Meet Pwyll who has aspirations of becoming a pilot.
A Cardiff teen who dreams of becoming a commercial pilot has joined a Welsh Government initiative to encourage outstanding Welsh students to achieve their academic potential.
17-year-old Pwyll Brynach from Canton was invited to be part of the Welsh Government-funded Seren Network after receiving five A*s, four As, three Bs and a C in his GCSE exams. He now hopes that the programme can help him achieve his dream of going to flight school.
The Seren Network was set up with the aim of assisting Wales’ brightest students to fulfil their potential academically, including applying to the UK’s leading universities.
Ysgol Gyfun Plasmawr student Pwyll says that even though his aim is to target aviation school rather than university, he still believes Seren will be a great help on the road to his dream career.
He said: “I’ve wanted to be a pilot from a very young age. I was always the child that wanted to see the cockpit whenever we went on holiday when I was little.
“My aim is to go to flight school rather than go to university, as that’s where you receive the necessary training to become a pilot. It’s an eighteen month basic course, with a further 3 months or so of training to fly particular types of aircraft, and at the end of it I would love to become a commercial pilot. It is also the case that increasingly degree courses are offered alongside flight training so this may also be a route that I’ll explore in considering my options during the next few years.
“If I wasn’t going to go to flight school, I would be considering studying history or Welsh at Oxford or Cambridge, as those are my favourite subjects, and both my parents studied at Oxford too.
“Although my path is slightly different to most students on the Seren Network, I know it will still be a great help to me, especially as the admissions process to flight school is so rigorous. I’ll have to go through assessments, interviews and aptitude tests, so I’ll be taking a particular interest in all the Seren sessions on admissions.
“I also hope that being part of Seren will help me build my confidence, meet new people, and allow me to improve my written and communication skills, which are all elements that will play an important role in my journey to flight school. My dream is to eventually become a pilot for a well-regarded airline like British Airways, and I believe that the skills I’ll learn through the network will help me to get there.”
The Seren Network was initially established following a report by Oxbridge Ambassador, Paul Murphy, former MP for Torfaen and now Lord Murphy, who was appointed by the Welsh Government to examine the decline in Welsh applications and admissions to Oxford and Cambridge. There are over 2,000 students on the network across 11 different hubs.
The network aims to increase Welsh representation not just at Oxbridge, but at the Russell Group and Sutton Trust 30 universities, by providing a two-year programme of information, advice and guidance, as well as workshops, lectures and visits to some of the UK’s top universities.
For more information about the Seren Network, visit www.gov.wales/seren
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