The Santander Languages Scholarships | Online English Courses - British Council are open to anyone over 18 years of age in 13 countries and aim to improve skills for the workplace amongst the scholarship beneficiaries.  

The scholarships provide fully online training and cover all costs for beneficiaries.

Applications may be submitted at the following link on www.becas-santander.com until 29 March 2022.

Madrid, 19 January 2022
Banco Santander continues to strengthen its commitment to lifelong  learning and specifically to language training as a key skill for employability and, through Santander Universities, in partnership with the British Council, launches a new online edition of the Santander Languages Scholarships | Online English Courses - British Council with  5,000 scholarships which are open to anyone over 18 years of age and resident in 13 countries (Argentina, Germany, Chile, Brazil, Mexico, the US, Spain, Peru, Colombia, Portugal, Poland, the United Kingdom and Uruguay).

The scholarships offer training which is fully delivered online and covers all costs for beneficiaries. Anyone interested can enrol at this link on the Becas Santander website until 29 March 2022.

Diego Vidal, a Chilean researcher, specialising in Politics and International Affairs, took part in the previous round of the programme. Diego was motivated to apply because, as he states, "in the area of international relations, it is essential to speak English. You need to be constantly working to improve your level in order to enhance your international career prospects."

There are five levels of training available ranging from beginner level (A1) to advanced level (C1) and candidates are allocated according to their current knowledge of English.  Each training programme lasts for 12 weeks, from April to July, and includes 12 online sessions with British Council tutors.  Candidates are also able to access up to 48 hours of interactive videos and self-learning activities.  The objective of the scholarship is to improve beneficiaries’ employability skills and increase their prospects of accessing the international labour market.

Participants will increase their skills to better engage in workplace situations, such as meetings or talks as well as benefit from the opportunity to network internationally with professionals and students from a range of disciplines and countries.  Once participants have successfully finished their courses they will receive a British Council course completion certificate. 

For Blanca Sagastume, Deputy Global Director of Santander Universities, "one of our objectives is to promote employability through training in transversal skills and competences such as languages. And this year, we have once again decided to launch a new edition of scholarships with the British Council to provide tools to access a changing and uncertain job market."

Mark Howard, Director of the British Council in Spain, stresses the reach and potential for transformation offered by the scholarships “which promote understanding and access to new cultures in a globalised world between over 20,000 young people from 13 countries who have benefited so far from the scholarships which were launched in March 2020“.  

Banco Santander and its support for higher education

Banco Santander, the leader in responsible banking, is firmly committed to progress and inclusive sustainable growth. It has a long-standing commitment to higher education through Santander Universities, which has been operating in this area for 25 years, setting it apart from the world's other financial institutions. The bank has allocated over €2 billion in total and awarded over 630,000 scholarships and grants to students, professional, entrepreneurs and SMEs since its inception. 

About the British Council 

The British Council is the United Kingdom's international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. Its purpose is to build connections, understanding and trust between citizens from the UK and those from other countries, through arts and culture, education and the English language. In Spain, the work of the British Council began more than 80 years ago, in the summer of 1940. Every year since then, it has provided educational and cultural opportunities that have transformed the lives of thousands of Spaniards. You can hear some of their stories in this video.