Apply Now: UCFB Raheem Sterling Foundation Scholarship
If you are a young person from a Black, African, or Caribbean background with a passion for football and sport, and you come from a household that has always had to count every penny, this scholarship was literally designed with you in mind. The University Campus of Football Business (UCFB), in partnership with the Raheem Sterling Foundation, has launched two fully funded scholarships for undergraduate students starting in the 2026 to 2027 academic year. One scholarship is available at the UCFB Wembley campus in London, and the other is available at the UCFB Manchester campus. Both scholarships are aimed at students from socio-economically under-represented backgrounds who dream of building a career in the global sports and football industry.
This article gives you everything you need to know about the UCFB Raheem Sterling Foundation Scholarship, including what it covers, who qualifies, how to apply, and why this opportunity could genuinely change the direction of your life.
What is the UCFB Raheem Sterling Foundation Scholarship?
The UCFB Raheem Sterling Foundation Scholarship is a fully funded award for undergraduate students who want to study at the University Campus of Football Business. It was created through a powerful partnership between UCFB and the Raheem Sterling Foundation, a charitable organization founded in November 2021 by professional footballer and England international Raheem Sterling. The foundation was set up with a clear mission: to empower and uplift young people from underrepresented backgrounds by expanding their access to education, careers, and meaningful opportunities.
The partnership between UCFB and the Raheem Sterling Foundation goes beyond just financial support. It is rooted in a shared belief that talent should never be held back by circumstance. Both organizations are working together to close the attainment gap for Black British students, push for equal access to higher education, and bring greater diversity into the sports industry at every level.
For the 2026 to 2027 academic year, two scholarships are available. One will be awarded to a student at UCFB Wembley in Greater London, and one to a student at UCFB Manchester. Both are fully funded and come with additional financial benefits on top of tuition fee coverage.
Scholarship Financial Benefits: What Exactly Does It Cover?
One of the first questions anyone asks about a scholarship is what it actually pays for. Here is a straightforward breakdown of the financial support that comes with the UCFB Raheem Sterling Foundation Scholarship.
First and most importantly, the scholarship covers full tuition fees for the duration of your undergraduate degree at UCFB. That alone removes one of the biggest financial burdens students from low-income households face when considering higher education.
On top of tuition fee coverage, scholarship recipients also receive a UCFB bursary of one thousand pounds per year. This is money you can use for living costs, travel, books, equipment, or anything else you need to make the most of your time at university.
Additionally, each recipient receives a one-off support payment of five hundred pounds. This is particularly helpful at the start of your studies, when the costs of setting yourself up for university life can pile up quickly.
Beyond the numbers, the scholarship is designed to enrich your student experience in ways that money cannot always quantify. UCFB has a dedicated Employability and Career Planning team that provides students with hands-on industry access, guest speaker events, networking opportunities, and professional experiences. Scholarship recipients benefit from all of this, putting them in a genuinely strong position to step into the sports and football industry when they graduate.
Who Is Eligible? Scholarship Eligibility Criteria Explained
The UCFB Raheem Sterling Foundation Scholarship has specific eligibility requirements. It is important that you read these carefully before starting your application. To qualify, you must meet all three of the following conditions.
You must hold an offer to study a UCFB undergraduate course starting in September 2026. This means you need to have already applied through UCAS and received a conditional or unconditional offer from UCFB before you apply for the scholarship. If you have not yet applied for a UCFB course, the first step is to visit the UCFB website and explore the range of undergraduate programmes available.
You must come from Black, African, and/or Caribbean heritage. The scholarship is specifically targeted at students from these backgrounds as part of a wider effort to address representation gaps that have persisted in British higher education and the sports industry for generations.
Your household income must be under forty thousand pounds per annum. This ensures the scholarship reaches students who genuinely need financial support to access higher education and would otherwise struggle to pursue their degree without it.
In terms of location, the scholarship is open to students from Greater London who are applying to study at UCFB Wembley, and to students from Greater Manchester who are applying to UCFB Manchester. The scholarship reflects the cultural richness and social diversity of both cities, which Brendan Flood, UCFB Chairman and Founder, described as cities that are not only central to global sport, but also to inclusivity and multiculturalism.
