PUPILS from a private school in Worcester have been awarded prestigious scholarships for outstanding work in design and technology.

Robin Hearn, Jonathan Horne, Joseph Perry and Douglas Wilkie from RGS Worcester picked up Arkwright Scholarships at the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) in London.

Only 249 Arkwright Scholarships were awarded across the UK this year, following applications from 770 pupils.

Scholars are selected following a rigorous selection process comprising an application, Arkwright aptitude paper and an interview.

During the interview, pupils 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 awards ceremony at their base in Savoy Place, London.

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 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 years by awarding £250 a year to assist with the purchase of materials and books. Each pupil will also carry the status of ‘Arkwright Scholar’ into university.

The school’s design and technology department also receives £200 per year for the next two years.

“This is the third year the 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,” said David Cotterill, head of design and 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 and technology department currently standing as number one in the Midlands and third in the UK.”

The four winning pupils are 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 among pupils in the school and careers in design or engineering,”

added Mr Cotterill.