Arkwright Scholarship 2023

Hi All,

I'm planning to apply for the Arkwright Scholarship 2024. I'm preparing my application, same time, I want to prepare for the written test. I see most of you got the scholarship so can guide me on how I can prepare for the test. I'm NOT studying Design and Technology so not sure if some resources are there to help me prepare for the exam.

Please advise!

okay so i would recommend looking at cambridge igcse product design / design and technology and looking at paper 1 (it should be a drawing paper). they really want you to demonstrate how creative you are at finding solutions quickly. make sure your work is neat and well laid out with lots of annotations and writing. your drawing skills don’t have to be amazing, it just has to be clear enough. make sure you add colour and don’t over complicate the first half of the exam. text me if you want any more tips! my exam was a while ago so i’m not sure how much i can help.

Reply 101

deepnpc

3

Original post by vivaan14

Hi All,

I'm planning to apply for the Arkwright Scholarship 2024. I'm preparing my application, same time, I want to prepare for the written test. I see most of you got the scholarship so can guide me on how I can prepare for the test. I'm NOT studying Design and Technology so not sure if some resources are there to help me prepare for the exam.

Please advise!

My advice would be practise sketching a new design for everyday objects and labelling what materials u would choose, and more importantly how it works. Make sure it is creative and displaying ur knowledge on materials and manufacturing processes and how stuff is made as the examiners care about how the item works (functionality) as well as how it looks (aesthetics).

Reply 102

burnt_t0ast

10

Original post by shem08

Hi guys, I'm also planning on applying for it in 2024. Any advice for the project? I dont study DT GCSE but I do computing. Also I checked the example projects on the website but the coding one seems too simplistic (the dice game). Is that the level of difficulty needed to get the scholarship? Any advice would be appreciated thanks

the example projects are NOT the level of the exam, just so you know. also studying DT doesn’t matter cus there is a question/section on the exam for computer science. so don’t worry! the example projects are for your application, but the more complicated your project is the higher your mark for your application.

Reply 103

tearock

2

Original post by vivaan14

Hi All,

I'm planning to apply for the Arkwright Scholarship 2024. I'm preparing my application, same time, I want to prepare for the written test. I see most of you got the scholarship so can guide me on how I can prepare for the test. I'm NOT studying Design and Technology so not sure if some resources are there to help me prepare for the exam.

Please advise!

definitely look at previous papers to get a grasp of what kind of questions they’ll ask . it isn’t something u can prepare for like u would a maths test - it’s more about ur ability to think of solutions on the fly and be able to describe them in a way that makes sense . it helped me to look at objects i use everyday and think of the design that went into them - and how i woild design them or similar objects . i know this seems vague but there’s not really a way to prepare for anything specific that’ll come up !! best of luck !!

Reply 104

vivaan14

10

Original post by burnt_t0ast

the example projects are NOT the level of the exam, just so you know. also studying DT doesn’t matter cus there is a question/section on the exam for computer science. so don’t worry! the example projects are for your application, but the more complicated your project is the higher your mark for your application.

I see there was a computer-based question in the year 2023 but not in the exams before that. Have they changed the format and from now onwards there always be a computer-based question?

Reply 105

vivaan14

10

Another question - do we need to show them the working project during the interview if invited?

Reply 106

burnt_t0ast

10

Original post by vivaan14

I see there was a computer-based question in the year 2023 but not in the exams before that. Have they changed the format and from now onwards there always be a computer-based question?

yep! i’m not sure about the quality of it since a friend who was applying for the software engineering side ended up not doing that question because it was too hard. but that was my year, so yours might be different?

Reply 107

burnt_t0ast

10

Original post by vivaan14

Another question - do we need to show them the working project during the interview if invited?

i mean my interview was online so i’m not sure. you do have to create a powerpoint presentation and then present it for like 4 minutes. the presentation has to include the project with annotations. if you want to you can bring the project in person if your interview is not online but i’m not sure about that one sorry!

Reply 108

vivaan14

10

Original post by burnt_t0ast

i mean my interview was online so i’m not sure. you do have to create a powerpoint presentation and then present it for like 4 minutes. the presentation has to include the project with annotations. if you want to you can bring the project in person if your interview is not online but i’m not sure about that one sorry!

Thanks a lot for your response. I think interviews are happening online only that's what their website says.

Reply 109

kmannnn

8

Hi,
I was just wondering whether it matters too much if we don't write to the maximum character limit on the application. Will we lose marks if we only write 2 or 3 sentences?

Reply 110

itsSphere

1

There should not be any problem with that. It is preferable to use a few significant words rather than numerous meaningless words just to reach a character or word count. Learn more scholarshipsphere.org

(edited 2 months ago)

Reply 111

burnt_t0ast

10

Original post by kmannnn

Hi,
I was just wondering whether it matters too much if we don't write to the maximum character limit on the application. Will we lose marks if we only write 2 or 3 sentences?

hi!

it doesn’t matter! they only care about whether you tick all the boxes and are a good candidate. heck using less words might be even better.

also don’t use meaningless words or phrases. they’d prefer you to answer the question, even if you’re under the word limit. i wasn’t up to the word limit either, but as long as you make sure to tell them as much as possible like anything that will help your application it won’t matter.

good luck!!!

(edited 4 months ago)

Reply 112

nadddhyyyy

1

Does anyone know when we will get the results from the exam?

Reply 113

tearock

2

Original post by vivaan14

Hi All,
I'm planning to apply for the Arkwright Scholarship 2024. I'm preparing my application, same time, I want to prepare for the written test. I see most of you got the scholarship so can guide me on how I can prepare for the test. I'm NOT studying Design and Technology so not sure if some resources are there to help me prepare for the exam.
Please advise!

Don’t worry about DT - they more so assess your ability to come up with solutions. Id recommend looking at the last papers are just thinking about what kind of solutions you’d come up with.

Id also recommend just looking at some simple physics - stuff you’re already doing at GCSE, like levers, gears and maybe hydraulics, as they’re pretty useful when trying to describe how something will function, but don’t worry too much about it.

I found the best thing that helped was just looking at different everyday objects and trying to think of other ways they could be made - for example look at some household appliances and see how they could be adapted for someone disabled, as that kind of question has come up before.

Don’t worry, it’s not so much a test of knowledge of mechanics but more so just seeing your thinking:creative process :smile: