The scholarships – 57 in total – of up to £17,000 will be awarded to top performing students on NCUK’s International Foundation Year (IFY) course, which leads to an undergraduate degree at one of the consortium’s universities. They will be open to students enrolling in April or September 2015.

“We are delighted to open up exciting opportunities to young people who are just starting out on their career paths”

Students will receive £5000 for each of the three years of study that make up their undergraduate course, with five high achievers receiving an additional £2,000.

The fund is part of a “major new initiative” to invest in young people by NCUK and IEN, its partner in Korea, NCUK CEO Ken Gill commented.

NCUK has targeted the Korean market after finding its students to be “among the most committed and high achieving graduates who have thrived at UK universities”, a spokesperson told The PIE News.

“NCUK wants to recognise the achievements of Korean students and invest in the next generation of students,” they said.

The announcement was endorsed by the British Council, at whose offices in Jongno, Seoul, the announcement was made.

“The UK Government values Korean students highly and so of course we are delighted by this initiative,” said Martin Fryer, director of the British Council in Korea.

“Over the last four years, there has been a 9% increase in numbers [of Korean students coming to the UK] according to the latest data provided by the Higher Education Statistical Agency, and we fully endorse this collaborative scheme, which we hope will support this trend,” he said.

Scholarships in two further countries are due to be announced later this month, and NCUK estimates that there will be some 1,000 students in total competing for the scholarships.

The consortium is also investing £200,000 in a new NCUK Leadership Programme, designed to develop leadership skills and boost the employability of 20 of the scholarship winners, which will run over the final two years of the degree programme and include visiting speaker events and mentorship from employers in the private and public sectors.