Owen Smith is a year 13 De Neumann scholar at Royal Hospital School in Suffolk. Here he tells us about his scholarship journey…
 
Why did you apply for the De Neumann scholarship"
Owen Smith
I applied for the De Neumann Mathematics scholarship after hearing about the opportunity through my maths teacher at school. I?d heard about the opportunities available at The Royal Hospital School and I really wanted to reach my potential in academia. I aspired to get top grades in my maths, biology, chemistry and physics GCSE exams, so hoped that I might stand a chance of being awarded it.
Why is it called the De Neumann Scholarship"
Professor Bernard de Neumann (1943-2018) was a former RHS pupil who was passionate about continuing the relevance of mathematics at the school. RHS received a gift from his estate to support the continued development of the subject, and I was the first pupil to be granted the scholarship. What was the timeline involved in applying for it"
After completing the De Neumann application form in January, I attended an assessment day with a few other candidates, where we sat a maths test and had an interview with the Head of Maths and Deputy Head (Academic). A few weeks later I was offered the scholarship, subject to strong GCSE results.
Did they help guide you through the process"
I started at RHS amid the pandemic having not being able to attend my previous school from the March of that year (2020). From day one RHS had a positi...