James Dyson Foundation Launches Design and Engineering Scholarship at RCA

The James Dyson Foundation Scholarship will offer £24,000 a year to three Home/EU students on the College’s Innovation Design Engineering programme – a joint postgraduate programme with Imperial College London. This will cover tuition fees for the duration of students’ two-year Master’s programmes, as well as providing a London living allowance. At £24,000 per annum it is one of the largest scholarships the College offers to prospective students.

Head of the James Dyson Foundation, and Provost of the RCA, James Dyson, said, ‘We must support our brightest minds, not load them up with debt. Scholarships help ease the financial burden of study, meaning students can get on with inventing – not worrying about how to pay the bills.’

The James Dyson Foundation Scholarship bolsters the existing James Dyson Foundation bursary programme at the Royal College of Art. The Foundation currently gives £30,000 to the Royal College of Art each year to support final-year students in the research and development of their design and engineering projects, and a £100,000 Fellowship to support start-up companies to register intellectual property.

Luke Purser, 
Director of Development & Alumni Relations at the RCA said: ‘In the face of ongoing government budget constraints and continuing uncertainty in the global economy, the support of visionary benefactors is more important than ever in enabling us to provide the range and depth of support that will allow the world’s best students to complete graduate degrees at the RCA. 

Over the last three years, the number of postgraduate students has decreased by 12 per cent in the UK. Undergraduate degrees are leaving students with average debts of over £50,000, deterring them from pursuing postgraduate study.

The scholarship launches as funding cuts of 26 per cent for Higher Education Funding Council (HEFCE) for postgraduate education in England have reduced opportunity for students to apply for financial support. 

Luke Purser continues, 'The James Dyson Foundation’s decision to provide the most generous scholarship package we currently have at the RCA, in the form of full fees and maintenance for students studying Innovation Design Engineering, is extremely welcome. We are very grateful to the Foundation and to Sir James Dyson for this ongoing vital support for the next generation of design talent at the RCA.’