Maths bursary launched in memory of student who died young

HIGH-PERFORMING STUDENTS applying to study maths at the University of Hull are to be offered a £2,000 cash award thanks to a new bursary scheme.

The awards, called the Gillian Stead Bursary, is for undergraduate students who enter the first year of maths degrees and who have achieved 320 UCAS tariff points in three A-Levels, excluding general studies and including an A in maths or equivalent.

Further awards will be made to these students for each subsequent year of their degree, subject to the candidate achieving an average mark of 65 per cent at the end of the previous year of study.

The university said that the bursary has been made possible thanks to a substantial legacy to the institution from the estate of Raymond Stead.

Mr Stead’s late daughter, Gillian, was a former student of the university, studying special honours Mathematics.

She died young after being diagnosed with breast cancer.

As a student she had enrolled at the university in 1969 as a joint physics and maths student, before switching to special honours maths.

She went on to study for a PGCE and PhD, working on twodimensional solidification problems.

After studying at the univer- sity, she went on to teach A-levels in various locations, firstly in Hull and latterly, Lancashire.

Students who achieve the set criteria do not need to apply for the bursary, as they will be automatically considered by the university.