will work with engineers around the globe to solve the pressing problems facing the world today.”

The Arkwright Trust was founded in 1990 and supports young people during their ‘A’ Level/Scottish Higher years by awarding £250 a year to assist with the purchase of materials and books. Each student will also carry the status of ‘Arkwright Scholar’ into university. The school’s design & technology department receives £200 per year for the next two years.
“This is the third year that RGS has managed to get four students through the rigorous assessment procedure. From the statistics it can be seen how difficult it is for a school to obtain more than one scholarship. Four is an exceptional achievement,” commented a delighted David Cotterill, Head of Design & Technology at RGS Worcester.
“As a school we have now received 28 Arkwright Scholarships over the past 11 years, a feat that sees our Design & Technology Department currently stand as number one in the Midlands and third in the UK.”

The four winning pupils are now going on to enter the Green Power Competition to build an electric vehicle.
“It’s a great initiative on the part of the scholars and I hope it will help to create further interest amongst pupils in the school and careers in design or engineering,” added Mr Cotterill.

Photo of scholars. Left to right.
Jonathan Horne, Joseph Perry, Robin Hearn and Douglas Wilkie