Three Scots pupils win CMS scholarships

Three aspiring law students have won scholarships offered by legal firm CMS to support them during their degree studies. 

As part of an annual UK-wide initiative, CMS awards £2,500 each year to a high-performing Scottish state school pupil from an economically disadvantaged background while they are completing their law degrees. The scholarship is worth £10,000 over the course of a degree. 

Due to the high quality of this year’s finalists, CMS has decided to increase its funding to award three scholarships. This year’s scholarships were awarded to Urooj Chaudhary of Rosshall Academy in Glasgow, Grace Shaw of St Andrew’s Academy in Paisley and Fatemeh Zolghadr of Lourdes Secondary School in Glasgow. 

This year’s scholarship scheme was launched in May, when pupils were initially asked to submit an essay on one of two topics focusing on climate change and the implications of the COVID-19 lockdown. Applicants from 10 schools were shortlisted and invited to attend an interview, meet trainees and experience life as a qualified solicitor, during a virtual assessment week. All finalists also benefit from mentoring by a qualified lawyer and will be offered paid work experience with CMS during their first year of university.

Congratulating the winners, Allan Wernham, managing director of CMS in Scotland, commented: "We have, once again, been hugely impressed with the quality of pupils applying for the support of the CMS Law Scholarships Scheme for Scotland. The quality this year is among the best we have seen in our six years of running this initiative in Scotland. We are delighted, particularly this year, to be able to increase the number of scholarships awarded to three. 

"This is part of our commitment in Scotland to ensuring that when you choose to pursue a career in law, your background doesn’t matter."