CDT and Very Able Pupils

Abstract

The main issue that we have to contend with in considering Very Able Pupils is quite clear. How do we attract them to the subject? By definition, a very able pupil is talented in a number of areas and the pressures are increased by society's view of the practical arts and industry as career alternatives. Too many of our very able pupils see Medicine, Law, 'The City', Commerce, The Classics and the Pure Sciences as the route to respectability. Unless this issue can be resolved and the image of Designing and its financial incentives improved, the high-flyers are likely to continue to beat a path to Oxbridge and maintain the status-quo. Thus we must ask what CDT has to offer them and, conversely, what have they to offer in return. A second question is simply answered. If we as a trading nation are to hold our own in the open market, then we need our brightest brains to become our Designers and 'Captains of Industry'. In addition, those who move into other professions such as Banking will benefit from an understanding a Design and related areas when attempting to appreciate the needs of the budding entrepreneur.