The Bartlett announces £100K in scholarships to tackle inequality

The Bartlett Faculty of the Built Environment is introducing £100K worth of scholarships to encourage postgraduate students from a broader social background to apply.

The funding is initially available as twenty £5K scholarships for those who are hoping to start their course in September 2012. The money will normally be awarded as a fee reduction rather than a bursary or stipend.

Professor Alan Penn, Dean of the Bartlett said: “We recognise that access to postgraduate education is difficult, especially as there is no student loan mechanism and the costs of living in London are very high.

“The Bartlett is committed to broadening the social make up of built environment professions, which are traditionally composed of the middle classes, as we believe it will lead to a more sustainable and effective industry. The built environment is a public asset and we have a responsibility to ensure that that asset is designed and managed by people from all of society."

The awards will be made on the basis of financial need, and will particularly focus on applicants’ performance at undergraduate level.

The initiative is part of a bigger push at the Bartlett to widen participation in their degrees and encourage people from all backgrounds to consider a career in the built environment.

Similar bursaries are available at undergraduate level, and Bartlett architecture undergraduates have recently started working with inner city London schools to mentor A-Level students. The Accelerate programme, which is run in partnership with Open-City, aims to raise the aspirations of school pupils to go to university, encourage them to consider architecture as a degree and a profession and to prepare them for the university experience.

Professor Penn said “At undergraduate level the best way to broaden participation is to target schools directly, as often those from poorer backgrounds do not even think of applying to study architecture.”

The deadline for applications for the postgraduate scholarships is 18 June 2012. Scholarships are available to master’s students studying for an MA, MSc or MArch from the UK, EU or overseas. The application form also involves writing a 750 word statement on the difference studying on the programme would make to them.

For more information or to apply, visit the Bartlett Masters Scholarships page.