Principal’s Welcome to the Family Programme 2025
Letter from the Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of St Andrews Professor Dame Sally Mapstone DBE FRSE, as part of the Principal's Family Programme Appeal 2025, in support of the Making Waves Campaign.
Dear parents and family members,
It was my great pleasure to meet many of you at our Parents’ Receptions in September, and I hope that since then your young people have settled into their new routines, sparked new friendships, and uncovered new interests, whether academic or through one of our over 190 student societies and sports clubs.
A prominent university guide, published in August, stated that ‘attending St Andrews is a passport to great achievement in life’. It is a generous description, but I suspect what matters most to you is knowing that your children are in an environment that will stretch and support them.
At St Andrews, we prioritise student development, both in academic and personal terms, and we achieve this by strategically channelling our funds towards building for the future and supporting the experiences of our current students and staff.
This forward focus is embodied in our Making Waves fundraising campaign. We recently marked one year since the Campaign’s public launch and have raised over £144 million towards our deliberately ambitious target of £300m. This success is in no small part thanks to the support of our alumni, friends, and you, our families.
At its heart, the Campaign is about supporting students. For many undergraduates and postgraduates, knowing that funding is available can be the difference between accepting a place here or being forced to turn down this life-changing opportunity. As parents, you will understand how powerful that is: the reassurance that potential, not circumstance, determines opportunity.
Making Waves extends beyond scholarships to the spaces in which our students learn, connect, and collaborate. ‘New College’ – home to the School of International Relations and our new Business School – marks the most significant capital project at St Andrews in three centuries, while the Digital Nexus building will sit at the heart of our Science and Medicine Campus.
Finally, the Campaign will encourage support for endowed academic posts, positioning St Andrews as a competitive and long-term destination for world-class academics.
I hope that you will see, as we do, the scale of our commitment to fostering world-class learning, research, and interdisciplinary collaboration across our academic community. You can learn more about these priorities on the University website and support our shared vision online or by completing the relevant gift form online.
We are truly grateful for your commitment to St Andrews as a member of our Family Programme. By supporting your student’s journey, you are helping to enrich the wider University community. Your generosity will make a lasting difference, empowering students to achieve their full potential.
Together, we have the power to make waves and to shape the story of tomorrow.
Yours sincerely
Professor Dame Sally Mapstone DBE FRSE
Principal and Vice-Chancellor
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