The reading list foundation helps exceptional students from lower-income families succeed at university, by paying for their textbooks in their first year.

Why is this a particular issue?
Many students at university receive some form of financial help from their parents however students from lower-income families often can’t get this additional financial support and as a result, face a higher level of financial pressure.  

Our initial research showed that 40% of such students had to cut back on textbooks because of financial issues, and even if they prioritised books, 79% had to cut back on some form of essentials.

So we help them academically, financially and emotionally - as well as providing a welcome boost to their CV.  And in fact 87% of students we helped said it made a big difference to their first year.

Where do you cover?
We cover state-funded schools and colleges in England, from Newcastle to Penzance.  Our origins are in Exeter though, and our heart has always been in the South West, so we support a relatively large number of schools in Devon and Cornwall.

How do we choose the schools?
Most of our Scholarships are directed to particular schools by donors, but we do have a pool of discretionary funds, where we choose schools ourselves to make sure we have a good geographic spread across England, and a good mix of city and rural schools, grammars and Academies etc.

How do we donate?
If you go to our website - www.readinglistfoundation.org - there are direct donation links on every page that take you to our VirginMoneyGiving page

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