A choral scholar is a student either at a university

University

A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...

 or private school

Private school

Private schools, also known as independent schools or nonstate schools, are not administered by local, state or national governments; thus, they retain the right to select their students and are funded in whole or in part by charging their students' tuition, rather than relying on mandatory...

 who receives a scholarship in exchange for singing in the school or university's choir

Choir

A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...

. This is a common practice in the UK

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 at schools attached to cathedral

Cathedral

A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...

s where the choir is the Cathedral Choir, and at Oxford

Colleges of the University of Oxford

The University of Oxford comprises 38 Colleges and 6 Permanent Private Halls of religious foundation. Colleges and PPHs are autonomous self-governing corporations within the university, and all teaching staff and students studying for a degree of the university must belong to one of the colleges...

 and Cambridge

Colleges of the University of Cambridge

This is a list of the colleges within the University of Cambridge. These colleges are the primary source of accommodation for undergraduates and graduates at the University and at the undergraduate level have responsibility for admitting students and organising their tuition. They also provide...

 University Colleges, many of which have famous choirs.

The term is also used to refer to those who have taken a gap year

Gap year

An expression or phrase that is associated with taking time out to travel in between life stages. It is also known as sabbatical, time off and time out that refers to a period of time in which students disengage from curricular education and undertake non curricular activities, such as travel or...

 to sing for a Cathedral choir, generally taking on the same responsibilities as the choir's Lay clerk

Lay clerk

A lay clerk, also known as a lay vicar, song man or a vicar choral, is a professional adult singer in a Cathedral or collegiate choir in the United Kingdom. The Vicars Choral were substitutes for the Canons...

s. If the Cathedral is linked to a Cathedral school

Cathedral school

Cathedral schools began in the Early Middle Ages as centers of advanced education, some of them ultimately evolving into medieval universities. Throughout the Middle Ages and beyond, they were complemented by the monastic schools...

, the scholarship may also involve part- or full-time work at that school.

See also

• Choir of Christ Church, Oxford
• Choir of King's College, Cambridge
  Choir of King's College, Cambridge
  The Choir of King's College, Cambridge is one of today's most accomplished and renowned representatives of the great British choral tradition. It was created by King Henry VI, who founded King's College, Cambridge in 1441, to provide daily singing in his Chapel, which remains the main task of the...
  
  
• Choir of Magdalen College, Oxford
  Magdalen College, Oxford
  Magdalen College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. As of 2006 the college had an estimated financial endowment of £153 million. Magdalen is currently top of the Norrington Table after over half of its 2010 finalists received first-class degrees, a record...
  
  
• Choir of New College, Oxford
  New College, Oxford
  New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.- Overview :The College's official name, College of St Mary, is the same as that of the older Oriel College; hence, it has been referred to as the "New College of St Mary", and is now almost always...
  
  
• Choir of St John's College, Cambridge
  Choir of St John's College, Cambridge
  The Choir of St John's College, Cambridge, is a collegiate choir of the English cathedral tradition. Though early records are obscure, it is known that its origins can be traced to the original foundation of the College in 1511. As well as daily singing of the liturgy in the college Chapel, it...
  
  
• Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge
  Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge
  The Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge is a mixed choir whose primary function is to sing choral services in the Tudor chapel of Trinity College, Cambridge...
  
  
• Trinity College Chapel Choir
  University of Trinity College
  The University of Trinity College, informally referred to as Trin, is a college of the University of Toronto, founded in 1851 by Bishop John Strachan. Trinity was intended by Strachan as a college of strong Anglican alignment, after the University of Toronto severed its ties with the Church of...
  
  , University of Toronto
  University of Toronto
  The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...