Aziz Foundation Scholarships

Our guiding philosophy and key principle of operation is to support British Muslims to bring positive change to their communities and beyond.

Our Story So Far

The Aziz Foundation was set up as a family foundation in 2015 by Asif Aziz to bring together his various philanthropic work, including being a Board Member of Mosaic, founded by HM King Charles III in 2007, and supporting many community projects.

The Foundation’s work began as a dynamic mix of scholarships and grants in strategic areas, including community work, arts and culture and research. In 2018, we pioneered a postgraduate scholarships programme.

In 2019, the Aziz Foundation awarded 148 scholarships, 62% of which were to women, for a range of disciplines at over 40 UK universities.

In 2020,  we awarded over 200 scholarships at 54 universities, with 65% awarded to women & 160 to young scholars.

In 2021, another 50 scholarships were awarded through 18 partner universities, with 45% of the cohort the first in their family to enter higher education.

In 2022, 80 scholarship awards were made, with 40% of the cohort in the household income bracket of less than £20,000 per annum.

We are excited about supporting the career progression of each of our scholars as they make meaningful contributions to their industry, community and society as a whole.

The work of the Foundation has been recognised at the highest levels, with our Chair, Asif Aziz, in particular being honoured in various ways, including:

• an Honorary Fellowship awarded by Goldsmiths, University of London in 2022.
• Winner of the Tun Dr Mahathir Bin Mohamad Leadership Award in 2022.
• Yearly recognition in The 500 Most Influential Muslims in the World annual publication.

Our Guiding Principles and Objectives

Our work is guided by principles of social justice, compassion and cooperation. We recognise that Muslims make an invaluable contribution to the fabric of this country and we wish to live in a Britain where Muslims are valued and empowered to fulfil their true potential and continue making positive contributions to their communities and beyond.

Education creates opportunities for social mobility and we recognise that despite the hard work and efforts of many, there continues to be significant equality gaps that hamper the social mobility of many talented, inspiring and ambitious British Muslims. As an organisation, we are driven to reduce these equality gaps through our scholarships programme and other initiatives, which aim to increase access to postgraduate education and opportunity.

To date we have invested over £7 million in more than 500 scholarships for British Muslims pursuing postgraduate education.