University of St Andrews celebrates record fundraising year
The University of St Andrews has broken its previous cash record for fundraising with over £23.3 million donated in the year ending 31 July. The achievement marks one year since the launch of Making Waves: The Campaign for St Andrews, which will raise £300m for four key projects to deliver capital developments, enhance the student experience, and enable groundbreaking research. The total far exceeds the previous single-year record of £17.4m in 2018-2019.
Gifts made in 2024-2025 by over 5,000 donors bring the campaign total to £142m, including more than £52m raised for scholarships, student support and widening participation, and £42.5m raised for ‘New College’.
Professor Dame Sally Mapstone, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of St Andrews, said: “This achievement is about more than numbers. It represents our community’s unwavering belief in our vision for the University of St Andrews and demonstrates the power of the Making Waves Campaign to change lives through student support, capital projects, and world-leading research.”
The ‘New College’ capital project will deliver the redevelopment of the town’s former Madras Secondary School into a home for the University’s renowned School of International Relations and new University of St Andrews Business School.
Support for scholarships will help any talented undergraduate or postgraduate student to study at St Andrews, regardless of circumstances. PhD students in particular need financial assistance if they are to pursue world- and life-changing research in their fields.
The Making Waves Campaign will also enable the creation of a new Digital Nexus building at the heart of the University’s Science and Medicine Campus, a cutting-edge home for the School of Computer Science that will enable and encourage interdisciplinary teaching, learning and research – Making Waves will also fund endowed academic posts at St Andrews.
Tim Allan (MA 1988), Chair of the Making Waves Campaign Committee, said: “Reaching this milestone one year on from the launch of the Making Waves Campaign is a powerful reminder of the collective impact we can make. This achievement reflects our community’s appetite to drive innovation and excellence, and to break down barriers to education by supporting students now and of the future. It is an excellent start but there is much still to be done to reach our £300m target.”
The record year also reflects the growing number of alumni remembering the University of St Andrews with legacy gifts, received from as far afield as Canada and Australia, and closer to home.
Robert Fleming, Director of Development at the University of St Andrews, said: “This campaign is deliberately ambitious, and we are grateful for the support of our donors – alumni, families and friends of the University, including trusts and foundations, and legacy pledgors. They have chosen to ride this wave with us. Every gift, large or small, drives progress and helps to change lives.”
More information about the Making Waves Campaign can be found here: https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/development/making-waves/
Further details on the landmark £5 million donation from Garfield Weston Foundation to ‘New College’ at the University of St Andrews can be found here: https://alumni.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk/2025/05/30/university-secures-landmark-5m-donation-from-garfield-weston-foundation-for-new-college/
The largest pledge in the University’s history was made by Oak Foundation in 2023. Oak Foundation has pledged £15 million to the creation of ‘New College’, and a proportion of this gift was received in the year to 31 July 2025.
Funds received in 2024-2025 included part of a £3 million legacy gifted by the late David Ensor, a graduate of the University of St Andrews, and a £1.3m legacy from the estate of Marcia Carpenter, whose late husband, Peter, was an alumnus of the University.