While Tim loved physics and maths at school, he was never academically brilliant and left school on completion of his A-Levels to attend the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. Tim was always passionate about flying, and after serving in the British Army Air Corps as an officer and test pilot, he decided to apply to become an astronaut, seeing the space station as a testbed for cutting edge technologies. After the gruelling year-long selection process, he was accepted from 9,000 applicants as one of six new astronauts to join the European Space Agency. This led to Tim going on a six-month space mission and becoming a spokesperson for astronauts worldwide. During Tim’s mission, his education outreach programme reached over two million schoolchildren and continues to inspire students today. In 2019, Tim won the Royal Academy of Engineering’s Rooke Award for the public promotion of engineering.