Application guidance notes

Please read these guidance notes carefully before you start your Bowman Scholarship application.

1. Read the eligibility requirements: this is to check you’re eligible and so you can prepare to gather the documents you will need before starting your application. 

2. If you have any questions or are not sure whether you are eligible, email the Bowman Scholarship Admissions Team at: clie-bowmanscholarship@ucl.ac.uk. We will reply and confirm whether you can start your application.

3. Read through the application form outline below. You will find all the information on the documents you have to provide in Section 3.

4. When you are ready to start your application, on the online application form, you will need to select ‘the Bowman Scholarship’ response to the question: "Are you applying or do you intend to apply for a scholarship that will cover the fee?". Then you will not be requested to pay any application fee.

You can start, save it and upload the documents later. As you prepare your documents, we recommend saving them as PNG or JPEG files named: “Last name, First name UPC Bowman Scholarship Application”. Once it is completed, send it.

After you have completed it, we will assess your application. If it is assessed as suitable, you will be invited to take the online entrance test(s), and if you are successful, we will schedule an interview with you.

The application closing date is 1 June 2024. Applications received after this deadline will not be considered.

Bowman Scholarship application form outline

• Section 1: Personal details, immigration status, financial situation, previous studies, training or professional experiences
• Section 2: Your academic plans
• Section 3: Application Documents

Section 1

Personal details

Your scholarship application is totally confidential. The selection panel can only consider information that you provide.

Immigration status

To confirm your immigration status, you’ll need to tick the appropriate box on the form. You must provide documents from the Home Office to support your asylum or human rights claim. If your immigration status changes at any point, please inform us promptly.

Your current personal/family financial situation

You’ll need to detail your personal income and that of your family or guardian, if relevant. Specifically, we need this information for the year prior to your application, and for the coming academic year, where you may be joining the UPC (e.g. do you receive any benefits? Do you have income to support your life in London?).

Past studies, training, voluntary work, professional experiences

We’ll ask you to provide evidence of your past academic studies and any courses you've attended. You can also detail any of your training, voluntary or professional experiences.

Support network, special support

We’ll ask you for information on your current situation. This includes any support network you may have here in the UK (e.g. charity sponsorship, solicitor, mentor, friends and/or family) and whether you may need additional support (e.g. preparing for tests, accessing information online). 

Section 2

Your future undergraduate degree

You will need to choose the undergraduate degree you wish to apply to and start after your foundation year on the UPC. You will have to write down the UCL degree programme name you’d like to apply to on your Application Form. See list of UCL degrees. 

When you decide, you should look at the entry requirements of the degree to make sure you have selected the right optional subjects on the UPC (e.g for a Mechanical Engineering degree, you will need to take Mathematics and Physics and already have a good level in these subjects, for a Politics degree, you will need to take History and Politics, for a Medical Sciences degree, you will need to take Biology and Chemistry).

Your studies on the UPC

We’ll ask you to state which optional subjects you wish to take from either pathway, the UPCSE (for Sciences and Engineering) or the UPCH (for Humanities and Social Sciences). Please refer to our module selection guide.

Your English abilities

We’ll ask you if you have an English qualification. This might be from the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) or Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). We also want to know if you've spoken or studied English before. If you are unable to pay for one of these tests, we will ask you to take an English assessment with one of our tutors. This will be free of charge.

Your personal statement

We will ask you to write a personal statement. Your personal statement should highlight why you want to study your chosen undergraduate degree. You may also include any information on your past studies, work experiences or achievements. This is a chance to tell us about your personal and academic background. We have included questions on the form to help you write this.

Reference form

You’ll be asked to submit a reference form. You’ll have to contact your referee and ask them to fill in the form and email it to clie-bowmanscholarship@ucl.ac.uk.

• Download reference form.

Section 3

To consider your application, we need to receive evidence of your immigration status and income. Please provide as much evidence as you can from the lists below.

The checklist below details examples of documents you can provide:

Academic background

• Past or current school or university transcripts
• Proof of enrolment or attendance
• Student card
• Leaving certificate
• Certificate or proof of completion

UK study

• School or university transcripts
• Proof of enrolment or attendance
• Student card
• Leaving certificate
• Certificate or proof of completion

Training, voluntary work and professional experience

• Proof of attendance
• Proof of work
• Professional reference
• Other (e.g. certificate of completion, award, recommendation letter)

Current address in London or the Greater London area

• Proof of address (utility, phone or council tax bill, rental agreement)
• Host Declaration Letter
• Proof of accommodation by a UKVI housing partner or registered charity

Immigration status

• Application Registration Card (ARC) with both sides presented
• Biometric Residence Permit (BRP) card with both sides presented
• Standard Acknowledgment Letter (SAL)
• Asylum application
• Letter from Home Office
• Letter from your solicitor
• Letter from Student Finance
• Letter from your local authority
• Letter from Children’s Services
• P60 if you have a job
• Other evidence

Evidence of income

We’re interested in the financial information relating to the 12-month period before your UPC application. We will also need to see evidence of income for the coming academic year when you may be joining the UPC.

We’re interested in the financial information relating to the 12-month period before your UPC application.

• Recent bank statements (annual bank statement or account summary)
• Payslips
• Employer letter confirming employment
• Letter from registered care home confirming residence
• Proof of Asylum Seekers’ Allowance
• Proof of any bursary, grant, or scholarship support