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Stormzy to cover costs for 30 more Black students at Cambridge
Stormzy will cover the costs of a further 30 Black students starting at Cambridge (Picture: WireImage)
Stormzy has offered to cover the costs of a further 30 Black students starting at Cambridge over the next three years.
The rapper began providing scholarships at the university in 2018 in order to highlight the relatively low number of Black students attending Oxbridge institutions.
Now a new partnership between Stormzy’s charity, #Merky Foundation, and HSBC UK will ensure that 30 ‘Stormzy Scholars’ will be funded over the next three years.
The £20,000-a-year scholarships will fund tuition fees and maintenance costs for 10 new Black students each year for the duration of their degree courses at the University of Cambridge.
In 2017, the university admitted 58 Black British students to undergraduate degree courses, and this increased to 137 in 2020.
This was a 50 percent increase on the previous year and was attributed to the so-called ‘Stormzy effect’.
In a statement, the 28-year-old said: ‘For 30 more Black students to have the opportunity to study at Cambridge University – the same year our initial 2018 scholars graduate – feels like an incredible milestone.
Cambridge has seen an increase in the number of Black students being admitted (Picture: Getty Images)
‘Thank you to HSBC UK for their significant donation, and, of course, Cambridge University for always backing our mission.
‘I hope this scholarship continues to serve as a small reminder to young black students that the opportunity to study at one of the best universities in the world is theirs for the taking.’
Professor Graham Virgo, senior pro-vice-chancellor at the University of Cambridge, added that the university has ‘seen a significant increase in the number of black students applying to study here’ and they are ‘confident’ to see new students ‘starting out on an exciting journey’.
The first two ‘Stormzy Scholars’ graduated this summer (Picture: Getty Images)
The first two ‘Stormzy Scholars’ graduated this summer, with both achieving a 2:1 degree.
In order to be eligible for the Stormzy scholarship for this year, applicants must have a confirmed place to start at Cambridge in October, and be a UK student of Black or mixed-race heritage.
All applicants will also be given the chance to explore work experience, skills development and mentoring opportunities with HSBC.
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Ian Stuart, chief executive of HSBC UK, which has pledged £2 million to support scholars, said: ‘Education is a great equaliser and a powerful force for change.
‘We are incredibly proud to support the growth of the Stormzy Scholarships at the University of Cambridge, helping remove barriers to higher education as part of our wider commitment to support racial equality in the UK.’
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