Whether you’re a small, medium or large sized company, meeting rooms can be key to driving successful business decisions. When people think of meeting rooms they tend to think about them being within their own office, however this doesn’t need to be the case. 

The Covid-19 pandemic has impacted many businesses, by causing them to move toward hybrid working and downsizing their offices. Due to this, meeting room hires have become more popular as they’re convenient and more affordable than paying for an office with space you don’t regularly need. 

With Birmingham having great transport links and a fantastic business community, it’s one of the best places to hire a meeting room for your next business discussion. Due to this, our blog explores why you should hire a meeting room in Birmingham.

Benefits of hiring a meeting room

Hiring a meeting room has many benefits, such as:

It creates a professional image

Using a dedicated meeting room instead of coworking spaces or coffee shops creates more of a professional look to your meeting. It also provides a private meeting space and encourages people to speak openly and honestly as conversations can’t be overheard by others. 

Giving a professional feel to your meetings can also instil confidence in your clients, partners and staff, helping your meetings be more successful. 

They can provide state-of-the-art facilities

Many meeting rooms available to hire come with state-of-the-art facilities meaning you don’t have to spend your time and money investing in technology for meetings. 

Equipment usually provided includes:

These facilities can help presenting and video calls run smoothly and efficiently throughout the entire discussion.

They provide flexibility and scalability

A great thing about hiring a meeting room is that you can look for one that suits your specific needs, offering you flexibility and scalability within your meeting. When looking for a meeting room you can consider:

They can be cost effective

When you don’t need to use meeting rooms often it can be cost effective to hire them instead. Hiring meeting rooms removes the need to spend money setting up and maintaining a space. It also means that when you pay for a room you can expect them to be of a high quality that are sure to meet the needs and requirements of your meeting. 

It helps stimulate productivity and focus

Research suggests that a change of working environment can promote productivity and focus. This can help you get the most out of your meeting and progress efficiently. 

Other factors that promote focus and productivity include:

Why host a meeting in Birmingham

There are many benefits to hosting a meeting in Birmingham, such as

Its central location

Birmingham’s central location makes it easy for people to attend meetings due to it having various types of transport links. These include:

It has a diverse business community

Birmingham is a huge business hub for all kinds of companies giving you the opportunity to meet new clientele or potential employees all around the city. Working around an abundance of businesses can also inspire new ideas and opportunities inside and outside of your meeting.

It has fantastic entertainment opportunities

The city is known for having an amazing range of museums, exhibitions and food places to indulge in, giving you the perfect opportunity to interact with your clients or colleagues on a more personal level outside of your meeting. 

What makes a good conference room? 

When searching for a conference room there are a few things you should look out for, such as:

Why should you hire a meeting room at Millennium Point?

Here at Millennium Point we’re located in Birmingham City centre, making it easy for all meeting attendees to get here. 

We also have a range of meeting rooms available for hire such as:

Express

Express has one main room and 3 smaller boardrooms, which can be used as offices, speaker green rooms or quiet rooms, perfect for meetings or presentations.

Express also benefits from:

To learn more about Express, visit our website.

Curzon Rooms

The Curzon Rooms offer easy access and screen presentation facilities that are perfect for your next meeting.

Other benefits include:

To learn more about the Curzon Rooms, visit our website.

Curzon Suite

The Curzon Suite is a part of the Curzon Rooms, but has a few extra benefits, such as:

To learn more about our Curzon Suite, visit our website.

Auditorium 

The Auditorium previously was the first IMAX in the West Midlands and is equipped with everything you need to engage an audience. 

The Auditorium offers:

To learn more about the Auditorium, visit our website. 

Many office spaces have long-term lease agreements that last at least a year, not giving businesses a lot of freedom or wiggle room to change their mind if they outgrow the space or if it just isn’t quite working for them.

However when it comes to short-term lease agreements, you gain more flexibility to be able to move around as your business grows.

Benefit 1 – Lower cost

Usually short-term office leases are a cheaper option. If you rent a space that’s furnished you can avoid the expenses that come along with having to equip an office. This could save you money on things like:

You’re also not responsible for maintenance of the building helping you save significant amounts of money on routine maintenance costs or paying for anything that goes wrong. 