About UCFB: The University Campus of Football Business
If you are hearing about UCFB for the first time, it is worth understanding what makes it unique. Founded in 2011, the University Campus of Football Business is a specialist higher education institution dedicated entirely to careers in the global sports and football industry. It currently operates two campuses. The UCFB Wembley campus is located at Wembley Stadium, the iconic home of the England national football team. The UCFB Manchester campus is based at the Etihad Campus in Manchester.
UCFB offers a wide range of undergraduate degree programmes covering areas such as sports business, sports media, sports marketing, sports law, football coaching, sports psychology, sports analysis, and sports management. All degrees are awarded by the University of East London and are accredited by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education. The institution is also backed by an impressive network of industry partners including the Premier League, The FA, the League Managers Association, Sky Sports, and many others.
What sets UCFB apart from a traditional university is the immersive environment it creates for students. Studying inside or adjacent to iconic football stadiums is not just symbolic. It means you are constantly surrounded by the industry you are training to work in. Students regularly benefit from exclusive industry visits, placement opportunities, and networking events with some of the biggest names in football and sport.
For students from underrepresented backgrounds who want to break into the sports industry, UCFB represents one of the most direct pathways available in the UK.
About the Raheem Sterling Foundation
To truly appreciate the significance of this scholarship, it helps to understand the foundation behind it. The Raheem Sterling Foundation was established in November 2021 by Raheem Sterling, one of England’s most decorated footballers and one of the most prominent voices on issues of race, diversity, and social mobility in British public life.
Sterling was born in Jamaica and raised in London. He grew up in circumstances that many young people from the communities this scholarship is aimed at will recognize. His journey from a council estate in Wembley to the highest levels of professional football is one that he has spoken about openly and honestly over the years. That personal experience is what drives the foundation’s work.
The Raheem Sterling Foundation focuses on several key areas including social mobility, leadership development, enterprise, employment, and education. It envisions a world where young people always have the support they need to pursue better opportunities, build meaningful careers, and improve their quality of life. The foundation runs a range of programmes and campaigns across the UK that are actively making a difference for young people who might otherwise be overlooked.
On the launch of the 2026 scholarships, Sterling said that he knows firsthand how important opportunity is. He pointed out that not everyone starts from the same place, but everyone deserves a fair chance to grow, to learn, and to believe in what is possible. He described the scholarship as being about opening doors for young people who have the talent and the drive, but who just need that support to take the next step.
The Raheem Sterling Broadcast Academy: Another Door Opens
The UCFB and Raheem Sterling Foundation partnership extends beyond the scholarship alone. As part of the same collaboration, UCFB Wembley has become the home of the Raheem Sterling Broadcast Academy in London, established in association with talkSPORT, one of the UK’s leading sports radio broadcasters.
The Broadcast Academy is designed to drive diversity, accessibility, and opportunity within the sports media and broadcasting industries. It provides students with a cutting-edge training environment where they can develop practical skills, gain hands-on experience, and learn directly from industry experts. The academy is now delivering its third cohort in 2025, giving students the opportunity to immerse themselves in the real-world workings of professional sports broadcasting.
The inclusion of the Broadcast Academy in this partnership is significant. It signals that the UCFB and Raheem Sterling Foundation collaboration is not a one-off initiative but a long-term commitment to building diverse talent pipelines in both the sports business and sports media sectors.
The RS7 Academy: Hands-On Coaching Experience
Another branch of the partnership involves UCFB coaching students gaining real-world experience through the RS7 Academy, which is also founded by Raheem Sterling. UCFB coaching students have been working directly with the RS7 Academy to develop their skills with young footballers, giving them experience that goes beyond the classroom.
For students on coaching programmes at UCFB, this kind of hands-on exposure to a professional player’s grassroots academy is genuinely rare and valuable. It gives them experience in player development, parent communication, and managing young athletes at various stages of their development, all within a high-quality professional framework.
This broader collaboration between UCFB and everything under the Raheem Sterling umbrella shows just how deeply embedded this partnership is becoming in the DNA of both organizations.
Why This Scholarship Matters: The Bigger Picture
To understand why this scholarship is significant, you need to look at the landscape it is responding to. Research consistently shows that Black British students from low-income households face some of the most significant barriers to accessing and succeeding in higher education. They are underrepresented at universities, face a higher risk of dropping out due to financial pressure, and are significantly underrepresented in sports industry leadership roles despite the fact that Black athletes make up a substantial proportion of professional sport in the UK.
