The University of Liverpool is pleased to announce the renewal of its partnership with Santander through a new three-year agreement. This marks the fourth renewal of the partnership, bringing Santander’s total support to over £1.1 million over the past 13 years.
Since partnering with the University in 2012, Santander has supported hundreds of students through educational scholarships, employability training, experiences, and entrepreneurial opportunities. The new agreement will build upon this support and will provide student scholarships and grants, new funding for start-ups, and employability internships which will support local business growth in the Liverpool City Region.
In the last three years, the partnership has provided Educational Travel Awards; study abroad opportunities for low participation students, enabled students to take part in the entrepreneurial programme; Design Your Future (DYF), and supported the Liverpool City Region Business Recovery Programme – a project to encourage business growth through funded internship placements for low participation students at local, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
The renewed agreement will continue to focus on several key initiatives:
Education, Employability and Entrepreneurship
The new agreement concentrates on three overarching pillars, Education, Employability and Entrepreneurship. Building on our long-standing collaboration, over the next three years the partnership will support students from underrepresented groups through the Santander Scholars Programme.
Santander Scholars Programme
The Santander Scholars Programme is an initiative aimed at developing the potential of students who are most likely to face challenges whilst attending university. The programme provides funding to support students throughout their time at university, alongside training opportunities to develop their career potential.
Start-up funding
Supporting entrepreneurs and start-ups is also a key focus of the renewed agreement. Santander will support a minimum of three start-up businesses through seed funding.
Employability internships
Santander will also continue to support the University in engaging with local SMEs through the University’s Careers and Employability service, facilitating student and recent graduate internships, work experiences, placements, volunteering, freelancing, and travel experiences.
Brighter Futures Grants
As part of the Brighter Futures Grants, Santander will provide selected students with £10,000 annually, awarded as ten awards of £1,000. The grants aim to support university students with funding for learning resources to help with course work and exam revision, or to be put towards the cost of accommodation and bills to help with living expenses.
Professor Tim Jones, Vice-Chancellor at the University of Liverpool, said: “We are grateful for Santander’s long-standing and generous support. Over the years, they have supported many of our students with opportunities for growth and development.
“We look forward to the partnership providing further educational and entrepreneurial opportunities for our students, supporting them to achieve their academic and personal ambitions. Ongoing support for our student entrepreneurs will boost their career prospects, along with supporting business innovation in the Liverpool City Region.”
Matt Hutnell, Head of Education and Social Impact, commented: “Santander is proud to renew our partnership with the University of Liverpool. Our work together has provided significant benefits for students, from supporting with crucial financial support to fostering innovative start-ups. We remain dedicated to supporting initiatives that empower students and enhance their educational and professional journeys.”
For more information about the support and opportunities Santander provides, please visit Santander Open Academy.