On Monday 22 January 2018 the biennial HMC and IDPE School Bursaries Conference was held at the Amba Hotel in Marble Arch, London. The one day conference gathered Heads, Bursars, Governors and Development Directors from 100 leading UK independent schools meet to discuss ways of improving and expanding their bursary programmes.

The day was hosted by our very own Headmaster and Chair-Elect of HMC, Shaun Fenton and we were delighted that former RGS pupil, Sir Peter Gershon CBE (’66) was the keynote speaker for the conference. Sir Peter spoke with great passion about social mobility, the “wonderful skills” that he learnt at RGS and focused in particular on why he set up the Gershon Scholars and his work with the RGS Foundation.

This is about having a real social purpose. This is why I’m such an advocate of the Changing Lives campaign and the work of the RGS Foundation
Sir Peter Gershon CBE

It was then the turn of two current Gershon Scholars to speak about what it meant to them about receiving a bursary at RGS. Speaking with calmness and confidence not often found in sixth formers, both individuals understood and valued the opportunity they had been provided and how both were determined to make the most of it.

I wouldn’t be at RGS if it weren’t for the bursary I received and Sir Peter’s Scholarship for which I will always be thankful, it has changed my life and given me the confidence and desire to pursue my passion for science beyond school
Mahin U – Gershon Scholar

Finally, it was Isobel Tilley (’13) one of our first RGS Bursary Scholars that finished the afternoon with an inspiring account of her experience as a bursary recipient, the impact it has had on her life and the role of bursaries in schools and society. Isobel has just completed her degree in Modern and Medieval Languages at Cambridge University with a Double First and has just spent the summer working as a volunteer at refugee camp in Greece.

Benefiting from an outstanding education such as my own, comes with responsibility. I and many others, have been so lucky to have had the education and opportunities that we have had and it is only right that we contribute something back to society to continue this cycle of advantage
Isobel Tilley – RGS Bursary Recipient

(L-R: Sir Peter Gershon CBE, Sean Davey, Mahin U, Shaun Fenton and Nicole J)