Scholarships 2013-14 Series 24: Kingsbury

The Kingsbury Scholarship

The Kingsbury Scholarship is a highly prestigious engineering scholarship available for undergraduates who have a firm offer from Imperial College London for an Engineering course and have spent a year working in industry.

Students will receive a full scholarship of £19,000 a year for the duration of their 4-year course*. This consists of a tuition fee waiver of £9,000 per annum, plus a £10,000 a year maintenance grant.

The Kingsbury Scholarship is awarded to one outstanding candidate each year. If you are planning to take your year in industry next year (2013-14), you must wait until 2013 to apply for the following year’s (2014) award.

Eligibility

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To be eligible candidates must be Home/UK students who qualify for financial support from Student Finance England, with a household income of less than £60,000.

This scholarship is aimed at bright and dynamic students who intend to ultimately seek employment as a graduate in UK engineering industry. As such, the applicants must agree to work in industry before starting at Imperial.

Applicants must:

• Be a Home/UK student who qualifies for financial support through Student Finance England, with a household income of less than £60,000 per annum
• Have received a conditional firm or unconditional offer from Imperial to study an undergraduate course within the Faculty of Engineering for 2013 by 1 May 2013 and not already have obtained a degree.
• Have worked for at least 9 months in engineering industry before their course starts at Imperial. We would suggest using the Engineering Development Trust’s scheme Year In Industry (YINI), but placements arranged by yourself or by other organisations will also be considered
• Submit a statement explaining how and why they intend to seek employment in UK engineering industry upon graduation.

Applying for 2014

This year’s award is for a student starting at Imperial in 2013 who has already worked for a year in industry. If you have a confirmed place at Imperial for 2013 and would like to apply for the award but have not taken a year in industry, you may be able to defer your course for a year to take your industrial placement first and then apply for the following year’s Kingsbury Scholarship, to start at Imperial in 2014. Please contact scholarships@imperial.ac.uk for more details about deferring your course.

Please note that deferring your course for a year does not in itself guarantee the award of the scholarship, but would help towards your eligibility for the Kingsbury Scholarship and is certain to help with your personal, professional and academic development.

Taking a gap year to work in industry

If you choose to take your year in industry through The Year in Industry organisation, it is recommended you apply in good time. Please see their website for more details. If you arrange your year in industry yourself, your employment must be within the engineering industry in the UK (if you are unsure of this definition please contact scholarships@imperial.ac.uk).

Please note that proof of your placement will be required.

How to apply

To apply for the Kingsbury Scholarship please email scholarships@imperial.ac.uk by 1 May 2013 with a written statement in no more than 250 words that describes how and why you intend to seek employment in UK engineering industry after you graduate.  If you arranged your year in industry placement yourself or through an external company please also supply written confirmation of your placement from your employer.  If your placement was arranged through YINI we will obtain confirmation on your behalf.

Selection Process

The Department that you have applied to within the Faculty of Engineering will assess your academic merit from your UCAS form and from your 250 word statement. Applicants will be ranked by Departments and the final selection from the shortlist will be made by the Principal of the Faculty of Engineering.

Outcome of Awards

The successful applicant will be notified by email no later than 30 August 2013. The award will not be allocated until we have received confirmation from Student Finance England (SFE) that you are from a household with a residual income of less than £60,000 and have had confirmation of your work placement. Therefore you must have applied and been assessed by SFE by 1 May 2013.

If you have not heard from us by 30 August 2013 please assume you have been unsuccessful in your application.

About Year In Industry

Year In Industry is an initiative of the Engineering Development Trust (EDT), a registered education charity that helps talented young people achieve their full potential through careers in engineering, science and technology.

YINI provide high-quality, paid placements for students interested in all areas of engineering and science, and have placed students with 300 top UK companies including Shell, Rolls Royce, British Energy, Network Rail and AstraZeneca. These placements provide the skills and knowledge employers are looking for, and the experience that will help the students make the most of university. Placements are situated all around the country and a regional YINI manager will provide mentorship and support whenever necessary. The students typically earn between £9,000 to £14,000 from August / September to June / July.

The inaugural Kingsbury Scholarship was awarded to Catherine Stevenson, who started her MEng course in Aeronautics in October 2012. Through YINI she took a placement to work for a year at Scottish Power before she started at Imperial.

“My placement through YINI at Scottish Power was invaluable in helping understand how engineering and technology are practically applied to industrial solutions, and I’m sure this will help give me a head-start on my course at Imperial. The placement also helped instil in me a valuable work ethic and a useful glimpse of the working world as an engineer that has made me all the more determined to qualify as a chartered engineer after I graduate. I am delighted and honoured to have been awarded this prestigious scholarship, and am very excited to now be starting at Imperial.”