Student Reuben offered place at Sandhurst

 

Congratulations to Woodhouse student Reuben who has been offered a British Army Officer Scholarship and a place at Sandhurst after university.

 

The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS) is where all officers in the British Army are trained to take on the responsibility of leading their soldiers.

 

Reuben came to Woodhouse from Hampstead school and is currently studying A level physics, maths, further maths and geography.

 

"The Army Officer Scholarship programme is for young people to join as officers after going through university. I want to study civil engineering at university and that leads nicely into a career route of joining the Royal Engineers. They do interesting stuff all over the world, not just in conflicts but also focussing on survivability - like helping people after natural disasters, as in the recent earthquake in Haiti. They have mechanics, construction engineers, divers mending ships underwater... the more I think about all the cool stuff I could with the Royal Engineers, the less I want a desk job.

 

It's a big commitment, but it comes with benefits. They'll cover most or all of my university fees, so no student debt when I graduate. Plus, they gave me £3,000 now to explore the world a bit, do interesting stuff and broaden my horizons, which is great. While at uni I'll be going to the University Officers’ Training Corps (UOTC) - an Army Reserve unit that recruits exclusively from university students. Its aim is to train the future generation of officers and also develops leadership through sport and adventurous training. When I graduate, I enrol at Sandhurst for 44 weeks of officer training - which is part of my 12 year contract with the Army. 

 

I'm excited because firstly, it's really hard to get into such a prestigious place as Sandhurst, but secondly because it now allows me to focus on my work without worrying about my future career - the commitment is already made.

 

The application process starting at the beginning of my time in Woodhouse. I had a whole bunch interviews, mostly over Zoom due to Covid. They helped me prepare for a final exam. I had to take a full medical assessment at an army base to assess my suitability to join. And  I had a two day long interview at a base in south west England which involved fitness tests (beep tests, lifting weights and throwing medicine balls), essay writing, psychometric testing, maths and visual learning. I also had to go through Command Training where all the aspiring recruits took turns to lead their team through sets of physical challenges - which I did well at. It was a very busy couple of days.

 

My parents are pleased with my choice. They were obviously a bit concerned about the potential risks of joining the Army but also recognise the rewarding career it can be too - I think they are both very proud.

 

I came to Woodhouse because I thrive in competition and seeing so many other students do well here motivates me to work harder. I've done much better than I think I would have at a school. I really like the year group size at Woodhouse - if you come here and don’t know that many people you’ll always find friends who are into the same sorts of things as you, because the community is so big."