Yorkshire students blaze trail as Lloyds Scholars

The Lloyds Scholars at Sheffield University will be able to earn up to £10,000 depending on their academic success on degree courses at Sheffield University.

The scheme was open to students who achieved at least two As and a B at A-level and come from homes with an annual household income of less than £25,000.

There are 15 students in the first and second year at the university who have been selected for the first year of the pilot scheme.

Lloyds Banking Group will pay each student an annual bursary of £1,000, allow them to carry out paid summer internships, receive mentoring from Lloyds staff and earn extra cash rewards if they graduate with a 2:1 or first-class degree.

Students on the programme will also be expected to take part in 100 hours of volunteering every year which Sheffield scholars will do at a primary school close to the university.

They do not have to work at Lloyds once they finish university but the bank said that successful candidates would be invited to join their graduate scheme.

The scheme has been launched this year at both Sheffield and Bristol with plans to roll it out to four more universities in 2012 – when top level fees of £9,000-a-year are being rolled out.

The programme manager for Lloyds, Richard Cooper, said: “We want Lloyds Scholars to become well known and to talk about their experience long after they have finished university.

“We want to create an alumni network of scholars who can talk about the programme to new students, particularly in disadvantaged communities.”

He said the first wave of students were on a variety of degree courses ranging from archaeology and anthropology to business and law.

Lloyds launched the new scheme on A-level results day and has recruited students who had already won places at university. Students who met the criteria for the Lloyds Scholars programme were told about it by both Bristol and Sheffield and Lloyds then received 1,000 applications for just 30 places.

Second-year law student at Sheffield University Lee-Anne Reddey is among the candidates to be accepted as one of the country’s first Lloyds Scholars.

She said: “I do feel an extra responsibility as I will be representing Lloyds at the university. I need to reflect the values of the company during my degree but also in my personal life.

“At the moment I am doing a part-time job in order to support myself. I also do a lot of volunteering and am president of the Oxfam Society at Sheffield University so I am very busy.

“Having this extra money will hopefully allow me to stop working or at least drop my hours so that I can spend more time doing the things I am passionate about: my degree and volunteering work.”

All of the 15 Sheffield scholars will be doing their voluntary work at Wybourn Primary.

Lee-Anne will be helping with English classes and also supporting the school council.

Matt Young, group corporate affairs director for Lloyds Banking Group, said: “The number of applications received for this year’s pilot intake was very high and the calibre of those applying was exceptional.

“I congratulate the students who were selected as our inaugural Lloyds Scholars. They have already demonstrated huge ability and potential which we will help harness and develop further throughout the course of their studies.”

National Union of Students’ president Liam Burns said: “This is truly a worthwhile initiative that provides a firm platform for widening participation to higher education for less well-off families.

“We are particularly pleased that the scheme seeks to deepen participation through volunteering at university, ensuring that students not only receive the appropriate support through their mentoring scheme but are being positively encouraged to further develop themselves during their free time.”