Black Bristol PGCE Scholarship Programme 

Launched at the end of 2020, the School of Education's Black Bristol PGCE Scholarship programme continues to support our PGCE students.

The School of Education are allocating four Initial Teacher Education (PGCE) scholarships annually, across the duration of the programme, with a total of 16 Scholarships to be funded overall.

University of Bristol's commitment to creating a diverse and inclusive community

At the launch of the scholarship programme, Professor Judith Squires, Provost, and Deputy Vice-Chancellor said: “I am thrilled to be launching this new Black Bristol Scholarships Programme.  We are determined to create a diverse and inclusive university community and recognise that positive support is needed to address the historical under-representation of Black and Black-heritage students in particular.

“Thanks to the support of our alumni and friends, I am confident that together with our other initiatives to support our Black students and to decolonise the curriculum, this will help to make our University a truly inclusive environment for everyone.”

Inequality of representation in Bristol Schools

By creating the new Black Bristol PGCE Scholarships, the University of Bristol hopes to increase participation in teaching from the Black and mixed-Black heritage community.  

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B‌ristol Educator, Aisha Thomas

Bristol Educator, 'Why Representation Matters' TedX Bristol Speaker, Educator (AP for Inclusion), and Founder of Representation Matters Aisha Thomas, highlights the current inequality in Bristol schools, and the lack of representation of teachers from the Black and mixed-Black heritage community, in an interview on BBC Points West in Sept 2018. She also spoke about this issue on the BBC Inside Out West Black Teachers Documentary also in 2018.

"The offer of four scholarships, per year, over the next four years, is a step in the right direction. One of the main barriers for Black students' is access to resource and funding. This is a great initiative, which will alleviate some of the burden that a Black student may face. Social economic circumstances should not be a barrier to your future, yet we know for many students, this is their harsh reality. It is hard enough knowing that you are not represented in a profession that you are so keen to join, finance is not another barrier that they need to grapple with. 

 If we truly want to see the face of education change, if we want to see racial superiority stripped of its crown, then we need to remove the barriers to entry.

 This initiative, along with the others suggested by The University of Bristol, is a fantastic example of inclusivity for all."