Breadcrumbs

Somerville Annual Fund

The Annual Fund makes a genuine and direct difference to students' lives at Somerville. The Fund provides help for students through bursaries and hardship funds, as well as support for the buildings and facilities and the tutorial system.

The Annual Fund was established in 2002 and so far nearly 30% of Somervillians have given and more than £1,500,000 has been raised. This is an extraordinary result and a powerful statement of how Somervillians offer vital help in securing the College's future.

With higher levels of tuition fees from 2012, student support is now more important than ever to ensure that no student is deterred from applying to Somerville due to concerns about high levels of debt. For this reason this year's Annual Fund appeal is focusing upon bursaries. The Annual Fund helps ensure that the College has the funds required to provide a full range of bursaries for those who need them.

Regular gifts to support areas such as buildings, fellowships or other areas of College life are, of course, also greatly appreciated.

The Annual Fund supports three main areas:

Student support

Somerville is passionate about ensuring that no student is deterred from applying to the College for financial reasons. Needs-blind admissions are essential if we are to continue to give students from all backgrounds the benefit of a Somerville education.

In the past year 26% of eligible students received a bursary which places Somerville in the top five of Oxford colleges for bursary provision.  The total cost of this to the College is around £110,000. With your help we can fund even more students in the future.

Heritage and environment

Every year we need to maintain and improve the College buildings and grounds in order to preserve the fabric of Somerville while providing much-needed facilities. Current and on-going projects that have benefited from the support of the Annual Fund include:

- Installation of site wide wi-fi which enables students to access the College network and online materials offered by the University from anywhere in College which allows them to work more effectively wherever they are. Somerville is one of the first Colleges to provide this valuable resource.
- Repair to the Chapel roof and internal refurbishment to ensure that the Chapel remains open to all members of the College community as a place of worship, prayer and quiet reflection.
- Upgrading kitchens and bathrooms in Dorothy Hodgkin Quad which provide better living spaces for students and greater conference income during vacations.

Teaching support and the tutorial system

Tutorials are an essential part of what makes an Oxford education unique. We know that it is the best way in which to challenge, stimulate and educate students. It is, however, also very costly. The Annual Fund helps Somerville to ensure that the tutorial system continues to flourish. A generous gift of £100 could pay for the cost of an hour long tutorial for two students (including the tutor's preparation time).