Grants and Award Schemes for Students

The generous financial support of the Gatsby Charitable Foundation in developing and establishing the Best Programme is gratefully acknowledged.

As part of its Best programme, the Academy promotes seven schemes at pre-university level that encourage young people to consider professional engineering as a career:

• The Year in Industry (Best)

  High-calibre students are selected to gain pre-university experience of industry backed by comprehensive ‘off the job’ training during a gap year.

  For further information visit the Year in Industry website at www.yini.org.uk

• Smallpeice Engineering Careers Foundation Year (Best)

  Candidates who are aged 18 or over take part in this scheme for 7 months. The course is divided into three main parts: Academic (basic engineering and management skills), Foreign Languages and European Work Placement.

  For further information visit the Smallpeice Trust website at www.smallpeicetrust.org.uk

• Headstart (Best)

  This scheme enables Year 12 students to spend a week at a university engineering department, getting a taste of life as an engineering undergraduate and learning about potential careers and undergraduate courses in engineering.

  For further information visit the Headstart website at www.headstartcourses.org.uk

• The Engineering Education Scheme (Best)

  The scheme enables Year 12 students studying relevant subjects to solve real industrial problems for real companies. A professional engineer from the company liaises with and advises the teams of students and their teachers in solving the problem and producing a report and presentation. Universities support the scheme and provide residential workshops during the course of the projects.

  For further information visit the Engineering Education website at www.engineering-education.org.uk

• Smallpeice Engineering Management (Best)

  This four day residential course for Year 11 (S4) students takes place in July. The rudiments of management techniques are provided through lectures, case studies and practical exercises::

  Engineering design tests, lean manufacturing, time management, communication, leadership, presentation skills and team building.

  For further information visit the Smallpeice Trust website at www.smallpeicetrust.org.uk

• Smallpeice Engineering Skills and Careers (Best)

  This award provides a series of half-day workshops for Year 10 students, introducing theoretical and practical engineering skills, including Project Management, Engineering Design and Materials Selection. The course runs during the Easter vacation or at the end of July.

  For further information visit the Smallpeice Trust website at www.smallpeicetrust.org.uk

• Smallpeice Engineering Experience (Best)

  Year 9 students work in small teams for four days in a residential venue in the UK. Two days are devoted to design-and-make projects led by young engineers from industry. Students are also presented with lectures, practical exercises and guidance on communication and presentations. The course runs during the Easter vacation.

  For further information visit the Smallpeice Trust website at www.smallpeicetrust.org.uk

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