Benefit 2 – It’s more flexible

Short-term office leases give you the opportunity to move around as your business grows, meaning you won’t be stuck in one place for a prolonged period of time. It will also give you greater flexibility to adapt to challenging periods or uncertainties, for example, you could easily switch to remote working while your office space is upgraded or adapted to better suit your operational needs.

Adding on to this, the current challenging economic times due to the cost of living crisis and the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic have had significant impacts on what people and businesses can and can’t afford. Opting for a short-term lease can help you navigate changing conditions, giving you the opportunity to make the best decisions for your staff and business.

Benefit 3 – It’s a quick and easy process 

Another benefit of short-term leases is that they don’t take a lot of time to set up. If you’re looking for somewhere you can move into quickly then a short-term renting option may be perfect for you. This might also be useful if you think you may need to move offices often or if you would rather move to suit your changing needs rather than devote resources to adapt your current office space.

Benefit 4 – There’s more support for scalability 

When you opt for a short term lease it gives you the opportunity to scale your business. For example a lot of offices with short term leases tend to give you the option to use pay-per-use services. This allows you to only pay for the space you use meaning you can save money through not spending the money on rooms you don’t use.

Being able to save more money could give you the opportunity to scale up to a bigger office in the future if you’re planning on growing significantly in terms of staff expansion. 

Benefit 5 – You gain premium services 

Another benefit of short term leases is that they tend to offer premium services such as offering free food, coffee mornings, paying for features like microwaves or kettles etc. 

Long term leases tend to lack premium services as you’ve already locked in for a longer period of time. Whereas, short-term rental agreements have more opportunities to offer premium services, as they tend to have a higher turnover and want to encourage people to keep paying for new contracts.

How can Millennium Point help you find the right short-term office space for you?

Here at Millennium Point we have a variety of rooms that could be perfect for your next short-term office space.

Our office spaces come with flexible ownership options that suit you, as well as our friendly team being on site to support you with any queries you have until you move out of your office. 

Our spaces with short-term office leases include:

Engine

Engine benefits from lots of natural light and overlooks the conservatoire, where you’ll be away from the footfall of Millennium Point. 

It’s located on level 4 and offers a second office alongside an adjacent private boardroom. 

Other features include:

Station Studios

Station Studios has multiple sized rooms, making it suitable for dance groups, yoga sessions or acting rehearsals, where you can choose between mirrored or non-mirrored studios.

Key features include:

Shuttle 

Shuttle is situated on level 3 and keeps you away from the busy footfall of Millennium Point. Shuttle also has one main office and a small office that’s perfect for meetings or hosting guests. 

Key features:

Make an inquiry today to see what office space is perfect for you.

Awards ceremonies are exciting and are worth celebrating, but they can be hard to plan. Due to this we’ve put together 11 simple tips to help you plan a successful awards ceremony. 

Write a brief

Writing a brief is a great way to get all your ideas down and make sure you tick off everything you need or want to do before and on the day. When creating a brief you should consider:

Consider choosing a theme

Giving your ceremony a theme can be a simple way to make it memorable. When picking a theme you should think about:

What’s your budget?

When setting a budget, this may depend on whether you’re going to sell tickets or allow people to attend for free. 

Choose a venue

When choosing a venue there are various factors you’ll want to consider such as:

Do you want to create a floor plan?

Creating a floor plan is a great way to ensure things go smoothly on the day of your event by knowing exactly where you want people to sit and what the event will look like. It would be a good idea to place award nominees near the stage so that they can access it more easily. 

What entertainment are you going to implement?

Entertainment is crucial to a successful awards ceremony. You need to decide whether you want live music or other types of entertainment like dancers, comedians or magicians. Providing these sorts of things will help keep the audience engaged throughout the whole ceremony and will make it more interesting in between awards sections.

How are you going to present your awards?

One of the most important parts of an awards ceremony is the host. You need to decide whether you’re going to host the ceremony yourself or hire someone else to do it. 

The role and responsibilities of a ceremony host can include:

You’ll also want to decide whether you want to use multiple presenters, for example using different people to host each award like they do at the Brit Awards or just use your host to announce each section. 

