Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, how many (a) offers were made, (b) places were accepted and (c) students enrolled in the first cohort of Spärck AI Scholarships; at which universities; and what was the total cost of each cohort.

The first cohort of Spärck AI Scholars were recruited and selected directly by participating universities. The Department therefore does not hold a consolidated figure for the number of scholarship offers made. However, we can confirm that 79 scholarship places were accepted and 79 scholars subsequently enrolled across the Universities of Bristol, Cambridge, Edinburgh, Manchester, Newcastle, Oxford, Southampton, Imperial College London and University College London. For the 2026/27 cohort, UK Research and Innovation, through the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, made grant funding of £3.23M available across the nine participating universities to support scholars’ tuition fees and living-cost stipends.