Goldsmiths announces new fees structure - 10 free places for Lewisham's best

Goldsmiths is planning to charge the maximum £9,000 annual tuition fees for new students. In a statement issued today, they also announced that 10 free places will be created for students from Lewisham:

Goldsmiths, University of London proposes to set a tuition fee of £9,000 for home/EU students on all undergraduate and PGCE courses and for all new entrants in 2012-13.

Goldsmiths is committed to attracting the most promising academic talent from a wide range of backgrounds, and to ensure we continue to build on this strong tradition we will introduce a raft of bursaries, waivers and awards worth more than £1.6million to help students.

Among those to benefit will be the brightest and best students from the borough of Lewisham, ten of whom will receive a complete fee-waiver to cover their entire undergraduate degree.

In addition to the fee waiver they will have the opportunity to become part of our pool of student ambassadors and be enrolled on our Gold Award, which helps students track and demonstrate their extra-curricular learning and skills development whilst at Goldsmiths. This is turn helps to improve their employment chances.

We will spend 30% of the fee income from all fees above £6,000 on additional measures to improve the student experience and encourage wider access to Goldsmiths. This substantial level of investment is consistent with our wish to maintain our ongoing success in attracting students to Goldsmiths regardless of their background.

We will also continue to work closely in partnership with local schools, colleges and universities to ensure aspirations are raised at an early age. That support extends to families and schools of students who are considering university, and will involve us supporting the application process too.

Pat Loughrey, Warden at Goldsmiths, said:

“We are committed to making Goldsmiths as socially inclusive as possible and this is reflected in our access agreement which is one of the most generous out there.

“We hope the £1.6million pledged towards fee waivers and bursaries will demonstrate the importance we place on ensuring Goldsmiths is open to those wishing to study with us, and firmly embeds Goldsmiths within the borough of Lewisham and South East London.”

Breakdown of support:

Full waivers for Lewisham’s brightest talent

We will give ten merit-based £9,000 fee-waivers (covering a full undergraduate degree) to the brightest and best students from Lewisham, our local borough. Those students will become part of our pool of student ambassadors and be enrolled on our Gold Award, which helps students track and demonstrate their extra-curricular learning and skills development through College.

Further £3,000 for each National Scholarship recipient

We will match our 2012-13 scholarship allocation, which is £195,000 and equates to 65 scholarships, with a further £3,000 for those scholars offered as either a fee-waiver or as a bursary, depending upon the scholar’s own choice.

Financial support for care-leavers

We will offer up to five awards of £4,000 value, as either a fee waiver, a bursary, or in-kind support (e.g. accommodation costs, computers, books) to students who are care-leavers.

Bursaries for those from non-traditional academic backgrounds

We will offer up to 10 bursaries of £3,000 for students over 25 who come from a non-traditional academic background but show great academic potential. These awards will be made on merit.

Awards for students with a disability

We will offer up to four awards of £4,500, as either a fee-waiver or a bursary, to students with a disability. These awards will be assessed on academic merit and on students need, to ensure that they are well-focussed.

Awards for students from our neighbouring boroughs

We will offer an award of £750 for students from Lewisham, Southwark, Greenwich, Lambeth, Tower Hamlets and Newham from homes with a combined income of less than £50,000. We will offer awards of £1,000 to students from homes with a combined income of less than £50,000 in neighbourhoods with a low university participation rate, offered as either a fee waiver or a cash bursary.

Waivers for students living outside of London from low income backgrounds

We will offer a fee waiver of £500 for all students in England, who do not live in the above boroughs and are eligible for a full maintenance grant to benefit students from lower income backgrounds outside London.

Strengthening our outreach links

We will be increasing the emphasis given to outreach work by academic departments, with increasing emphasis on departmental links with schools and colleges through progression compacts, and by strengthening the role of departmental leads. This will help to address subject specific widening access and retention issues which we know to have an impact in creative disciplines particularly.