Academic Scholarships

The School is looking for exceptionally able and motivated candidates who are academically gifted, dedicated to their studies and will seek to take full advantage of opportunities to extend their learning beyond the core syllabus.

In return, we offer the teaching and guidance of staff that have a wealth of experience in nurturing gifted pupils to fulfil their academic potential. The Head of Academic Scholars will mentor scholars through a termly meeting to review progress and discuss personal goals. Scholarship pupils will receive subject-specific extension opportunities, access to national and international academic competitions for individuals and teams with specialist preparation, invitations to external and in-house academic lectures and seminars.

All Academic Scholars are expected to:

• Ensure that they maintain the highest standards of effort in their academic studies.
• Apply commitment, reliability and enthusiasm to extension opportunities.
• Support the school at academic events as requested.

Scholarship Selection

Due to the nature of assessment and awards, there is no longer an application process for Academic Scholarships. A small number of the very highest achieving pupils in our entrance examinations will be awarded Academic Scholarships on entry to the School. Pupils will be awarded academic and/or co-curricular scholarships based on ongoing assessment of their commitment and potential by our Heads of Department and Co-curricular leaders. Assessment will recognise and reflect their engagement with senior school study, and with an exciting and flexible programme of enhanced academic and co-curricular enrichment. For pupils in Year 7 (1st Year), and rolling up annually from 2023, a scholarship evaluation and awards process (academic and co-curricular) will take place every year towards the end of the Spring Term. Awards will be communicated to parents at the end of Spring Term.

Because scholarships reflect each pupil’s personal engagement with the opportunities on offer at school, and because every child develops differently in their talents and interests as an individual, scholarship status will be reviewed annually.

Scholarship awards may well end up being retained for the whole of a pupil’s time at the School. Likewise, scholarship status may cease by pupil choice as their interests evolve away from a previously awarded scholarship talent, or be removed by the School should a pupil not be engaging with the opportunities and enrichment programmes associated with scholarship status. In all instances, the determining factor for achieving and retaining scholarship status will be a review of the pupil’s relevant achievements and their level of ongoing engagement with our enhanced enrichment and scholarship programmes.

Our hope and expectation, therefore, is that pupils see scholarship status as a mark of their success and commitment in areas of current passion and interest, rather than as a permanent obligation to an activity that they excelled at aged 11. Our Heads of Department and Co-curricular leaders will actively seek to encourage and nurture talent and commitment to support individual excellence at Truro School.