Very, Very sorry to hear that RAF Flying Scholarships are no longer. When I was 18 they were for a full PPL course and they were looked on not just as a way of interesting kids in the RAF as a career but also as character building and as encouraging youth to get on with something useful in their lives.
I knew two or three who went on to become commercial pilots. My last couple of years at school there were about eight or nine pilots in the school as a result of flying scholarships. I was failed for one because I am colour blind but my parents were brave enough to put up the money and I got a licence anyway.
I have been outstandingly lucky in my life experiences but I still remember the five weeks spent learning to fly at Kidlington with a group of scholarship recipients as a wonderful experience and a very essential part of growing up. Somehow there is something very special about being 18 and being put in charge of a plane.