Stormzy announces Cambridge scholarship for black students

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Stormzy has announced that he is launching a scholarship that will help fund two black British students to go to the University of Cambridge.

The Stormzy Scholarship will pay for tuition fees, as well as providing a maintenance grant for up to four years of an undergraduate degree.

Describing the new initiative, he said: “It’s so important for black students, especially, to be aware that it can 100% be an option to attend a university of this calibre.”

The ‘Gang Signs & Prayer’ star will provide backing for two students this year and a further two in 2019.

Stormzy’s support comes after Cambridge faced extensive criticism for the lack of pupils from black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds.

In 2017, only 58 black students were accepted onto undergraduate courses, while in June the university asked schools to help increase the amount of ethnic students. In June, the university asked for help from schools and parents to increase the number of black British students it enrols.

It was after the Financial Times found that some Cambridge colleges didn’t take in any black students from 2012 to 2016.

The university says that it admitted 58 black students on to undergraduate courses in 2017. Last year, Stormzy also made headlines by donating £9,000 to a crowdfunding campaign for a fan to attend Harvard.

In order to apply for this year’s Stormzy Scholarship, all applicants must be of black ethnicity and received an offer to study at Cambridge. The application deadline is 30 August.

The students receiving the scholarship will be selected from a list by a panel of Cambridge University staff.