Reported by Liam Lai, WGAHK Vice-Chairman (Scholarship & Student Welfare)

Having demonstrated its experience and ability in the area of gifted education when it ran the highly regarded UK Government’s “National Academy for Gifted and Talented Youth” for 5 years, Warwick launched its own gifted education programme in August 2007.  Warwick International Gateway for Gifted Youth (IGGY) is an organisation aimed at the top 5% of young people aged 11 to 19 in terms of ability and potential.   

The first IGGY Summer U was held at Warwick from 27 July to 9 August 2008 and saw more than 100 gifted young people aged 11 to 16 from across the world take part in the 2-week residential programme.  Participants took part in one of the four courses offered:

1. The World of Mathematics: Solving Global Issues Through Mathematics

2. Medical Sciences

3. Enterprise: Global Young Enterpreneurs

4. Creative Writing and Comparative Culture

The IGGY Summer U 2008 programme fee was GBP800. At the application stage, the University announced that a few international bursaries, including 2 full bursaries for Hong Kong, were available for financially disadvantaged students.

In support of the University’s initiatives in gifted education, and also the notion that learning opportunities for talented students should not be limited to only those who can afford it, WGAHK launched a special award to help students cover primarily their travel cost to the UK for the IGGY Summer U 2008:

The WGAHK Gifted Youth Award 2008

A maximum of 2 awards (worth HK$10,000 each) are available for application. The award is given on the basis of need. It is open to students who are permanent resident of Hong Kong, and who have successfully completed the Warwick IGGY Summer U 2008 programme with a full international bursary granted by the University of Warwick.

The decision to provide the gifted youth award, out of the WGAHK Scholarship Fund, was made by the WGAHK Executive Committee after seeking input from the scholarship fund major donars.

A total of 9 Hong Kong students have attended the Warwick IGGY Summer U 2008, out of which 2 students were being awarded the university international bursary and the WGAHK Gifted Youth Award 2008:

The award ceremony has taken place on 13 September 2008 during a University reception that included a career sharing session.

The WGAHK Scholarship was set up in 2002. It is the first Warwick scholarship established by local alumni associations outside the U.K. If you would like to support the scholarship with donations, please write to us at scholarship@warwick.org.hk, or simply fill in an online donation form on the WGAHK website.