Another thing to consider is whether the host will make a speech at the beginning and end of the ceremony and how long the award winner can speak for when they make their speech. 

Do you want to create a programme?

Creating a programme for the ceremony will allow both your staff and guests to know how the event is going to run on the day. Printing these out and giving them to guests can also act as a souvenir, making your ceremony even more memorable and can be a great way to get attendees to post about your event on social media.. 

When creating a programme you should consider factors like:

How are you going to promote the awards ceremony?

Promoting your ceremony is important as you don’t want all your hard work planning the ceremony to go to waste if no one knows it’s happening. When it comes to promoting your ceremony you’ll want to think about:

How are you going to invite your guests?

When it comes to inviting your guests you should consider how you’re going to invite them. You should also think about who you’re inviting and they’re preferred form of contact. For example you could send invitations through the post, by email or text or phone them up to invite them personally.

Why choose Millennium Point for your next awards ceremony? 

Here at Millennium Point we have multiple rooms that could be perfect for your next awards ceremony. We’re also close to bus, train and airport transport routes, as well as parking areas, making it easy for you and your guests to get to your event. 

Rooms that could be great for your next event include our Auditorium (Birmingham’s biggest screen), the Platform (perfect for dinner awards) and Atrium. 

Get in touch with us today to see how we can help you find the perfect room for your next awards ceremony. 

When it comes to your business, providing training for your staff is so important, as it helps them and your business grow and develop. However, we know that looking for a training venue can be quite stressful. 

Due to this we’ve put together a few tips to help you choose the right venue for your next training session.

Consider where you want your venue to be located

When looking for a venue you’ll want to choose a location that’s easy to find and has good transport links. It would be ideal to choose somewhere close to a train station, bus stops and the motorway. It’s also a good idea to choose somewhere that’s close to the staff’s usual commute so that it doesn’t take too long to travel.

How much are you willing to pay? 

When looking for somewhere to hold your training session you need to consider your budget and how much money the venue will take out of your budget.  When creating your budget you’ll need to think about:

What facilities are included in the venue?

When looking for a training venue, it’s a good idea to write down what features you need to make the event run smoothly. This checklist could include:

What size venue do you need?

When figuring out what size venue you need, you will want to consider how many people are attending and how big of a room you need or if you need more than one room.

It’s important to consider these as well as required facilities so that you find the perfect building for you to help everything run smoothly and efficiently.

Will you need to provide catering?

If your event is going to take place all day you’ll probably want to consider catering options. You can provide things like sandwiches, salads, cakes, teas and biscuits etc. A buffet style lunch is ideal as it will give a variety of options for people to pick and choose from allowing you to easily cater for dietary requirements. It will also help people focus on the training session if it is taking place for several hours. 

Should you use an event organiser?

A great way to reduce the pressure of hosting a training event is to use an event organiser as they will help you plan your event properly. This will help everything run smoothly and help your staff get the most out of the training as possible.

Does the venue come with parking?

This is obvious, however not all venues come with parking. Picking a venue with parking, or even better free parking, will make it more easily accessible for staff, making it more likely for you to get a better turnout for your training session. 

Have you considered accessibility? 

Accessibility is massively important as it gives everyone the opportunity to access training, including providing access for those with disabilities. When looking for accessible buildings you should see if they provide things like ramps for wheelchair access as well as providing accessible seating. 

Do you want to provide breakout spaces? 

Breakout spaces are a great idea, especially if your training event lasts all day. This gives staff the opportunity to take breaks and move into different spaces so they can differentiate between where they’re learning and where they’re not. This will help people make the most out of your training session and increase the likelihood of them retaining information from the session.

Why choose Millennium Point to host your next training event? 

Here at Millennium Point we have multiple new rooms perfect for your next training event. Our Curzon rooms 1-5 are great for smaller training sessions (can cater for up to 60 people) and our Curzon Suite is ideal for larger events. We also offer catering options for your events.

If you’re looking for an even larger room then our Express room can fit up to 100 delegates and features 3 small boardrooms that can be used as offices, speaker green rooms or quiet spaces. 

Get in touch with us today to see how we can help you find the right room for your next training session.

