Mr Dray encouraged students to explore every scholarship, bursary and university funding opportunity available to them.
He said: “Many of these funding opportunities are open to more students than you might expect, so everyone should take the time to find out what support they may be eligible for.”
The average UK graduate leaves university with more than £47,500 in student debt. Scholarships, such as those offered by the University of Roehampton, can help reduce borrowing and provide valuable financial support during a student’s studies.
Thomas Cole, an e-sports player known as Puck who specialises in the racing game Trackmania, said universities offering specialist e-sports scholarships can support academic success by reducing the financial pressure students face.
“It would be amazing for students to receive support for playing games while studying. If I had gone to university, I would have loved the opportunity,” he said.
“As long as their academic performance does not suffer, opportunities like this can really motivate students to improve their skills and progress in e-sports,” he added.
Tom Allingham, a student finance expert at personal finance website Save the Student, regularly advises new undergraduates to search for scholarships and find out more about the financial support available through their university.
“Unfortunately, I don’t think there is enough awareness of university scholarships,” he said.
“A significant amount of funding goes unclaimed because students do not realise they may be eligible for it,” he added.
Save the Student provides information about scholarships, bursaries and other sources of university funding to help students identify the financial support available to them.
“The key message is that students may be able to access additional funding for a wide range of reasons, so it is important to research every available option.”
Source: www.bbc.co.uk