Highlighting the academic achievements of the 2007 winners does indeed make it appear that GAPAN seems to place too much reliance on academic achievement. However, doing so tells only part of the story – and overlooks the winners’ other achievements.
In view of some of the comments in this thread, I’ve made some inquiries about the GAPAN selection process and, in view of the comparison made with Air League awards, also about their selection process.
NB:
What follows is my understanding of the selection process. It should not be taken as ‘official’ from either organisation.
My comments about the GAPAN selection process apply mainly to the PPL scholarships. (Different factors/considerations may apply to Guild scholarships which help people obtain further aviation qualifications in addition to those they already hold.)
Academic achievements
I'll deal with this first only because the issue has been raised, not because it's the key or over-riding consideration.
Academic performance is a factor, but it’s only one factor.
Within the ‘academic’ section, achievement at various levels counts equally.
ie A youngster who has an impressive collection of GCSEs is not at a disadvantage against an older applicant who may by then have a degree.
NB: Under the ‘scoring’ system used by the Scholarships Committee, a candidate’s academic performance cannot count for more than 25% (maximum) - regardless of how impressive the academic achievements may be.
Motivation and application
The Committee reviews a candidate's motivation and application in several areas, including:
Cadets/UAS
Sporting achievements
Community service
Duke of Edinburgh Award involvement
Motivation (as shown in the two short essays candidates are asked to write)
Part-time occupations, if any. (eg In aviation? ‘Hangar rat’?)
Flying experience, if any.
Pilot aptitude-testing experience, if any.
etc.
NB: These are just examples. It is not meant to be an exhaustive list.
Career aspirations
Whilst the Guild is always interested in the long-term career aspirations of candidates, awards are by no means restricted to those who profess a burning ambition be a professional pilot.
Of equal interest are those candidates who work/intend to work in fields in some way related to aviation, and those who work/intend to work in entirely unconnected occupations but (for example) would like the opportunity to become a flying instructor.
Motivation for this first step in flying is what the Scholarships Committee looks for when considering applications. IMHO, that is entirely reasonable.
__________
Comparison with Air League awards
I discovered that comparison with the Air League Education Trust (ALET) is not particularly helpful because, although the two schemes run in parallel, they have quite different objectives.
ALET:
The objective is to get a large number of youngsters into the air, and in most cases up to solo.
GAPAN:
The objective is that scholarship winners will successfully complete a full training course and obtain a qualification at the end of it. Accordingly, they must select the candidates considered most likely to do so.
ALET: Only 12-15 hours flying.
GAPAN: Fully-funded complete PPL courses.
ALET: 100-120 applications.
GAPAN: Several hundred applications.
ALET: About 50 awards on average.
GAPAN: About 10 awards on average (all scholarhips).
ALET: Almost 50% of applicants receive an award.
GAPAN: About 4% of applicants receive an award (all scholarships).
Bearing in mind the Guild's objective (explained above) its success rate over the years is almost 100% - which suggests the selection process used, even if not perfect, isn’t too far out.
FL