Why Did You Decide You Wanted To Be A Maths Scholar?
When I decided to apply for a Maths Scholarship, I had already secured a place on a Schools Direct training course with a local secondary school and I was excited and looking forward to starting my training. I had been aware of the Maths Scholarships for some time but thought these would be for people who had been eating, sleeping and breathing maths ever since their undergraduate degree, or more likely, their masters or doctorate.
I love maths (and all its applications) but my career to that point had been in training in the not-for-profit sector (with a focus on services and opportunities for young people) and not at all to do with mathematics beyond encouraging programme leaders to embed opportunities for the young people we worked with to enhance their basic numeracy skills which felt a world away from degree-level mathematics, or even GCSE.
I was aware of the prestige associated with being a Maths Scholar and so assumed that all of the Scholarships had been snapped up in September or shortly afterwards. I was effectively giving myself reasons not to push myself, not to have an opportunity to fail. I was fortunate to receive an email that my programme mentor had been asked to forward on advising that the deadline for applying had been extended by one week. This told me two things: one, that there were still Scholarships to apply for and two, I had better pull my finger out and apply while I had this golden opportunity. I realised that I would be selling myself short if I didn’t at least try. I already had my place on a Schools Direct course secured, so had the faith of the interviewers in me as well as my friends’ certainty that I would be well-suited to teaching. I was fortunate to have the comfort of the bursary that goes with training to teach mathematics and decided there was nothing to lose by applying and that there was everything to gain. Others believed in me and it felt like the time had come to believe in myself and give myself the best chance of being the excellent teacher I hope to be.
I knew that it would be really useful to have access to respected maths associations websites and resources, that I would be able to learn so much from the other Scholars I would meet and from the keynote speakers at the events for Scholars. I was excited to see what I could achieve and so I applied and am thrilled to have been awarded a Mathematics Scholarship. We’ve already had opportunities to start to get to know other Scholars and benefitted from online networking. I look forward to learning as much as I can this year and beyond from the links I make.
By Karen Foxwell-Moss
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Message from the Scholarship Team
You can apply to the Scholarships with a 2:2 degree classification, providing you can demonstrate 'significant relevant experience'. Also you can apply before completing your subject knowledge enhancement course. See our eligibility criteria on our About Us page and our FAQs.
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