We recognise that Scholars will differ in their interests and abilities. Some might excel in STEM and others in the Liberal Arts.
Others might be fortunate enough to achieve excellence across the board. Therefore, whilst general academic ability and strong performance in examinations are important considerations in our scholarship selection process, it is equally important that potential Scholars have intellectual interests that go beyond their school curriculum.
The Scholarship Programme
Lecture Programme
Scholars in each year meet as a group several times every term for a lecture or seminar led by a teacher on a topic that is not encountered in the regular syllabus. Previous topics have included vaccine trials, jurisprudence, oncology, Proto-Indo-European languages, Pre-Socratic Philosophy, number theory, the differences between Anglo-American and European liberalism, and so on.
Scholarship Projects
Each year, Scholars will work on a project, either individually or in groups. These might be projects designed and run by teachers at Merchant Taylors’ or national competitions. Examples in recent years include designing a space station, submissions to the Earth Prize Competition, an investigation into antibiotics using the ecosystem of the Taylors’ campus, and addressing the economic challenges facing the UK through participation in the FT’s Young Economist of the Year competition.
National Academic Competitions and Prizes
All pupils at Taylors’ are encouraged to enter national academic competitions. The School keeps a list of well over one hundred such competitions spanning all possible subject areas. In recent years pupils have developed an excellent track record of success in these competitions, particularly essay competitions such as the Robson (Trinity College, Cambridge), the Mary Renault (St Hugh’s, Oxford) and Olympiads. In addition, the School runs multiple internal essay competitions, and the Summer Research Project gives academically ambitious Fifth Formers the opportunity to undertake a challenging and stimulating research project in any of their subjects over the summer after their GCSEs.