Exhibitions are a great way to show off your products or skills, while being able to network and meet new potential clients. They’re also a great way to reach new audiences and boost sales.

Due to this we’ve put together a few tips to help you plan your next event.

How to plan an exhibition 

Art exhibitions are successful when planned carefully. This includes creating a visual plan and focusing on your marketing. When planning an exhibition you should consider:

If you’re looking to plan a trade show you want to make sure you fully promote your unique selling point (USP). When planning your show you want to think about:

Other things to consider include:

The venue 

Your venue determines the number of guests and exhibitors you can have at your event. You also want to make sure you choose a venue that reinforces the image you want to portray. 

Marketing

When planning an exhibition you need to consider how much money and effort you will need to put toward marketing. This will include marketing to exhibitors and attendees to persuade them on why they should attend/take part. 

Are you going to include any special guests?

Guest speakers are great for conducting seminars or talks . This can provide great talking points throughout the exhibition helping to boost networking and increase your clientele list. 

How are attendees going to get there?

When looking for a venue it’s important that you book somewhere that has easy access, transport links and parking. This will help increase attendee numbers as they’re more likely to attend if they can get there easily. 

Why host an exhibition in Birmingham? 

There are many benefits to hosting an exhibition in Birmingham, such as it having great access to transport links. There are many bus and train routes, as well as Birmingham airport being a short distance from the city centre for those travelling internationally. 

There’s also a wide range of hotel options to choose from to suit all budgets. This is especially useful if you have people travelling long distances.

Furthermore, Birmingham has loads of cultural spots to offer, such as museums and galleries, which is especially great if you’re holding an art exhibition as this will further emphasise the event you’re holding. 

Another great reason for holding your exhibition in Birmingham is the large number of businesses in the area. This poses great opportunities to increase attendance and further boost networking and future client opportunities.

Why choose Millennium Point to host your exhibition?

Millennium Point is situated right in the city centre of Birmingham near Moor Street and New Street station, as well as having lots of bus routes nearby. Those travelling by plane can also go straight from Birmingham International station to New Street station in just a couple of minutes, making it an ideal location to hold your next exhibition.

Hosting your exhibition at Millennium Point is also a great option as it’s close to various hotels like the Clayton Hotel, meaning attendees don’t need to travel far before and after the exhibition ends.

Millennium Point is also introducing 6 new spaces located next to the Auditorium that are perfect for training, presentation and exhibition purposes. If you’re looking for a space to hold smaller training events or presentations then our Curzon rooms 1-5 are perfect for you. However, if you’re looking for a larger space then our Curzon Suite might be a better option for you. 

Get in touch with us today to discover what room is perfect for you.

Background

Wood End Primary School aims to inspire confidence, happy, resilient learners who strive to be the best they can be through an engaging curriculum delivered in an inclusive environment.

They strive for positive partnerships between school, parents and their community and a shared understanding of their aims, being approachable, authentic, and honest.

Aim of the project

The school wanted to purchase Lego Spike Kits, with enough for a whole class  to work in pairs to create and program moving models.

They wanted a project that would help the pupils develop a love of engineering and computing, alongside an appreciation of how these skills are used in the world around them. From this the children would see the impact of STEM and the career options available to them.

What impact has it made?

The club has started with great success. The pupils have already made and controlled various  Lego  structures – such as carousels. The club also has a great intake of female pupils, who are traditionally underrepresented in the field, and are interested in learning how to code.

On some sessions, the school branched out invites to the pupils’ parents to join in.

One parent from the session said ‘STEM’s important to children’s education because it gives them a big scope of careers when they’re older’.

Their first project was how to program a space rover to move and detect an object. At the beginning, the pupils will explore the purpose of a rover looking at real life examples of Mars rover and the engineers who have created them. They then went on to build and control a rover including a motion and tilt sensor and programmed the model using coding and debugging.

After the initial project, the pupils will launch the design and make competition on how to find solutions to solve ‘real life’ problems. Along with parent workshops, they will also invite people from the industry to talk about their STEM career choice and have Q&A sessions with the pupils. Parents will also be invited to judge the winner of the competition.

Get involved with Millennium Point Trust

Our multi-award-winning charitable trust invests more than £3m each year towards furthering STEM education within the West Midlands.

