Light your future and apply to our Masters Scholarship Programme

We help talented people develop their full potential. If you’re looking to continue your education or redirect your career path, you could consider applying for our International Master Scholarship Program.  To find out more, read about the experience of our graduate, Francesca Kennedy. 

Scholarship Programme
Graduate, Francesca Kennedy 

I left high school straight after my GCSEs and worked in temporary roles over eight years. I always wanted to study at university but never took it further as I didn’t have A-Levels. Then I saw an advert outside the local college for an Access to Higher Education course aimed at mature students who want to go to university but don’t have standard qualifications, and applied. I completed the Social Sciences Access course, and then I studied Teaching English as a second Language with Russian for my undergraduate as at the time I wanted to study literature and learn a language. 

At 25, I started university. I completed a project focused on teaching English for Aviation Purposes which led me to the idea of creating a website to help pilots and Air Traffic Controllers to learn Aviation English. The content was easy to write but I had never coded and had no idea where to start. I completed a short Introduction to Web Development course over ten weeks, it was fully funded and aimed at getting more women into STEM. On the course, I was surrounded by some inspiring women who encouraged me to seriously consider technology as a career path. I enjoyed the short course so much that I took their advice.

I found the Software Development MSc conversion course at the University of Glasgow and was offered a place. The Scottish Power Masters Scholarship offered the funding that I needed. The support from the programme reduced my worries about finance, trying to balance working, studying, assessments, and family. In addition, the graduate scheme on completion gave me the opportunity to work in one of the biggest companies in the country and there was even further assistance from the business through mentorship.

At the moment I am working within the Security Operations team in UK IT and have been heavily involved with the penetration test process. The programme continues to provide me with opportunities to develop, including the weekly 1-2-1 sessions with my manager and regular mentor sessions with the Head of the Department to improve my technical knowledge. I am glad I signed up to the Scholarship Programme with ScottishPower and I now have a clear career path in a company that is constantly growing and innovating.