New scholarships for disadvantaged Black British students

Cardiff University is collaborating with the Cowrie Scholarship Foundation (CSF) to provide scholarships for financially disadvantaged Black British students.

The first scholarship will be offered from September 2022 and as part of the collaboration, the University will cover tuition fees with the CSF providing funding to cover maintenance and living costs through business and individual donors.

The Foundation will also offer mentorship, role models, and resilience programmes for scholarship students to ensure they make the most of their study opportunities.

Cardiff University Vice-Chancellor, Professor Colin Riordan said: “We believe that education is for all, and we are working hard to ensure that students from a variety of diverse backgrounds can study with us.

“Black British students are still under-represented at our university. There are several reasons for this, but one part of this complex jigsaw is the financial cost.

“We are therefore delighted to announce our partnership with the Cowrie Scholarship Foundation to help remove one of the biggest barriers students face when considering higher education.

“We look forward to welcoming our first student in the autumn and supporting them to achieve and succeed.” Cardiff University is one of 17 universities that are partnering with the Cowrie Scholarship Foundation which aims to fund up to 100 disadvantaged Black British students through UK universities in the next decade.

The Foundation hopes to improve inclusion in higher education and to provide opportunities to students who may experience financial barriers.

The Cowrie Scholarship Foundation is a registered charity that helps eligible students attend a range of British universities, regardless of what subject they decide to study.

Professor Richard Oreffo, Professor of Musculoskeletal Science at the University of Southampton and Founder of the Foundation said: “Access to university should not be limited by race or social class, but unfortunately this is not the case for all in our society.

“We are delighted in this new partnership with Cardiff University, providing scholarships for Black British students over the next decade which has the opportunity to help transform lives.”

Three scholarships will be offered over the next 10 years. More information on applying to study at Cardiff University is available here.