Over the years we have provided funding to Scholarships, Grants, and projects that benefit the region. Find out more about our Trust and see how you can get involved here.

 

Here at Millennium Point we’re proud to call Eastside our home. Our corner of Birmingham city centre is bursting with activities, culture, and more.

Struggling for Easter plans? We’ve put together all the eggciting things Eastside has to offer over the bank holiday weekend from family activities to places to grab a refreshing pint.

For the family

Fancy going on a scientific journey of discovery? Plan a visit to the award-winning Thinktank Science Museum. Explore space by visiting the Planetarium, where the theatre is under a dome, specially designed to help you explore astronomy, space and the night sky. Have fun in MiniBrum, and don’t forget to head outside to the Science Garden, which is packed full of surprises and fun activities for the whole family. Visit their what’s on page to find out more about any special events they have planned this Easter weekend.

Eastside City Park opened in 2012. It was the first major, new city centre park in Birmingham for more than 130 years. With benches and picnic tables, it’s the perfect place to grab some food and have a picnic.

Fancy a drink?

There are some excellent choices of pubs in Eastside, whether you just want a pint, or some food there will be a space by the bar for you.

On the other side of Eastside Park is authentic Victorian pub The Eagle and Ball. Ran by BCUSU, but open to all, it’s a proper public house! There’s something for everyone to enjoy on their food and drinks menu and entertainment nights. Also, they sell the cheapest coffee on campus and have different deals every day. Every penny you spend also goes back into the Students’ Union at BCU. Although, rumour has it, it’s a little haunted, it is still one to visit!

Looking for a pub in Birmingham where chilling out with friends and enjoying the good things in life like beer, burgers, and sport on TV are the order of the day? Well, The Gosta Green is the pub for you. The pub also has pool table, and a beer garden to hang out in. Keep an eye out for their legendary yearly Wrestlemania night which is definitely one to book Monday morning off for.

For the coffee connoisseurs

Millennium Point is the home of authentic Italian food experts based on level 2. Open from 8am – 5pm, Mulino is owned by the Brummie favourite Laghi’s Deli, so expect to find a tantalising selection of delicious pizzas, bakery items and more.

Keep up to date with Millennium Point’s Events

Stay tuned for all the latest announcements on our What’s On including our first drink-themed film screening of the year – The Greatest Showman with Wine. Whether our clients’ events, or our own, there’s always something going on at Millennium Point.

If you’re visiting out landmark public building over the holidays, don’t forget to share your experience on social media and tag @millenniumpoint on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram!

Find more interesting content from Millennium Point over at our news section, or follow us for daily updates on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn with @MillenniumPoint. Millennium Point is a landmark public building and multi-award-winning events venue in the Eastside of Birmingham City centre. Profits from our commercial activity are invested by the Millennium Point Charitable Trust into projects, events and initiatives which support the growth of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) and education in the West Midlands.

STEM education is an important part of a school’s curriculum and has a huge impact on the way that children learn and develop.

This blog will explore everything you need to know about STEM education and learning, to help raise awareness of its importance and encourage others to implement it.

What is STEM? 

STEM stands for science, technology, engineering and maths. However, rather than teaching the subjects separately, STEM education uses a combined approach to encourage and better equip students to consider careers within the industry. 

Why is STEM important?

STEM is important in teaching children the skills that are essential to their development. 

With the constant improvements and new developments in technology, it is becoming more important for children to learn skills such as computer programming and computational thinking as well as media literacy. 

Furthermore, STEM encourages children to ask questions and solve real world problems, helping to prepare them for later education and adult life. 

Benefits of STEM

STEM education has many benefits for children, such as:

Encourages creativity

STEM education encourages creativity and innovation, allowing new technologies, solutions and ideas to emerge. 

The teaching of STEM not only helps children’s development and learning but also helps the population and planet to develop as well.

Builds resilience

The teaching of STEM allows students to experiment and experience failure. Due to this, children become resilient through learning to get back up and try again. 

Promotes teamwork

STEM education doesn’t split children apart because of their varying education levels. Instead, it encourages children of all levels to work together to learn and develop new skills, while building a community that’s willing to learn new things.

