Cowrie Foundation Scholarship

About the award

The Cowrie Scholarship Foundation wants to fund 100 Black British students through UK universities in the next decade. More information on the Cowrie Scholarship Foundation can be found online.

Visit the Cowrie Scholarship Foundation website

The successful applicant will receive a full tuition fee award plus an £8,000 maintenance award per year of study.

Eligibility

To be eligible to apply for the scholarship, you are required to meet all of the criteria below:

• You identify as belonging to one of the following ethnic groups:
  • Black or Black British - Caribbean
  • Black or Black British - African
  • Mixed - White and Black Caribbean
  • Mixed - White and Black African
  • Other Black background
• You will be studying your first full-time undergraduate degree.
• You must be ordinarily resident in the UK and assessed as eligible to pay the home rate of fees.
• You have a household income of £35,000 or less (per year). This must be assessed by Student Finance England or an equivalent UK funding agency and you must receive a maintenance loan during your course.
• You must have received an offer to study a full-time undergraduate course at the University of Sheffield starting in September 2027.
• If your application is successful you must make the University of Sheffield your firm choice before 4pm on Wednesday 2 June 2027.

How to apply

Applications will open before the end of November 2026.

The deadline to submit an application is 1pm on Monday 12 April 2027. All applicants will be notified of the outcome of their application before the end of May 2027.

As part of your application you will need to provide evidence of your application to Student Finance England or an equivalent UK funding agency (Student Finance Wales, Student Finance Northern Ireland, or Student Awards Agency Scotland).

Selection process

In your application you will need to answer some questions about yourself, your studies and the scholarship. 

Your answers will be sent to a panel of senior University staff who will assess all eligible applications. Representatives from the Cowrie Scholarship Foundation will also view students’ applications as part of the selection process.

When awarding the scholarship the panel will consider the following:

• Would the scholarship be beneficial to your studies.
• How the scholarship would help you to achieve your goals.
• How your education would be of future benefit to your community and/or society.
• Achievements; academic and personal

We may also look at where you live and other measures of educational challenges, often referred to as ‘socio-economic metrics’. 

Access Sheffield

Terms and conditions

• All decisions made by the University are made in good faith. By applying for the scholarship you are confirming that you meet the eligibility criteria. If the information provided is incorrect or false the University reserves the right to remove the award.
• Students studying undergraduate courses with foundation years may be considered on a case by case basis.
• Years in industry will not be covered by the scholarship.
• Students who change their course after submitting their application may forfeit the scholarship. Additional years added to programmes (such as non-compulsory years abroad or switching from a BEng to MEng) will not be covered by the scholarship.
• Students will be required to confirm that this is their first undergraduate degree programme and that they have not started a degree programme before.
• Students should check they meet the eligibility criteria carefully before they make an application. Awards may be withdrawn if we become aware that successful applicants have not met the eligibility criteria or have provided false information.
• Representatives from the Cowrie Scholarship Foundation will view students’ applications as part of the selection process. By submitting your application you are giving consent for us to share your anonymised application with them.
• Any award is conditional upon the successful candidate providing evidence that their household income has been assessed as £35,000 or under by Student Finance England or an equivalent UK funding agency (Student Finance Wales, Student Finance Northern Ireland, or Student Awards Agency Scotland) and confirmation that they will be in receipt of a maintenance loan.
• The successful candidate will be expected to engage with the Cowrie Scholarship Foundation’s mentoring programme. The bespoke programme, delivered by With Insight Education, will place the successful candidate with at least one mentor (usually two), with regular catch-ups/meetings over the course of the academic year. This will typically be three times a year, predominantly online, with an opportunity to meet face-to-face once a year; all costs will be covered for face-to-face meetings. More information about training and expectations will be outlined in the autumn when the degree commences.
• The maintenance stipend will be paid in four instalments each year. Dates of payment will be confirmed prior to registering on your course.
• The maximum maintenance stipend available from the Cowrie Scholarship Foundation is £8,000. Where applicable, if a student is eligible for any funding from the University of Sheffield, such as the University of Sheffield Bursary Scheme, the maintenance stipend from the Cowrie Scholarship Foundation will be reduced so that the funding the student receives amounts to £8,000 in total. For example, if the candidate receives a £1,000 bursary from the University of Sheffield, the Cowrie Scholarship Foundation will award £7,000 - the total maintenance award is £8,000.
• Any award is conditional until after confirmation of A-level results.
• Full terms and conditions will be shared with the scholarship recipient when confirming the award post A-level results day.

Contact us

Please get in touch if you have any questions:

Email: sheffieldscholars@sheffield.ac.uk Tel: +44(0)114 222 9754 (option 1)