If you'd like to talk to us about supporting a particular area of student development, please email alumni@exeter.ac.uk or call +44 (0)1392 723141.
Any amount can make a difference to our students. Donations to our funds are combined for the greatest impact via scholarships, bursaries and hardships so every single gift is put to good use, no matter the size.
If you would like to make a larger donation to support a specific initiative, please get in touch with us to discuss the impact you would like to have. In addition to scholarships and bursaries, you can choose to support research, outreach and additional academic activities.
- £9,000 and up can provide undergraduate bursaries to help a talented student come to Exeter
- £27,000 and up can provide postgraduate bursaries to help a passionate student advance research
- £50,000 can support an ongoing research project into social mobility
Open up opportunities for everyone
Too many children grow up without the vital financial support and opportunities to pursue a university education, believing that university isn’t an option for them. The figures from 'State of the Nation 2017: Social Mobility in Great Britain' make stark reading and demonstrate the size of the challenge. Just 5% of children eligible for free school meals gain five A grades at GCSE. The most advantaged 18 year olds are two and a half times more likely to attend university, and six times more likely to attend a selective university. Only 6% of doctors, 12% of chief executives and 12% of journalists today are from working-class origins. As stated in that report:
"There remains an entrenched and unbroken correlation between social class and educational success: the income gap is larger than either the ethnicity gap or the gender gap in schools. In short, Britain’s deep social mobility problem, for this generation of young people in particular, is getting worse not better."
At Exeter we are working hard to make sure the University is open to everyone with the academic ability, irrespective of their background or financial circumstances.
At the University of Exeter, we believe that everyone with the potential to benefit from higher education should have equal opportunity to do so. Our goals for your university are to widen participation in higher education, to raise pupil attainment, and to offer our students a level playing field so that they can enjoy the best possible outcomes both during their time at Exeter and as graduates.
That is why we've set up the Exeter Scholars programme, which aims to encourage, develop and support young people who are under-represented in higher education and often from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Exeter Scholars is a free programme aimed at students in the South West from year 9, and nationally from year 10, through to year 13, giving young people from across the country the opportunity to find out more about university, develop a passion for a chosen subject and gain first-hand experience of student life.
Working directly with young people, their teachers and schools locally, regionally and nationally, we deliver the targeted support that these young people need in order to get inspired about higher education. Getting young people involved in hands-on, discovery-based learning both in their schools and on campus can turn indifference into aspiration and then reality, helping them to feel university is for them. We also recognise where a student’s educational background may have had an impact on their attainment and take this into account when offering places at Exeter.
The other barrier many students face when trying to access higher education is financial. A number of generous alumni currently support students through the Senior Scholars Awards Programme, giving them the freedom and opportunity to focus on their studies. This means they can benefit fully from the high standard of teaching at Exeter and have the resources to buy the materials they need. However awards and scholarships mean more than just financial assistance. The recipients of this support gain the confidence and belief that they can aim higher, be ambitious and push themselves to flourish and succeed.
If you would like to know more, please contact Mark Howlett, Development Manager in Global Advancement on m.howlett@exeter.ac.uk
The University of Exeter has launched a Sanctuary Scholarships scheme, which is available for people who are seeking asylum, have limited leave to remain, ‘humanitarian protection’ or refugee status and International Care Leavers.
We are a global institution – we have students from over 140 countries across the world and are in touch with alumni in 183. We offer a truly international student experience as well as a safe learning environment in one of the most beautiful parts of the UK. This is an experience we wish to be open to all.
We are determined to support these vulnerable people at a time when borders are closing around the world and ensure that they do not miss out on higher education. The Exeter Sanctuary Scholarships give displaced people who cannot access student finance a chance to study here by covering the fees and living costs of doing so.
A new scholarship scheme set-up in honour of former Vice-Chancellor Professor Sir Steve Smith, targeting applicants from disadvantaged backgrounds, will support six students to attend the University of Exeter each year.
The Sir Steve Smith Scholarships have been funded by University of Exeter alumni and friends. More than £1 million has been raised which will support one scholar in each of the University’s six Colleges at any one time, each receiving an award of £6,000 per year for the duration of their studies. The donations have funded a permanent endowment, which means the scholarships will be available in perpetuity for maximum impact.
The scholarships were established in honour of Sir Steve, a leader who steered Exeter for 18 years to become one of the UK’s fastest growing and rapidly rising research universities before retiring in August 2020. Sir Steve was the first member of his family to attend university, and the scholarships will target talented students from backgrounds similar to his own to achieve their potential at Exeter and far into the future.
You can still make a difference by donating to this fund.