Army Scholarship for Gordon's School Sixth Former

“Over the moon” is how Gordon’s Sixth Former Archie Pearson described how he felt after hearing he had been awarded an Army Officer Sixth Form Scholarship.

The award of £3,000 plus an Army bursary of up to £7,000 if he chooses to study a recognised degree at a UK University, also means he has a confirmed place to train as an Army Officer at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst.

Archie, a Residential Boarder at the school in Surrey Heath, applied for the scholarship in Year 12 and was invited for interview by the Army after they received reports from his teachers and Headmaster at Gordon’s. As part of the scholarship process, he underwent a medical assessment and took part in the Army Officer Selection Board in Westbury, spending two days completing command tasks, psychometric tests, planning exercises, obstacle courses, interviews, a multi-stage fitness test and leaderless group tasks.

Successful candidates for the scholarship must also demonstrate a strong academic and leadership potential.

With over 400 applying for scholarships, Archie had a nail-biting month to wait for the results of his endeavours before finally receiving the letter telling him he had been successful.

For Archie the news is a dream come true. He enthused: “I am over the moon to see years of hard work and support from friends and family pay off as one of the biggest achievements in my life.”

He continued: “I am proud to have been inspired by my family who have all experienced the military lifestyle. I have also been heavily influenced by great people and soldiers who have displayed all the qualities I aspire to show, and so for as long as I can remember I have had a passion for HM British Army.”