Students were invited to apply for the maths and English scholarships, which have been designed to recognise exceptional talent in a specific subject area.

The aim is to stretch and challenge high-ability students, develop their academic skills and widen their reading and research.

Year 10 Raising Standards Leader, Mr Hussain, said the scholarships will also provide the opportunities, resources and staffing to allow students to have the experience and evidence to support their post-16 applications, which could in turn lead to Russell Group and Oxbridge university places.

He said: “The programme will create students who will be more confident, excel academically and be an asset to the wider community.

“All students had to go through an application process and performed outstandingly in their interviews – they are a credit to the school and we ought to be extremely proud of their hard work and dedication towards their education."

Those students selected for the maths scholarship will have the opportunity to gain an extra qualification, GCSE statistics, with lessons taking place during Session 5.

They will also receive specialist revision packs which support students aiming for grade 9 in GCSE maths.

Head of Maths Mrs Timothy Nicholas said that in order to select students for the scholarship, those who applied took part in a group discussion.

She said: “It was a wonderful group discussion – we talked about the issue of interest rates going down, which was on the news at the time. They discussed whether it would affect them positively or negatively, and how it could affect industries and the general public.

“We also asked them to talk about the scholarship and how it would benefit them.”

For those on the English scholarship, they will be aiming to achieve a Higher Project qualification, which is worth half a GCSE.

The assignment will be between 2,000 – 3,000 words long and will be linked to the students’ GCSE text, giving them the opportunity for wider reading around genres.

Students will write their assignments over the summer, present their ideas in the autumn and then submit their work in January.

Miss Hornby, who is leading the scholarship for the English department, said she is planning to take the group to a university to have a lesson in research skills and make use of the resources.

She said: “The scholarship will help students to prepare for A levels and university as it’s all about independent study, which is critical to their development as independent scholars.  

“They will be looking at historical context, which will support their GCSE studies and it could also inspire them to work with texts that aren’t covered by the GCSE specification.

“They will also have the opportunity to go on to complete an Extended Project Level 3 qualification, which is something a lot of universities are interested in.”

The following students achieved the scholarship:

Mathematics Scholarship

• Aristi Nicolaou
• Sochi Ajoku
• Goda Rinkiviciute
• Pijus Lucinskas
• Kameran Sorani
• Thomas Green
• Lily Manning
• Alex Martin
• Morgan Stephen
• JJ De-Freitas-Welsh

English Scholarship

• Hollie Dixon
• Evie Crowson
• Mia Beardow
• Emily Reach
• Ellie Smith
• Connor Loughlin
• Jack Spraggs
• Rebecca Black