Birkbeck University Launches London's First Bursary for White Working-Class Boys
New £3,000 bursary and outreach programme aims to boost higher education access for underrepresented young men.
By Priya Shah
••3 min read
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Generic image of a diverse group of young men and boys looking towards a university building.
Birkbeck, University of London has launched a new £3,000 bursary and outreach programme, believed to be the first of its kind in London, to encourage more White working-class boys and young men from low-income households to pursue higher education.
The initiative, funded by a donation from the LEN Foundation, aims to transform the lives of 50 young men over four years. This programme follows recent government focus on tackling White working-class inequality. To be eligible, applicants must be White British, from low-income households, and be the first in their family to attend university.
The outreach programme will initially target students aged 11 to 18 in London boroughs with high deprivation and low university progression rates. It will provide information, advice, and guidance on university, highlighting the value of degrees and the vocational and transferable skills gained. Teachers, parents, and carers will also be involved to influence students' decisions.
This programme builds on Birkbeck’s founding commitment to widening participation. While London schools generally outperform the UK, White young people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds lag behind disadvantaged peers from other ethnic groups. An independent inquiry found the UK education system is not adequately serving White working-class young people, with White working-class boys showing some of the lowest GCSE attainment.
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"Encouraging groups such as young White boys from low-income families to apply and study for a degree is not just about offering them financial support to do so. It requires a long-term commitment to change their mindset and encourage them to consider university as an option when they start thinking about GCSEs. Parents, carers and schools are all important in their decision-making process. We are taking a strengths-based approach, not focusing on ‘what’s wrong’, but with what is possible, building on existing skills."
Professor Sally Wheeler, Vice-Chancellor of Birkbeck, stated that the university, founded in the 1820s to provide access to education for working-class Londoners, continues to believe in higher education's power to transform lives and communities. She highlighted Birkbeck's high ranking for social mobility and expressed gratitude to the LEN Foundation for enabling this new programme.
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"The LEN Foundation was established to support organisations that break the link between socio-economic background and life chances. We are really pleased to fund a programme at Birkbeck, University of London, that will help support 50 White working-class boys and young men from low-income backgrounds, who are among the least likely of any group of school and college leavers to go to university, to study for a degree."
