From September 2021, King’s will work in partnership with the Cowrie Scholarship Foundation (CSF), a new charitable foundation, to offer scholarships for disadvantaged Black British students to study at the university.

Under this scheme, the university will cover the tuition fees for at least three students over a decade from 2021, with the Foundation covering maintenance and living costs through links with business and individual donors. With the aim of addressing the disparity in degree attainment between Black and White UK-domiciled students, these scholarships will be available to British students of African or Caribbean heritage who hold an offer to study a full time undergraduate degree at King’s. The partnership with CSF is part of King’s widening participation commitment to improving the Black and minority ethnic student experience and attainment, and our scholarships provision.

On announcing the partnership, Vice Principal (Education), Professor Nicola Phillips, said: 'I am delighted and proud that we are only one of small number of universities to offer this opportunity. Inclusion is a value at the centre of everything we do at King’s, and we believe that as a diverse community, we can help build a fully inclusive anti-racist society. Access to a university education must not be limited by race, ethnicity, social class, gender, or circumstances. However, this is not the case for everyone in today’s society. We are very aware of how much more needs to be done, but we are excited to be taking a further positive step forward by partnering with the Cowrie Scholarship Foundation to provide scholarships for Black British students who might otherwise be unable to benefit from an university education. We look forward to welcoming them to our diverse community.’

Professor ‘Funmi Olonisakin, Vice-Principal (International), said; ‘We are proud of our diverse community at King’s and inclusion runs central to our vision as a world leading university, serving the needs of society. As an educational organisation we have been examining how we can improve inclusion and take even more steps to making a positive change and ensure King’s is a welcoming place to all. This important new initiative provides an opportunity to harness education for positive change and supports our commitment and ongoing work to advance race equality at our university.’

The CSF’s mission is to fund 100 disadvantaged Black British students through leading UK universities. The initial target is to raise £500,000 to start funding the first tranche of students and then continue to raise funds, eventually forming an ecosystem, and then to finance scholarships through endowments.

The Cowrie Scholarship Foundation is a registered charity which helps eligible students attend a range of leading British universities, regardless of what subject they decide to study. It grants awards with an established board and strict compliance with standard scholarship guidelines. Applications can be made online with set selection criteria and an advisory board makes the final selection. The Cowrie Scholarship Foundation also aims to provide more than just money, and will offer mentorship, role models, and resilience programmes for the students who benefit from scholarships to make the most of the opportunity. For more information and to find out how to donate and support the Foundation visit www.cowriescholarshipfoundation.org.uk and gf.me/u/x8zbkk 

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. While many issues are at play in why more Black British students do not attend leading universities, the Cowrie Scholarship Foundation seeks to address a significant barrier: the financial cost of university education.'