25 February 2021

The announcement from the Government on Monday confirmed that schools in England will reopen on 8 March, in Northern Ireland on 22 March, and a phased return for students in Scotland and Wales beginning on 22 February but unlikely to see older students back until 15 March.

Given this timeline and the variation of students’ return across the UK, The Smallpeice Trust no longer views running the exam on 16 March as a practical solution, as the exam is normally invigilated by the partner schools. We will therefore be cancelling the 2021 Arkwright Engineering Scholarship aptitude exam. This will ensure we treat everyone fairly and maintain a consistent approach with our selection process and it will support students by not adding to an already hectic workload.

This is not the outcome we were hoping for, and we have been exploring several options to try and enable the exam to proceed. Each application will now be reviewed by the Arkwright Team in detail to determine the progress of each candidate. There will also be a lengthier interview process for candidates in order to assess their technical understanding. Due to these additional requirements, the full £40 application fee remains payable for all applicants to the programme.

All our partner schools and applicants have been notified of this change. We’re grateful for the ongoing support during this challenging time.