Student earns place at Prince Harry and Prince William's school

Liv Henderson, who attends Roedean School in Brighton, has landed an army scholarship that will help fund her through university and then guarantee her a spot to train to become an officer at the Royal Military Academy in Sandhurst.

After a gruelling recruitment process, Liv was chosen out of more than 8,000 top sixth formers and undergraduates to get one of the 100 annual scholarships available worth up to £18,000.

Just one per cent of graduates who apply to the Royal Military Academy get a spot, with young men and women from all around the world applying each year to train there.

The Royal Military Academy

The Academy boasts former alumni such as both Prince William and Prince Harry.

She said: "I feel incredibly fortunate to have been offered one of the 100 scholarships that are awarded to the highest performing candidates."

The complete process took around 18 months for Liv, beginning with a basic initial application process that was followed by an online interview with a senior army careers advisor.

Liv then had to travel to ATC Pirbright in Alexander Barracks, Woking, for stringent medical testing.

Liv, from Peacehaven, was invited to the army officer selection board, which took place across three days.

This involved completing physical, cognitive and practical tests, as well as several interviews.

Liv Henderson was granted one of one hundred scholarships by the Royal Military Academy in Sandhurst

The 18-year-old said: "This was by far the most challenging part of the selection process due to the intensity and variety of exercises. For instance, I had to go from a chain of interviews into a bleep test, followed by a command task, with very little break.

"But it was all worth it when I received a letter saying I had been successful in my application and had won a place at Sandhurst, alongside the scholarship. When I get there, I hope to specialize in logistics and military intelligence."

Liv's sporting achievements may have helped her out in the selection process. She was a water polo player from the age of 12 and won bronze as part of the U17 England side in the EU Nations water polo cup in 2019.

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In 2020 she took part in a 22-mile swim off the coast of Sussex after a charity cross-channel relay that she planned to take part in was cancelled due to the pandemic.

She said: "I am a very sporty person and I knew an office job was not for me. Although none of my family have any links with the army, when I started researching it in year 12, the variety and adventure of being an officer appealed to me.

"The more I discovered about it, the more a career as an officer seemed like a perfect fit."

Liv will be heading to the University of Manchester to study geography this autumn, supported by the scholarship.