How to Win a Scholarship

Bramante staircase, Vatican Museum

1. State school kids have ten more hours free a week than prep school kids. What are you going to do with that time?

2. Music, drama, art, sports – all fine things that I am terrible at because I never spent much time on them when I was young. Music and poetry are related (the Latin word carmen means both ‘song’ and ‘poem’). Drama is basically a practical application of English Literature. Art: if you want to make your own paintings, you should look at what great artists have done before you. And reading a poem is like reading a painting: both are about capturing a single moment in time; whereas a novel is like a movie: both depict a series of interconnected moments that together make a story. Sports are great for developing both self-reliance and the ability to rely on others. But if you want to win one of these scholarships, all that matters is academics. Slim down your extra-curricular activities to the one or two things you really love.

3. Look at lots of schools – you can probably take more than one exam if you get the timings right. Looking at the exam papers – which are absolutely terrifying to start with, and intimidating even with a year or two of practice – will let you know which ones you could potentially do better at. 

4. If you’re in London there are loads to choose from. If you’re outside London, and you’re willing to consider boarding, there are loads to choose from.

5. Buy the Guide to Independent Schools. They also have an excellent website.

6. Start early.

7. The student, and his or her motivation, is the key factor. You can’t organise or micromanage or coerce someone into wanting this. You can gently demonstrate the benefits of this education (how? Show them (Harrow) Cumberbatch’s Sherlock and (Eton) Hiddleston’s Loki. read them Harry Potter. Take them round some Oxford or Cambridge colleges in the school holidays) but if there’s no hard, gemlike flame within them that burns for these things, you should consider whether you’re really doing this for them, or for you. The disappointment of missing out, after working hard on something for a year or two, is crushing, and much likelier than an ecstatic success.

8. Having said that, it’s worth doing anyway. Even if you fail, you’ll learn from that failure. And once you’ve shaken off that disappointment, you’ll find you have new skills and knowledge and, just as importantly, a much bigger frame for your future ambitions, and the places those ambitions can take you.