During the summer break, we were delighted to find out that Sophie Forbes-Laird (Upper Sixth) was awarded the prestigious Army Officer Scholarship Scheme.
This is an outstanding achievement as only a small selection of scholarships are awarded each year across the whole country, so competition is very tough.
Sophie reflected: “This time last year I applied for the scholarship, and after months of training, interviews and paperwork, I was fortunate enough to go on officer selection in Westbury, in July. My teachers and peers at school know this has been a strong career aspiration of mine for many years, so finally applying has been really exciting. The Selection board was intense, with many physical and mental tests, but so much fun. Whilst I was one of the few girls there, I could not have been more embraced by both the assessors and other applicants.
"With only 51 awarded this year, I am incredibly proud to have been successful, not just for the honour of securing my place at the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst after university, but also for myself, doing it as a girl. The Armed Forces is an incredibly male dominated career field; women only became allowed into all its roles when I was 13, so the list of female officers is fairly short (in comparison to the male), the scholar list much shorter. The physical strength standards in particular, often take much more work for women to meet, which was the biggest challenge for me, and required a lot of weight-lifting, given my natural build.
“I am really fortunate to have grown up in a school that has embraced my military aspirations, ever since I first told my teachers I wanted to do this, years ago. It is so important that girls everywhere are taught they can do anything they put their mind to, like I was. I am unbelievably excited for my future career, and I really hope it inspires more girls to go after a similar one, as I do believe it’s one of the best out there; and absolutely achievable if you put in the work.”
We wish Sophie all the best on her incredible first steps into the Army, many congratulations.
Find out more about the scholarship scheme here.