Encourages use of technology

STEM teaches the power of technology and innovation, helping children learn various technologies. This will also promote adaptability, allowing children to take on challenges head on rather than hesitating or worrying about changes.

Impacts of early STEM education

Early STEM education helps children build various important skills that they may otherwise miss if they weren’t taught it.

Benefits of early STEM education include:

Hands on experience

It would be a mistake to think that STEM education only focuses on equations and complex experiments. It also focuses on hands-on experiences, providing a gateway into subjects like maths and science. 

Early STEM teaching could include things like making paper aeroplanes or building a rocket out of recycled materials. This helps to embed creative, problem solving and ideation skills, allowing children to further develop throughout education.

Memory retention

Teaching STEM at an early age can help children improve their memory retention. STEM education has a typical retention rate of 80-90% whereas traditional education only has a 5% retention rate.

Building children’s memory retention as early as possible gives them a great headstart when it comes to learning and developing throughout their education. 

Language development 

STEM education can help children’s language development. This will help increase vocabulary and help improve children’s conversational skills, while helping them learn a new subject.

Collaborative education

Many STEM activities involve collaborative learning, encouraging children to work as a team and develop conversational and explanatory skills. 

Prepares them for higher education

All of the skills children learn in early STEM education prepares them with skills needed for higher education. 

Instilling curiosity and creativity will also encourage children to study STEM subjects in further education and develop future careers.  

How can parents implement STEM in early childhood?

STEM education can be easily implemented into a child’s daily routine. This can be done through:

How to implement STEM into the school curriculum

STEM education is essential for children’s learning and development, which is why it needs to be implemented into schools’ curriculum more often. Stem education can be taught in a variety of ways, such as:

Project based learning

This involves children working on a project for a specific period of time where they can learn new skills and apply their knowledge to solve a problem. Teachers should allow children to take full control of the project, which could involve building a model bridge or designing an app.

Inquiry based learning

Inquiry based learning encourages students to ask as many questions as they like relating to the subject they’re learning. This helps them develop critical thinking, questioning and problem solving skills.

This is another student led learning practice that involves teachers prompting reflection and curiosity.

How to engage students in STEM

Currently, STEM industries have a small number of graduates, however a lack of diversity is an even bigger issue for the industry.

So how can we engage more students in STEM to help reduce the diversity gap and increase the number of STEM graduates?

Diversity and inclusion

Research shows that after GCSEs only 35% of female students decide to carry on studying STEM subjects, with only 25% of females carrying on with it after university. 

To encourage more females to study STEM subjects we could:

To learn more about the gender gap in STEM and what can be done to help close it, read our blog.

Tips for teachers

Introducing STEM focussed lessons into the curriculum can be slightly daunting. That’s why we’ve written a few tips to help those teaching STEM lessons.

What is Millennium Point doing to support STEM education?

The STEM round table was created by The Millennium Point Charitable Trust to bring together STEM industries, primary and secondary education, further education and not-for-profits in STEM sectors. 

The working group aims:

Get in touch with our Trust Team today to see how you can get involved in supporting the growth of STEM education.

Scholarships often include interview stages to allow the scholarship body to get to know you further. Due to this, it’s important to prepare for any questions that may be asked. This will help you be as successful as possible.  

This blog will explore commonly asked interview questions and provide you with possible answers.

1. Tell us about yourself

This question is a great way for the interviewer to learn more about you as a person, as well as allowing you to establish why you deserve the scholarship over anyone else. You can start off with general information about yourself, but should use specifics later on, such as talking about your skillset and any experience that sets you apart. 

Example answer: I’m really interested in the way in which things work, which is why I have chosen to undertake a degree in engineering. I’ve already undertaken work experience at a local car garage learning the basics of engineering, which helped me develop problem solving and organisational skills.

2. Why did you choose this scholarship? 

Your response should highlight your passion for your degree and how the scholarship will help with your future. 

Example answer: I chose this scholarship because it will help me achieve my future academic and career goals. The scholarship will support me throughout my degree enabling me to develop a career in engineering where I can focus on creating innovative solutions that will help people in the future. 

3. Why do you deserve this scholarship?

Use this as an opportunity to be honest about your intentions within your degree, scholarship and future career. This is also another chance to let the interviewer get to know you more. 

