Employers and scholarship panels look for people with leadership, communication skills, and energy in addition to academic ability. Make these skills obvious to future employers through extracurricular activities.

Build these skills early. Different people start to show interest and evidence in these skill sets at different ages, but it is always preferable to start early. Nowadays competition for CV-enhancing roles is keen in school and university – early experience helps you get the roles and do in them.

Give expression to your interests. In most schools and universities, there are roles and organizations to cater to a range of interests. Example: representative council, choir, magazine, sports, raising money for charity.

Create your own leadership opportunity. Form your own special interest organization, sports team, or uniformed body.

Look for opportunities outside the formal education system.