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UCL Scholarships and funding

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Masters Funding Awards application guidance

The below is guidance for how to complete the online application for UCL's centrally administered scholarship scheme, the Masters Funding Awards.

Schemes

These guidance notes relate to the completion of the applications form for the Masters Funding Awards (MFA). The MFA is an umbrella application process that allows students to apply once and to be considered for all the schemes it encompasses, as long as they meet the eligibility criteria for those schemes. Eligibility criteria for the specific schemes are listed on the relevant web pages which are accessible by clicking on the links below:

Please note

  • You must have completed an application for admission in order to be able to apply for UCL’s Master’s scholarships. If you have not yet submitted a complete application for 2024/25 (including your referee submitting references), then you will not be able to apply for central UCL funding.

    This application will collect information on a number of financial factors, including household income information and estimations of other available funds for study. Additional information including personal details and academic references from your UCL admissions application are used and are therefore not requested through the funding application.

    Navigating the form

    • In order to move through the form, you will need to click on the ‘Next’ button at the bottom of each page.
    • You will need to answer all required questions to move forward with the application – if you have not answered anything an error message will appear informing you of this.
    • We have highlighted the mandatory questions in the question guidance below.
    • Once you have clicked 'Next' on the question page, you will be taken to our two declaration pages. You will not be able to return to question page from these declarations, but you will subsequently have the opportunity to return to the original questions should you need to.
    • In order to complete the application, you will need to select 'Yes' and click the ‘Next’ button on the final page.
    • Once you have submitted, you should receive an automated email confirming receipt of your completed application.

    Answering the questions

    Q2. [Mandatory] Have you completed, or are you expected to complete, an undergraduate degree at UCL by the start of next academic year?

    In order to be eligible for the Professor Malcolm Grant Scholarship, you need to be a UCL alum. This means that you must have completed an undergraduate degree at UCL, or be a current UCL student, in the final year of your undergraduate degree in the 2023/24 academic year.

    Q3. [Mandatory] What is your highest academic qualification to date (UK equivalent)?

    For some schemes based on financial need, students who have not yet had the opportunity to study for a postgraduate degree will be given preference to those that already hold a Master’s or Doctoral degree. Broadly, UK degree levels can be defined as Bachelor's (undergraduate), Master’s (postgraduate taught) and PhD (postgraduate research).

    Q4. [Mandatory] In which year did you commence your undergraduate studies?

    Please let us know the year in which you first enrolled on your undergraduate programme.

    Q6-17. Please specify in UK £ Sterling the amount of funding you expect to have access to for use during your programme from the following sources.

    In this section of the application, we are looking for an honest appraisal of your financial situation beyond what you may receive through this scholarship application. As these are partial scholarships, it is important that accurate information is provided as to how you will be intending to cover the remainder of costs while at UCL, even if you are awarded one of our scholarships.

    All values should be the overall total for the academic year and will be considered to be in £ Sterling. Please use numerical values only (e.g. 1500, no commas or symbols) - if a particular funding option is not applicable or available to you, please simply enter 0. You can find a useful currency converter at xe.com. For clarification on the types of funding details requested, see below.

    We assume that all UK students will be able to access the government's Masters Loan towards their cost of study. If you are unable to take out the loan, please explain why here – as these are financial need awards, we expect all students to exhaust available support from other sources. If, for some reason, you are unable to take out a governmental Masters Loan, please explain why here. E.g. You did an intergrated Masters at undergraduate level. We will assume that the loan is avaivable to all other students.

    Other Loans (Scottish/Welsh/Northern Irish education loans, private loans, etc.) – any other loans that you may be intending to take for your year of study whether government from UK states outside England, or loans from banks or other sources. If you are attempting to secure some other form of loan, please provide details in question 9.

    Part-time employment – any money you hope to earn by working part-time during the duration of your programme. We are aware this is unlikely to be secured funding, but please provide an estimate based on whether you are intending to work alongside your studies, and how much you estimate you will earn from this part-time work. Please note that most part-time employment in industries such as retail and service will be paid near the minimum way.

