Stormzy is paying for two Black students to attend Cambridge
By Elizabeth Whittingham
In the wake of A Level result’s day, grime artist Stormzy has unveiled his plans to pay for two Black students to head to Cambridge University for the start of the academic year.
Stormzy will pay for everything, including all tuition and maintenance fees for up to four years of academic study- funding two students through this academic year and two more through the next.
When commenting on his reasons for setting up the scholarship, Stormzy stressed that he was eager to give people the opportunity that he never got; ‘In school and college I had the ability and was almost destined to go to one of the top universities. But that didn't happen for myself... so hopefully there's another young black student out there that can have that opportunity through my scholarship. I always said that there's a whole bunch of academically brilliant, excellent students who also need an incentive.’
Stormzy’s decision comes in the wake of Cambridge and Oxford coming under fire for their incredibly low admission of Black, Asian and various ethnic minority background students.
In fact, admittance at colleges is a staggeringly low percentage, between the years 2012-2016, Cambridge University did not accept any Black students at all- it did however admit 58 in 2017.
Stormzy’s decision to fund student scholarships came in the wake of Cambridge appealing to parents and schools for more guidance and encouragement for their ethnic minority and working class pupils to sign up to Cambridge.
Cambridge feel that the lack of support and knowledge from teachers is letting pupils down, as they often have no one to guide them through the application process.
Stormzy, who did not go to university but did get six A*s, three As and three Bs at GCSE, feels that his contribution will get more people to realise what they are capable of.
The scholarship has had great success, with students such as Julia, who achieved three A*s in history, politics and English literature, now able to head to Cambridge University in September, a feat which before would have been difficult financially.
Where before Julia claims Cambridge always had an unreachable feel to it; ‘alien place that they would not really thrive in’, she is now excited to head there to study after realising that hard work and determination are key attributes to fighting stigma; ‘if you have the ambition and have the grades, there's no reason why someone from a similar background to mine can't apply there and be successful.’
Out of all his achievements, according to Stormzy, this one makes his mum proud; ‘"My mum always had this plan of 'You're going to school and college, then you're going to go Cambridge. It didn't happen for me, so I feel that for me to get to this place in my career and be able to do something where we can help young black students get into Cambridge is a testimony to her hard work as well.’
If you would like to be considered for the scholarship, make sure that you get your applications in by October 15th.
Once you’ve got your offer, you’ll have until 30th August, 2019, to apply for the scheme, you’ll just need to have your offer under your belt and be of a Black heritage.