Example answer: I’m particularly interested in cyber security and with technology constantly being improved and cyber attacks being more likely, it’s urgent that new cyber crime solutions are found. This scholarship will not only help me through my university journey financially but will help me find new ways to protect people.

4. What has been your greatest achievement?

Talk about a significant achievement or project you’ve worked on and why it’s important to you.

Example answer: Last year I worked on a fundraising project that helped raise money for those affected by homelessness. This resonated with me, as I want to try and make as big of an impact as possible on people’s lives, whether this is within my degree or outside of it.

Other questions could include:

How to answer interview questions

As the saying goes, by failing to prepare you prepare to fail. Answering interview question can be fairly easy once you’ve completed the following steps:

Always practice!

Practising your interview answers can go a long way. For example, it can help you feel more confident during your interview, allowing you to make the best possible first impression. 

However, you don’t want to memorise your answers as this will feel unnatural and will appear obvious to the interviewer.

Do your research

Researching the scholarship body to understand their values and goals is extremely important as it will allow you to tailor your answers. Taking note of eligibility criteria will also allow you to highlight areas you apply to, demonstrating why you’re a great candidate.

Consider using the STAR method

Using the STAR method allows you to cover all areas, helping you give the best possible answers.

The STAR method stands for:

Millennium Point Charitable Trust’s scholarship

Our Charitable Trust has partnered with Birmingham City University to provide a fully funded undergraduate degree at their Faculty of Computing, Engineering and the Built Environment. 

Your scholarship application is the first point of contact you have with the scholarship body. The decision on whether you progress to the next level is solely based on your application, making it imperative that you write the best application possible. 

To help ensure success, we’ve put together 5 tips to help you write a great scholarship application.

Check you’re eligible

Before writing your application, you want to make sure you’re actually eligible, as you don’t want to waste time applying to scholarships you’re not eligible for.

Eligibility criteria will also give you an idea of the goals the scholarship is trying to meet and the value they want to provide. They also give you a good idea on whether you’re likely to receive the scholarship and what information you should include in your application.

To learn more about what you can do before writing your application, read our blog.

Write an introduction 

Including an opening paragraph in your application will allow you to showcase why you should receive the scholarship you’re applying to. 

Your introduction should include information about you, such as:

When describing yourself you should discuss your educational background and your passion behind your chosen degree. 

Outline your academic interests and academic goals

Due to scholarships being an investment in students’ futures, it is important to give the board the opportunity to understand how the scholarship will help you in the present and the future, as they like to understand the impact it will have on your goals.

Furthermore, scholarships are often awarded to financially support students through their academic journey, highlighting the need for you to demonstrate the passion you have for your degree as well as your future academic goals.

When writing your application you basically want to highlight why you should be awarded the scholarship over anyone else. Discussing what you plan to do post education can help cement your passion for your academic subject to the scholarship board, increasing your chances of being successful.

Proofread your application

It’s so important to proofread your application before your submission, whether this is completed by you, someone else or both. Getting a second pair of eyes on your application is always beneficial as it will help you pick out any mistakes or areas of improvements you can make.

This will help to strengthen your application and increase your chances of receiving the scholarship.x

Scholarship application template

[Full Name]

[Phone number] [Email address]

Dear [Scholarship review committee]

I’m applying to this scholarship because [include details about how the scholarship offering body aligns with your views and goals] [You can also talk about your current educational experience, for example are you currently studying a degree or are you planning on studying a degree in the future] 

During my education and/or work experience I gained skills such as… through undertaking tasks like… [Discuss significant academic or personal achievements that have given you skills that relate to the scholarship you’re applying to]

I have a passion for [degree name] as it has impacts on… The scholarship will help me achieve goals like… [solidify your motivations for applying and passions for your degree to] 

Thank you for taking the time to consider my application. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Best regards,

[Full name]

[Signature] 

Millennium Point Charitable Trust’s Scholarship

If you’re looking to study a STEM subject at university, you could benefit from our scholarship. We have partnered with Birmingham City University to offer one person a fully funded university undergraduate degree every year. 

You could be eligible if:

To find out more about our scholarship, visit our website today.