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Working with like-minded donors, we are ensuring that who you are and where you are from is never a barrier to study with us. Our scholarship donors are transforming students’ lives, and the lives of their families and communities.
We have done a lot to challenge ideas about who university is for, making university and key employment sectors accessible for students who have historically been underrepresented at UCL. There is more to do to ensure that we are dismantling the obstacles to study and OVPA is committed to working with the VP Education, the widening participation team, colleagues across UCL and with our donor community to ensure that our doors are opened for the brightest minds, wherever they’re from.
This year we’ve:
raised more than £3m for scholarships
provided 204 students with scholarship support
established new scholarships and continued existing programmes which are focused on underrepresentation in academia and the Professions
Barrington-Hibbert Laws scholarship
The scholarship is open to offer holders from a low-income background and from underrepresented groups.
This was Michael’s first gift to UCL and he said: “While we think about diversity, inclusion, and belonging, social mobility is an area that is all too often overlooked...The legal profession has a strong duty to reflect the society that it serves, and to do this, it must be inclusive of individuals from a range of backgrounds, all of whom should be given the opportunity to excel based entirely on their abilities and commitment rather than their backgrounds.”
Breaking down barriers to a Fine Art education
Research shows that those most likely to experience an arts deficit come from disadvantaged backgrounds, while participation in the arts is shown to fuel social mobility.
The cost of study, uncertain career prospects, and a perception of higher education as exclusive and intimidating, are significant barriers for young people from low socio-economic backgrounds applying to institutions perceived as prestigious. For those who do apply, most candidates are rejected by art schools at the portfolio submission stage as they may not evidence well that they are ready to progress onto further study at university. And we know that under-represented students often receive less support to tailor and arrange their portfolio for a successful interview.
The Slade Widening Participation Summer School will help to diversify the declining talent pipeline by equipping learners with the necessary skills, confidence and networks to bridge the gap between secondary school and further education in fine art.
For the creative industries to flourish, we need to ensure the workforce is reflective of the diverse world in which we live and Sadie Coles HQ’s gift will enable the Slade to play its part in achieving this.
Sadie Coles said: “Sadie Coles HQ is committed to encouraging young people to see a life within the arts as an achievable reality. We are excited to be supporting the Slade’s UCL East Summer School in its dynamic new campus at Stratford, where they are working to accelerate openness and access for those from under-represented backgrounds.”
Kieren Reed, Slade Director, said: "We are very grateful to Sadie Coles HQ for their support of the Slade’s UCL East Summer School. As a world-leading fine art school, we are one part of a cultural ecosystem which comprises all aspects of artistic engagement, and we are proud to be partnering with Sadie Coles HQ who share our commitment to dismantling barriers to access for students who are under-represented in our field. Our UCL East Summer School will empower participants to envisage a future for themselves as the artists of tomorrow and contribute to a growing diverse talent pipeline for the entire industry."
Legacy gift will support medical students in need
John Russell Dalton graduated from UCL in 1955 and then went to live and work as a doctor, first in Australia and later in the US, where he still lives.
John considers himself very lucky to have trained as a doctor at a time when studies were free of charge. As he began to consider what he wanted his legacy to be, he decided that he would like to make a gift to the UCL Medical School to support students in financial hardship.
With his children financially secure, John decided to leave his investment portfolio to the UCL Medical School
John describes his experiences and how they led him to make this decision, saying: “As a result of a recent, sudden close call with death I have had cause to consider the disposal of my worldly finances, property and effects and how I came by them.
“At the end of World War 2 and the inception of the British National Health Service, medical education in England became egalitarian. I, the son of a building tradesman, could aspire to and become a Medical Doctor.
“University College and University College Hospital Medical School gave me the education and training to pursue a fulfilling career in Medicine. It is my will that I give back money that I have made from my medical endeavours to support a student or students who are intellectually able to complete the course but are financially unable to pay for the courses and their own maintenance costs to become medical doctors.”