WIREDGOV

£130,000 international study fund opens for applications.

Scottish students that have never studied abroad will be given the chance to learn in a new environment overseas in the coming academic year.

The Outward Mobility Fund is now open for applications for 2015/16, backed by £130,000 funding from the Scottish Government.

The fund supports student to go to Canada, China, India, the USA for any duration of time, or to Europe destinations for a period less than three months. The scheme is particularly aimed at students who had never studied abroad and to date 367 people have been offered places.

Last year £127,000 was shared among 12 projects at seven universities and colleges including summer exchange programmes, study trips and internships. The institutions involved in the projects also match the funds from the Scottish Government.

Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning Angela Constance said:

“Our approach to widening access to higher education aims to ensure that all those in society, whatever their background, have an equal opportunity to access higher education which can improve their chances of gaining qualifications required for a successful career and to fulfil their potential.

“Heading abroad can help our students gain intercultural understanding, problem solving and language skills, greater self-confidence and better employability prospects. I have heard of a number of success stories from the scheme including one project that took 10 students from the University of the West of Scotland to China to study mechanical and civil engineering techniques.

“To give the students the best possible cultural experience, this included extracurricular options like calligraphy and craft workshops, martial arts demonstrations, cookery lessons and theatre performances. This is precisely the kind of activities that students who go abroad should be able to experience and I am very pleased to be able to invest in the Outward Mobility Fund again this year.”

Notes To Editors

The Outward Mobility Fund complements the inward Saltire Scholarship scheme which offers international students from Canada, China, India and the USA coming to Scotland to study £2,000 towards their tuition fees for one year. The closing date for applications this year is Tuesday, 31 March 2015.

Publicly funded universities, colleges and student organisations may bid separately or in partnerships for funding to support projects to take students abroad as part of their studies, and undertake to match the Scottish Government funding from their own resources.

More about the Outward Mobility Fund can be found here.

More about the Saltire Scholarships can be found here.