Vanessa James Memorial Scholarship

The Vanessa James Memorial Scholarship (BA, Economics, 1976) is intended to help increase Higher Education participation rates of females in Economics and the Nottingham University Business School.

This scholarship programme has been set up in celebration of the life of Vanessa James, a Nottingham Economics alumna who graduated in 1976. As a gay woman in the city, she was a pioneer for and tireless advocate of women in leadership roles in business and finance. She felt passionately about the power of education and it is hoped that these awards will help talented young women achieve their full potential

Two scholarships of £7,500 per academic year will be awarded from October 2025 with a further two per academic year until October 2029.

Disbursements to the qualifying students will be in 3 equal payments (one per term) for three years.

If not enough students meet the criteria outlined below, we will roll over the award to the following year.

Eligibility criteria

Applicants must:

• Be a woman* enrolling for the first year of a full-time** undergraduate degree in the School of Economics or the Nottingham University Business School, at the University of Nottingham (UK Campus), this being your year of entry to the university.
• Have applied for the Faculty of Social Science Alumni Scholarship.
• Not have studied for an undergraduate degree before starting at Nottingham.
• Have Home*** funding status (see definition below)
• Not be receiving external sponsorship for your course e.g., from industry/employers (University Core bursaries and Government grants do not affect your eligibility)
• Have had a household income between £0-£42,875, as assessed by Student Finance.

*This includes non-binary or trans applicants.

**Otherwise, eligible part-time students who are unable to study full-time because of a disability should contact the Funding and Financial Support team to discuss their funding options.

*** A 'home' student is one who meets certain UK residence criteria, these are the same criteria as apply to eligibility for home funding from Student Finance.

Note: All references to household income refer to the figure calculated by Student Finance when a student applied to them for means-tested funding. We are unable to accept any other proof of income. This scholarship was formerly known as the Haysom Faculty Alumni Scholarship, all other details remain the same.

Application process

There is no separate application form for the Vanessa James Memorial Scholarship.

All applicants who have submitted an application to the Faculty of Social Science Alumni Scholarship and meet the basic criteria above will be assessed based on their supporting statement for this competitive award.

Successful applications

The successful applicants will be contacted via email by the end of July 2025. If successful you will receive a provisional notice of an award.

The full award and payments will depend on still meeting the eligibility criteria when you register for your degree at the start of your first academic year and subsequent years. 

If you are successful in receiving a Vanessa James Memorial Scholarship  you will not be eligible for the Nottingham Potential Bursary. If you believe you will be eligible to receive a Care Experienced and Estranged Bursary, this means you will not be eligible for a Vanessa James Memorial Scholarship.