What is the SEO Scholars Programme?
SEO Scholars is a comprehensive (in and out of school) training, mentoring and work experience programme for talented year 11-13 students from under-represented backgrounds. The purpose of the scheme is to not only help students taking part gain places at the very best UK universities and also go on to secure work in the most rewarding and competitive industries after graduation.
Are you thinking about your future?
The Scholars Programme helps students learn more about the degree, university and career options they are most interested in and eligible for. Through SEO Scholars students can access all of the UK’s leading universities and gain fantastic work experience in a great range of industries including investment banking, corporate law, accounting, consulting, technology, advertising, marketing and communications. In 2013 SEO will provide more than 200 students with work experience at leading investment banks Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley alone. More than 300 students will be able to access work experience at the City’s biggest law firms including Linklaters and Herbert Smith. You don’t have to be certain about whether you want to go to university or which careers you are interested in order to become a Scholar; you just have to be intelligent, open-minded, hard-working and keen to learn more about the options available to you.
For more information on what SEO Scholars offers, eligibility criteria and how to register to take part in the scheme please read on.
What we are offering Scholars:
SEO Scholars will have access to relevant mentors, highly selective universities and many of the UK’s most prestigious graduate employers in the UK. We will help you develop the skills and knowledge base required to make positive informed decisions about your future academic and work plans.
SEO supports include:
- Insight & Education: SEO visits all partner schools and colleges throughout the year to deliver interactive university and career workshops designed to better educate students about elite career options and the most appropriate academic routes to access these. SEO workshops are delivered by SEO staff and successful members of the local community that are either at top universities or working in one of the industries SEO covers.
- Expert University & Career Mentors: SEO Scholars will have access to both university and industry mentors through the scheme. University mentors will typically be studying at the university and the subject you are most interested in. Industry mentors will be working in the industries you are keen to learn more about. Both sets of mentors will be able to provide you with valuable, honest advice about your academic and career goals, and how best to achieve them.
- University Trips: SEO Scholars will also have the opportunity to visit many of the leading UK universities to get a taste for what life on campus is really like. The trips will include sessions with current undergraduates and also from teaching staff to learn about different degree subjects available, benefits of studying at the university and how to make a great UCAS application.
- University Application Support: SEO’s dedicated staff and trainers will provide SEO Scholars with guidance on university and, for younger students, A-level subject choices. SEO will also be able to provide tailored guidance for personal statements and UCAS forms.
- Oxbridge Interview Support: For SEO Scholars interested in, and eligible for, applying to Oxford and Cambridge SEO will be able to provide additional support including advice on which colleges to consider and interview practice.
- Work Experience with the UK’s Best Graduate Employers: SEO Scholars will have the opportunity to complete work experience or attend activity days with some of the most prestigious businesses in the country, covering one or more of the industries you are most interested in. This experience and exposure is designed to improve your insight into the practicalities of these industries, give them opportunities to develop crucial competency & employability skills, and also develop a great understanding of the qualifications required to succeed. The firms SEO can provide Scholars with access to represent many of the biggest and most successful companies in the UK. For a full list of SEO’s 35 partner firms, please click here.
- Advice on Finance: Clearly how to fund your way through university is a major concern for many students considering applying. SEO will be able to provide Scholars with information on the many funding options available to them nationally and also at specific universities. In addition SEO may also be able to provide some Scholars with access to comprehensive bursaries from some of the big businesses that support the SEO Scholars Programme.
The ultimate goal of SEO Scholars is to significantly increase the number of talented students from under-represented backgrounds entering the UK’s top universities and going on to pursue successful careers in the City and beyond.
Beyond school / college SEO is able to provide continuous support to Scholars via the existing internship, insight, mentoring and training programmes we run for university students in all years of study.
Do you have what it takes to become a Scholar?
Entry to the SEO London Scholars Programme is highly competitive. In order to be eligible you must meet the following requirements:
- Be in the academic school year 11, 12 or 13
- Have the potential to achieve minimum of 'ABB' at A level (no specific A Level subjects are required)
- Have a track record of strong performance at school (in and out of the classroom)
Preference is then given to students who meet any of the following additional criteria:
- Attend a Scholars partner school / college (Please ask your Head of Year / Sixth Form to find out if your school is already an SEO Scholars partner school)
- Attend a non-fee-paying school / college and are eligible for free school meals / EMA / alternative financial assistance
- Attend a fee-paying school with a fee-assisted place / financial scholarship
- Would be the first generation of your immediate family to go to university
If you work at a school or college and would like to discuss partnering on the Scholars programme please click this link to fill out the survey and we will be in touch shortly.
Please note that applications to the SEO Scholars Programme for 2012 is now closed, but applications for the 2013 intake will be opening in Septemper 2012.