BRITISH SCHOLARSHIP TRUST

History

The BST is a registered charity which awards scholarships to promising postgraduate students from the countries of former Yugoslavia for short periods of study in the United Kingdom.

The Trust was established after the First World War following an appeal to the British people to help educate war orphans from Serbia. The generous donations were invested in equities (shares) and gilts (bonds) in the London stock market, and the income (dividends and interest) finances our scholarships. Between the two world wars, the scholarships were extended to cover the whole of Yugoslavia. After the break-up of Yugoslavia, Slovenia decided to withdraw from the scheme, and the Trust currently covers the following countries: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia.

Governance

The Trust is a registered charity (1198302- formerly 1031428) and its affairs are governed by the regulations of the Charity Commission. The Trust is managed by a board of trustees, including the chairperson and treasurer. The services of the trustees are voluntary and unpaid.

“The scholarship provided by the British Scholarship Trust helped me gain a lot of knowledge and new methods of learning and researching, particularly in the field of my PhD studies. All this experience I share with my students and motivate them so that they too can visit universities abroad and gain new experiences.”

Festim Halili

Computer Science, North Macedonia, 2013-14

“I am profoundly grateful to The British Scholarship Trust for enabling my visit to the University of Hertfordshire. I am absolutely certain of the importance of this grant to my personal and academic career. During this stay, I acquired new skills, knowledge, valuable experience, collaboration contacts, and all of these will not only have an impact on my personal development, but also on the development of my scholarly community through sharing my experiences and acquired knowledge.”

Jelena Vladić

Pharmaceutical Engineering, Serbia, 2016-17