The attainment gap for Black British students is a well-documented challenge. Scholarships like this one are part of a growing response from institutions and foundations who recognise that structural barriers need structural solutions. Covering tuition fees removes one of the most significant barriers. Providing a bursary removes another. Creating access to industry networks, mentors, and career opportunities takes it further still.
For the sports industry specifically, increasing diversity at the management, media, business, and coaching levels is a priority that many organizations now openly acknowledge. Initiatives like the UCFB Raheem Sterling Foundation Scholarship are one of the most practical and impactful ways to turn those stated commitments into real outcomes.
UCFB Undergraduate Courses You Can Apply For
The scholarship is open to students on any of UCFB’s undergraduate courses. This means you have a good range of options when it comes to choosing the degree that aligns with your career ambitions. Some of the courses available at UCFB include sports business and management, sports media and broadcasting, football coaching and development, sports marketing, sports law, sports analysis, and sports psychology. Whether your passion lies in running a football club’s commercial operations, working in broadcast journalism, coaching the next generation of players, or analyzing performance data, there is a pathway at UCFB for you.
It is worth exploring the UCFB prospectus in detail to find the course that best matches your goals before making your UCAS application, since you need to hold an offer from UCFB before you can apply for the scholarship itself.
How to Apply for the UCFB Raheem Sterling Foundation Scholarship
The application process for the scholarship is managed through the UCFB website. Here is a step-by-step overview of how the process works.
The first thing you need to do is apply for a UCFB undergraduate course through UCAS. Once you have received an offer to study at UCFB for September 2026, you are eligible to apply for the scholarship. This is an important sequence to get right. You cannot apply for the scholarship before you have your UCFB offer in place.
Once you have your offer, you can submit your scholarship application through the UCFB scholarships and bursaries section of their website. The application will ask you to demonstrate that you meet the eligibility criteria, including confirming your heritage, providing evidence of your household income, and explaining why you are deserving of the award and what it would mean to your studies and career ambitions.
Scholarship recipients are selected based on both financial need and potential. This means your personal statement and the way you explain your goals matters. Be honest, be specific, and make clear what you want to achieve in the sports or football industry and why UCFB is the place where you want to do it.
To start the process, visit the official scholarship application page and begin your UCFB course application today.
Apply for the UCFB Raheem Sterling Foundation Scholarship here
Tips to Strengthen Your Scholarship Application
Because the scholarship is competitive and only two places are available each year, it is worth putting real thought into your application. Here are a few practical tips that can help you stand out.
Be personal and genuine in your statement. The scholarship panel wants to understand your background, your journey, and what drives you. A generic statement about loving football will not be enough. Talk about specific experiences, challenges you have overcome, and moments that clarified your ambition to work in the sports industry.
Connect your story to the values of the foundation. The Raheem Sterling Foundation is built around themes of social mobility, access to opportunity, and community uplift. If these themes resonate with your own life, make that connection explicitly in your application.
Demonstrate your commitment to UCFB specifically. Do your research on the courses, the campuses, and the industry connections UCFB offers. Show that you understand what makes UCFB unique and why it is the right environment for you to grow.
Make sure your household income documentation is in order. Since the under forty thousand pound household income requirement needs to be verified, gather the relevant financial documents early to avoid delays in your application.
Final Thoughts: Do Not Let This Opportunity Pass You By
Opportunities like the UCFB Raheem Sterling Foundation Scholarship are rare. Fully funded scholarships at sports-focused universities that are specifically designed to support Black British students from low-income backgrounds simply do not come around every day. If you are reading this and you meet the eligibility criteria, please do not talk yourself out of applying.
Raheem Sterling built an entire foundation on the belief that every young person deserves a fair chance, regardless of where they come from. UCFB built its entire institution on the belief that a career in football and sport should be open to anyone with the passion and the drive to pursue it. Together, they are backing you with real financial support, industry access, and a community of people who want to see you succeed.
The world of football and sport needs more diverse voices at every level. On the pitch, in the boardroom, behind the camera, in the coaching session. This scholarship is how you take the first step toward becoming one of those voices.
Do not wait. Check your eligibility, get your UCAS application in, and then submit your scholarship application through the UCFB website. The 2026 to 2027 academic year could be the year that changes everything for you.
Click here to apply for the UCFB Raheem Sterling Foundation Scholarship and start your journey
