About Opportunity Scholarships
Opportunity Scholarships are funded by donations to the University and support students with a gift of £3,000 a year.
What is an Opportunity Scholarship?
Scholarships are awarded to a number of students each year. They are set up to support students as they work towards their education and career goals.
Scholarships provide support in levelling the playing field, supporting brilliant students who are from low socioeconomic backgrounds.
Why do students need a scholarship?
Many students who receive a scholarship may start university without the equipment that they need. For example, some students may not have their own laptop.
Some of our scholars have left care and benefit from extra support as they embark on a new journey.
Others have themselves been carers for family members and will continue to be carers during their studies. In these situations, carers are often required to continue to support their family at home and may benefit from a scholarship to help them to fund their travel.
Guy contributes to Opportunity Scholarships
"I choose to give philanthropically to my alma mater as a way of giving back, saying thank you to Loughborough, and to support the next generation.
"It brings me immense joy to see these Opportunity Scholars flourish with a relatively small helping hand and it shows the very clear and direct impact of the gift. Even small amounts can make a lifetime of difference."
Guy Broadbent
BSc Chemistry and Polymer Science with Technology 1986
How do you decide who receives a scholarship?
There are many deciding factors in the process for awarding an Opportunity Scholarship.
When they have applied to university – and before they set foot on campus – eligible students are given the chance to apply for a scholarship.
The University will let them know that they may be eligible based on the area of the UK that they are from, their household income, and other contributing factors such as whether they were eligible for free school meals. If you would like to know more, you can check out the eligibility criteria.
Students apply to the programme and applications are assessed, with the students deemed most in need being awarded the scholarships.
Many scholars come from low socioeconomic backgrounds and some students are from areas of the country where there is low participation in higher education.
As we rely on generous donations from alumni and friends to award the Opportunity Scholarships, we are limited on how many we can offer. We have ambitions to grow the number of scholarships that we can award each year, and with your help, we can begin to increase that number.
In the last few years, we have awarded around 50 scholarships per year. The students in receipt of the scholarships are so grateful and it transforms the time that they have at university.
You can read about the impact of the Opportunity Scholarship on students Tina, James, Courtney and Sameer to see the difference it can make.
Will I find out how the money has helped?
As a donor to Opportunity Scholarships, you will receive updates on how we use your money.
Once a scholar is selected as the recipient of funds, the donors will be introduced to their story – so you’ll know exactly how your donation is making an impact.
You will receive an introductory message from the scholar, as well as updates on how they are getting on.
