Santander Universities

Santander Universities began its activity in Spain in 1997 with one main objective: to support Higher Education. It has since donated over £1.6 billion globally in scholarships, travel grants, support to special projects, academic and non-academic awards. Santander Universities UK has donated more than £88 million to support more than 108,000 students into higher education or work and now has 87 university partners.

Its first UK partner joined the network in 2007 and since then many universities have become partners of Santander Universities, Exeter becoming an official partner in 2009. Since our first agreement was signed on 15 July 2009, Santander and Exeter have formed a long and mutually beneficial friendship and many outstanding projects and individuals, (students and academics) have benefited from their support. 

Santander has been funding scholarships, travel grants and entrepreneurial activities at the University of Exeter for the past ten years. The University also receives funding for part-funded internship opportunities with local SMEs through our agreement with Santander, along with bespoke summer school scholarships for students.  To date, the University has received donations and pledged donations of more than £1.6million for a range of philanthropic projects. 

Some of the projects currently supported by Santander at the University of Exeter include:

SME Internships at Exeter

Santander supports internships for Exeter graduates on a full and part time basis with small and medium-sized businesses.

Think Try Do Programme

Under the Think Try Do (formerly Ignite) programme, the Innovation, Impact and Business team are running a programme to support entrepreneurial activity by Exeter students. The programme is the University’s student entrepreneur support unit, delivering entrepreneur support through workshops, mentoring, and retail opportunities and networking events.

International Internships & Employability

Funding from Santander is focused on helping to increase the support for international internships and placements and further our student’s global employment opportunities. This includes supporting travel costs for students to undertake work experience outside Europe that will directly benefit their degree, help international students return home to attend graduate recruitment events and pay for students to take up internships and work placements during their year abroad when living outside the UK.

International Summer School Scholarships

Santander support allows students from any discipline to participate in summer schools across the globe.

Medical School Bursaries

Funding supports Medical School students designated as from less well-off socio-economic backgrounds to apply for bursary awards of up to £1,250 to participate in Special Study Units (SSU’s) which enable students to develop additional skills or to pursue special areas of interest.

Formula Student

The Formula Student team offers a chance for any student to experience the excitement and complexity of the formula motorsport challenge. With Santander’s support, XRacing are able to further increase the inclusivity and opportunities available to our members, by dedicating resources to offer additional training to team members. This includes increasing participation in unique technical skills training, such as welding courses and starting a carbon fibre composites training program. On top of supporting the team’s running costs and smaller equipment purchases, the support also allows 10 members of the team to attend the IMechE's 'Learn to Win' event, which is a critical development opportunity for the success of the team and fantastic chance for our team members to gain exposure to the broader motorsport industry.