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Awards for overseas students: Notice

The Council publish below for the information of the University the Annual Report of their Committee on Awards for Overseas Students.

REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON AWARDS FOR OVERSEAS STUDENTS 1997-98

Introduction

1. The awards made to overseas students in the period 1981-86 were listed in Special Number 16 of the Reporter for 1986-87. From 1987 onwards, details of the awards made each year have been published in Ordinary Numbers of the Reporter. The most recent list of such awards, for October 1997, appeared in Reporter, 1997-98, p. 163.

Numbers of overseas students

2. The total numbers of full-time overseas students in 1996-97 and 1997-98 are as follows (the figures in brackets include EC students and other overseas students paying fees at the home rate):
Overseas
undergraduates
Overseas
postgraduates
Total
overseas
Total
full-time
Overseas as a
percentage of
full-time numbers
1996-97
Men 428 (655) 897 (1,257) 1,325 (1,912) 8,898 14.89 (21.49)
Women 303 (464) 625 (864) 928 (1,328) 7,013 13.23 (18.94)
Total 731 (1,119) 1,522 (2,121) 2,253 (3,240) 15,911 14.16 (20.36)
1997-98
Men 451 (677) 942 (1,292) 1,393 (1,969) 8,742 15.93 (22.52)
Women 333 (488) 613 (886) 946 (1,374) 7,079 13.36 (19.41)
Total 784 (1,165) 1,555 (2,178) 2,339 (3,343) 15,821 14.78 (21.13)

3. The numbers of overseas students from countries in and outside the Commonwealth in the last ten years have been:

Commonwealth Non-Commonwealth Total
1988-89 914 636 1,550
1989-90 921 669 1,590
1990-91 948 727 1,675
1991-92 978 773 1,751
1992-93 1,023 760 1,783
1993-94 993 906 1,899
1994-95 1,070 905 1,975
1995-96 1,182 968 2,150
1996-97 1,303 950 2,253
1997-98 1,194 1,145 2,339

Awards to overseas students, 1997-98

4. The following table shows the total numbers of overseas students partly or wholly supported in 1997-98 by the Cambridge Commonwealth Trust, the Cambridge Overseas Trust, the Cambridge Livingstone Trust, the Managers of the Prince Philip Scholarships Fund, and the American Friends of Cambridge University. The figures in brackets show the numbers admitted in that year.
Undergraduate Postgraduate Total
Commonwealth 339 (132) 570 (344) 909 (476)
Non-Commonwealth 51 (23) 346 (211) 397 (234)
Total 390 (155) 916 (555) 1,306 (710)

5. As usual, a high proportion of the awards have been made to students from developing countries. The estimated total annual cost in 1997-98 incurred at Cambridge by the 1,306 students shown in the final column of the table is £19,757,582; the estimated total cost in 1997-98 of supporting the 710 students admitted in that year is £10,679,750. The Trusts and other awarding bodies are spending about £5.596m in support of the 1,306 students, of which about £3.447m is in support of the 710 newly admitted students.

The Trusts and other awarding bodies once again acknowledge with gratitude the continuing collaboration of Colleges in providing support for overseas students, as well as the awards made independently by Colleges to such students.

Overseas Research Student (ORS) Awards, 1997-98

6. For these awards, made by the Government on the basis of outstanding academic merit and research potential, and calculated to meet the difference between the home rate and relevant overseas rate of University fee, the University was permitted to submit 222 nominations for 1997-98. Of the Cambridge nominations, 175 were successful, or about 79 per cent, compared with a 62 per cent success rate nationally. Successful Cambridge nominations made up about 18 per cent of the total awards given in the 1997-98 competition. The success rate, both for Cambridge and nationally, was lower than in previous years; this was because the ORS Committee of the Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals underestimated the average increase in fee levels across the institutions eligible to participate in the scheme, and were thus unable to offer as many new awards as they had originally anticipated.

7. Of the total 175 awards, 146 have been taken up in 1997-98, and a further six are expected to be taken up in the remainder of the academical year.

8. The take-up rate of awards made to Cambridge nominees in the 1997-98 competition (assuming that all those expected to take up awards in the remainder of the year do so) is at present 87 per cent, a slight increase on the final take-up rate for 1996-97. The national rate for 1997-98 is not yet known, but in recent years it has been just below 80 per cent.

9. In their last Report, the Committee reported their concern at the threat to the Cambridge quota of ORS Awards which arose from the possibility of changes in the methodology for calculating quotas. Quotas for the 1998-99 competition have been calculated through a revised methodology, in which the weightings accorded to the two elements used in the calculations (historic success rate in the competition and research funding allocations) have been altered. The result is that the quota in 1998-99 for Cambridge is the lowest quota allocated to the University since 1983-84. Efforts must continue to be made to ensure that future methods of determining quotas take account primarily of the quality of the applicants.

Shared Scholarships Scheme - formerly Overseas Development Administration Shared Scholarship Scheme (ODASSS) - at Cambridge

10. The Department for International Development (formerly the Overseas Development Administration) scheme of scholarships for Developing Countries of the Commonwealth has been renamed the 'Shared Scholarships Scheme'.

The scheme, which began in 1986-87, provides full-cost scholarships for students from developing countries of the Commonwealth wishing to pursue one-year taught postgraduate courses and, in cases where the course is not available in the student's own country, for those wishing to study at undergraduate level. The cost of the scholarships is met jointly by the Department for International Development and the Cambridge Commonwealth Trust and its collaborators. The scheme brought 48 new students (45 for graduate study and three for undergraduate study) from the developing world to Cambridge in 1997.

