Abdullah Kattineh, a Syrian student from Damascus, heard back in January that he had won a place at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, to read Natural Sciences after battling with extraordinary conditions in his home country.  He studied by torchlight when the electricity failed and like his schoolmates, hid from fire whenever snipers were about or bombs fell near the school.    However, once he had the offer he then faced what must have felt like an insurmountable challenge to raise the necessary fees and living costs to cover his three year degree.  He was required to prove he had £150,000 to be allowed to enter the country as a student. 

Despite crowd-funding and wide-spread goodwill on social media, Abdullah had little chance of raising this amount before the end of September. 

However, he learnt today that the full amount has been found for him by the College and the Cambridge Trust.  After discussion within Corpus Christi and the Cambridge Trust, the grant-awarding body which provides the largest number of awards to overseas students studying at Cambridge, all the funds have been found to allow Abdullah to come to Cambridge and begin his studies. 

‘This is an exceptional case,’ commented Dr Michael Sutherland, Tutor for Admissions.  ‘Abdullah has had to overcome tremendous obstacles to win the place at Corpus and we want to support him and ensure he is fully funded and able to concentrate on his studies and new life here.’

Bursar Tim Harvey-Samuel added that the College’s contribution was raised from endowed funds given by benefactors to help students in need.  ‘The immensely generous and appreciated support of our alumni and other donors has allowed us to find the funding Abdullah needs.  We look forward to seeing him begin his degree with us in October.’

Helen Pennant, Director of the Cambridge Trust, commented ‘The Trust is delighted to support this student who has faced so many challenges.’

Speaking from Syria, Abdullah responded that he was “excited to study in Cambridge and was astonished and deeply appreciative of the support of the College, University and its members”