The NEC Russell Kane Scholarship

The National Extension College have launched The Russell Kane Scholarship.

The scholarship will aim to support students who may have missed out on educational opportunities due to their background or circumstances, and widen opportunities for those outside of mainstream education.

In an exclusive video for NEC, Russell Kane spoke to award winning author Kit de Waal to discuss their own experiences of education.

The National Extension College, which offers Open University-style distance learning, will cover the cost of putting three people from lower socio-economic backgrounds through their GCSEs and A-levels under the new initiative.

Kane credits the college with turning his life around. He left  school without any A-levels, but later enrolled with the NEC to study A-level sociology.

He studied for two hours every evening while living with his grandmother in her housing association flat and working in a Rolex store during the day. Kane received the fastest ever A grade from enrolment to completion and received a special award from Betty Boothroyd, then Speaker of the House of Commons, for his success. He went on to complete an English degree at Middlesex University London.

Speaking of the scholarship, Kane says: ‘I feel humbled by the whole thing. I’m such a poster boy for what this National Extensions College can do. So the idea of finding people who are like me educational journey of any age, any background, any gender, whatever, and then putting a scholarship fund behind that to help them on their journey…. I mean it makes me feel so old but if Stormzy’s doing scholarships…

‘I really want to meet them [the recipients of the scholarship] and see what happens.  I don’t just want to have my name on some form somewhere.

‘I want to see what happens… typical comedian, I need the emotional feedback from their journey. But I’m excited to see what happens and to whom. Genuinely.’

To learn more about The NEC Russell Kane Scholarship please visit:

https://www.nec.ac.uk/russell-kane-scholarship/

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