Since the inception of the scheme in 1986, the Cambridge Commonwealth Trust and its collaborators have joined with the ODA, and now with the Department for International Development, in supporting 577 students from developing countries of the Commonwealth; this has contributed significantly to the success of the scheme as a whole. The level of awards for October 1998 has not yet been settled, but it is hoped that the present quota of 50 scholarships for Cambridge will continue.

The table appended to this Report sets out the awards made, by country, over the twelve years of the scheme.

Cambridge Commonwealth Trust

11. The Cambridge Commonwealth Trust is supporting, in whole or in part, 909 students in 1997-98, of whom 476 came into residence for the first time in that year. The Cambridge Shared Scholarships Scheme for developing countries of the Commonwealth (see paragraph 10 above) continues to be an important part of the Trust's activities.

New schemes and schemes renewed in 1997 include a major new scheme of scholarships in collaboration with the Malaysian Commonwealth Studies Centre, to be known as the Malaysian Commonwealth Scholarships, for students from the Commonwealth; following a generous donation from Dr Orde Poynton, a scheme of Poynton Cambridge Scholarships for research for students from Australia; the renewal of the Britain Australia Bicentennial Scholarships for Australia in collaboration with Jesus College and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office; two new schemes for Bangladesh and Pakistan in collaboration with the Charles Wallace Bangladesh Trust and the Charles Wallace Pakistan Trust; the renewal of the British Chevening Cambridge Scholarship scheme for Cyprus in collaboration with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Leventis Foundation; a scheme of scholarships for research for students from Hong Kong arranged with the Chinese University of Hong Kong; to commemorate the founding of the Shell Transport and Trading Company in 1897, the Shell Centenary scheme of scholarships for students from non-OECD developing countries of the Commonwealth, together with a scheme of Shell Centenary Chevening Scholarships in collaboration with Shell and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office; and the renewal of the Cable & Wireless/FCO Scholarships for Commonwealth countries of the Caribbean.

Cambridge Overseas Trust

12. The Cambridge Overseas Trust is supporting, in whole or in part, 397 students in 1997-98, of whom 234 came into residence for the first time in that year.

Among new developments in 1997 have been a new scheme of awards for students from Argentina pursuing undergraduate studies; a new British Chevening scheme for Indonesia in collaboration with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office; a scheme of scholarships for students from the Ukraine arranged with the International Renaissance Foundation of Ukraine and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office; a British Chevening scheme for Vietnam in collaboration with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office; to commemorate the founding of the Shell Transport and Trading Company in 1897, the Shell Centenary scheme of scholarships for students from non-OECD countries outside the Commonwealth, together with a scheme of Shell Centenary Chevening Scholarships in collaboration with Shell and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office; and a new scheme of scholarships for member states of the Arab League in collaboration with the Arab-British Chamber Charitable Foundation and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

A full list of the schemes of awards for graduate students administered by the Cambridge Commonwealth Trust, the Cambridge Overseas Trust and associated trusts is set out in the Graduate Studies Prospectus, 1998-99 (pp. 185-204).

Cambridge European Trust

13. The Cambridge European Trust, which was established in May 1994 with the aim of developing further the University's European links and activities, is supporting in part 347 students, both graduate and undergraduate, in 1997-98. Of these students, 190 came into residence for the first time in that year; 61 of the 190 have been awarded Cambridge European Trust book prizes.

APPENDIX

CAMBRIDGE SHARED SCHOLARSHIPS SCHEME

The following awards have been made under this scheme since its inception in 1986.
GRADUATES 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 Total
Anguilla 1 1
Antigua 1 1
Bangladesh 1 1 2 4 1 4 5 18
Barbados 1 1 1 1 1 1 6
Botswana 1 1
Cameroon 1 1
Cyprus 1 1 2
Dominica 1 1 2
Ghana 7 6 6 6 4 4 5 3 3 3 4 6 57
Grenada 1 1
Guyana 2 1 1 1 5
Hong Kong 3 2 1 2 3 3 2 16
India 3 7 7 10 6 11 6 7 6 8 5 10 86
Jamaica 1 1 1 2 1 2 8
Kenya 10 2 1 1 3 1 3 2 2 3 9 37
Lesotho 2 2
Malawi 2 1 1 1 1 1 2 9
Malaysia 2 2 2 3 4 3 7 4 2 2 31
Malta 1 1 1 2 1 6
Mauritius 1 1 2
Nigeria 1 1 1 4 3 5 3 5 4 4 31
Pakistan 4 1 4 5 2 2 4 3 25
Papua New Guinea 1 1
St Kitts Nevis 1 1
St Lucia 1 1 2
Sierra Leone 2 1 1 1 1 1 7
Singapore 1 2 2 1 1 2 2 11
South Africa 1 1 2 4
Sri Lanka 3 1 1 1 1 2 3 1 13
Swaziland 1 1 1 3
Tanzania 1 1 1 3
Trinidad 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 10
Uganda 1 2 4 1 3 3 3 3 2 1 23
Zambia 3 2 4 5 5 4 2 1 4 3 1 1 35
Zimbabwe 3 4 3 2 2 1 1 1 2 1 20
Sub-total 42 29 38 41 37 40 48 49 36 34 42 45 481
UNDERGRADUATES
Botswana 1 1
Cyprus 3 2 5 4 3 6 3 2 4 5 37
Dominica 1 1 2
Gambia 1 1 2
Ghana 1 1
Guyana 1 1 2
Mauritius 2 1 4 4 3 3 5 2 6 4 5 3 42
Seychelles 1 1
Sri Lanka 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 8
Sub-total 9 5 11 9 10 10 10 4 10 9 6 3 96
Total 51 34 49 50 47 50 58 53 46 43 48 48 577

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Cambridge University Reporter, 7 May 1998
Copyright © 1998 The Chancellor, Masters and Scholars of the University of Cambridge.