Huge congratulations are in order for Jaya Sekhon in Year 12 who has been awarded a prestigious Arkwright Engineering Scholarship.

An Arkwright Engineering Scholarship is an incredibly prestigious UK scholarship designed to inspire and nurture the country’s future leaders of the engineering profession, so a wonderful achievement and especially so as girls still remain under-represented in STEM subjects and traditionally male dominated careers.

The Scholarships are awarded to high-calibre students through a rigorous selection process comprising: an assessed application form including a teacher’s reference; a two-hour, problem-solving aptitude exam; and a university-based interview. The Scholarships support students through their Sixth Form studies and encourage them into top universities or higher apprenticeships. Every Scholarship is sponsored by a commercial company, trade association, university, professional institution, armed service, government organisation, worshipful company, charitable trust or personal donor, and Jaya has been sponsored by GCHQ – which is amazing!

We are very proud of Jaya who wins a financial prize for herself, and one for the school, but more than that will be given the opportunity to take part in enrichment activities and experience engineering in a real-world context. Well done Jaya!