The Academic Futures programme, which aims to address under-representation and help improve equality, diversity and inclusion in Oxford’s graduate student body through scholarships, is expanding.

A new pilot programme offering financial support to graduate students who have experienced being in care in the UK has been launched for 2023 entry.  The Care-Experienced Academic Futures scholarships are open to applicants to all academic subjects and will provide funding packages to assist with course fees and living costs.

For 2023 Care-Experienced Academic Futures will include the inaugural Oxford-Rees Graduate Scholarship. This new endowed scholarship will support care-experienced students in the UK to pursue graduate study in Social Sciences at Oxford.  This scholarship is funded by Jan Rees OBE, Founder and Chair of the Rees Foundation, which provides life-long help and support to those with care experience. 

The new scholarships will form part of the Academic Futures series, which was established in 2020 with the Black Academic Futures scholarships, with the goal of achieving a significant and lasting improvement in access to postgraduate study at Oxford.  The series also includes the Refugee Academic Futures Scholarships. 

More than 50% of the student body at Oxford are postgraduates, who study across 350 programmes.

Professor Martin Williams, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Education at Oxford, said: ‘I am delighted that the Academic Futures programme will now offer support to students who have experience being in care, as well as other under-represented groups at Oxford. This is an important milestone in the progress we are making to recognise and address the issue of graduate access and achieve our vision that finance is never a barrier for talented students who want to pursue graduate study at Oxford’.

Jan Rees, OBE, said: ‘Educational achievement has the potential to make a huge difference to the long-term outcomes of people who have experienced being in care. We know what support works and why and the Oxford-Rees Graduate scholarship is designed to support their academic, social and emotional potential. As the scholars pursue their studies in the Social Sciences, we are excited at the potential for their learning and research to have a long-lasting impact.’

Find out more about scholarships for care-experienced students here.