In 2017 we awarded two three-year annual bursaries of £10,000 to Coventry University and the University of Warwick. We also awarded a two-year annual bursary of £10,000 to Walsall College.
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Coventry University
Coventry University is using bursary funding of £10,000 per year for three years to support ten male students undertaking a health-related degree such as nursing, operating department practice or occupational therapy.
2017/18 is the first academic year that the NHS and Health Education England will no longer fund health related degree subjects and therefore may impact on the number of people taking up study towards health-related professions.
The university is using Foundation bursary funding to support ten male students with £3,000 per year each as they recognise that men are already underrepresented in the health profession, particularly in nursing and occupational therapy.
Professor Rob S. James, Academic Dean for the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences at Coventry University, said:
“As chair of the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences Athena SWAN committee I welcome all initiatives involving positive action that seek to address unequal gender representation in any subject discipline. This award of 10 bursaries from the National Express Foundation will help to encourage an increase in male students undertaking degrees in nursing, occupational therapy, and ODP, three disciplines in which males are under-represented. Many thanks to the National Express Foundation for their support.”
University of Warwick
The University of Warwick is using Foundation bursary funding of £10,000 per year to support eight students with £1,250 each for three years. The university will also add to the Foundation bursary funding an additional £750 each, meaning each student will receive £2,000 for three years.
The students supported through the Foundation bursary funding will be from the university’s Multicultural Scholarship Programme (MSP), the Warwick Scholars’ Programme (WSP) and the Women in Engineering Scholars’ Programme (WIE).
Students in the MSP come from BME backgrounds and underrepresented ethnic groups in higher education and industry, namely; law, business and engineering.
Students in the WSP come through various outreach pathways from neighbourhoods that have consisted of low levels of university applications. The students are also usually the first in their family to apply to university.
The WIE programme seeks to address the gender imbalance in the engineering industry and those students generally have low income households.
Professor Christopher Hughes, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Education) at the University of Warwick, said:
“The University of Warwick is delighted to be working with the National Express Foundation. The awards will provide scholarship bursaries for gifted and talented undergraduate students from disadvantaged backgrounds who might otherwise be deterred from going to University and not realising their full potential.”
Walsall College
Walsall College is using bursary funding of £10,000 per year for two years to support at least 20 students that are wheelchair bound or have mobility difficulties.
The Foundation funding will help those that might not otherwise have been able to access off-site educational visits, higher education open days and interviews, or other travel opportunities outside of the Walsall area which might increase their confidence and employment opportunities as well as any community volunteering opportunities.
Rachel Davies, Head of Foundation Learning at Walsall College said:
“Walsall College prides itself on creating an inclusive environment and offering equal opportunities for all students, irrespective of their circumstances, so we are delighted to be working with the National Express Foundation. The funding will help to support more students with disabilities to reach their full potential and follow their chosen career paths.”