    Scholarships/Awards/Bursaries – any scholarships, awards, bursaries, or similar that you intend to apply for, have applied for, or have secured for your studies. This should not include funding that you have applied for from one of the funds listed above, but any other scholarships. If you include a number other than 0 in this field, please provide details in question 12 including the provider of the funding, and whether or not it is secured.

    Family/household contribution – this should include any monetary support or loan provided by your family or household for the duration of your studies. Other ‘in kind’ support such as rent-free accommodation should be highlighted in the any other funding section, or in the household expenditure section as a reason for lower overall costs, rather than estimated here as a monetary contribution.

    Personal savings – any personal savings you have access to for use during your studies.

    State benefits – any state benefits you will be in continued receipt of during your studies.

    Any other funding – this is a place to declare any other funding you may have access to for your studies which you do not feel was appropriate to include in any of the categories listed above. If you include a number other than 0 in this field, please provide details in question 17.

    Q19. Please provide a figure for your household's gross annual income (you must convert this into UK £ sterling - numerical values only).

    Please indicate the gross annual income of your household (HHI) for the 2022-23 tax year*. HHI should never equal zero - income streams that should be considered include salaries, wages, state benefits, and investment returns. If you are not sure whether something should be considered as income, please get in touch with the Student Funding Office.  

    For the purposes of HHI, the household should consist of all earning members whose income goes towards supporting general costs such as rent, bills, food, etc. Members of the household who work part-time for spending money that is not contributed to general household support should not be included.

    e.g. If you live with your parent(s) and/or partner and have a job yourself, we would expect you to include all two/three incomes. If you live alone or in a shared house but are financially supported by your parent(s) and/or partner, we would still expect you to include all two/three incomes. If you live in a shared house and are completely financially independent, we would only expect you to include your own income.

    Please be aware that if you are shortlisted for a scholarship, we will require evidence of this amount in the form of bank statements, tax returns, universal credit entitlement letters, and P60s.

    *  This should be for the 2022-23 tax year. If there has been a significant change in your circumstance since April 2023, you can use a more contemporary estimate and will need to provide alternative if shortlisted.

    Q20. If you would like to provide any additional information on your household income, please do so here (optional) (500 characters max.)

    Include here any additional details about your household income that you would like to make us aware of, or would like us to take into account when assessing your financial need, that are not immediately obvious from the numerical value above.

    e.g. if a portion of your state benefits are explicitly to cover disability or other medical costs, this should be noted here.

    Q21. If you would like to provide any additional information on exceptional household expenditure (e.g. medical bills, significant debts), please do so here (optional) (500 characters max.)

    Include here any significant and exceptional costs that impact on your household situation e.g. large medical bills, repayments on sizeable debts etc.

    Q22. Please select the most appropriate employment category for your household's highest earner.

    Please select the employment category that best fits the main income earner in the household. Some examples are given in the dropdown to provide guidance as to what each category includes. Please try and pick the category you feel most closely resembles the main earner’s occupational level. We will check this with additional information provided.

    Q23. Please give the occupation (if you selected 'retired' for the previous question, please add the former occupation here) of the household's highest earner.

    Please give the occupation (i.e. Secondary School Teacher) of the highest earner indicated in Q22. Please note, if you have selected 'Retired' in Q22 you should give the last occupation of that individual.

    Q24. If you would like to provide any additional information on your household employment situation, please do so here (optional) (500 characters max.)

    If there are any additional details about your household employment situation that you would like us to consider (e.g. impending redundancy, reduced shifts) please include them here.

    Q25. Please specify the number of people in the household who live on the combined income stated above (include earners and/or yourself).

    This should include all members of the household who are dependent on the amount indicated in Q24. This should include the money earners themselves, and anyone else who lives in the house and is dependent on those earnings in some way. This should also include yourself.

    Q26. If you would like to provide any additional information on the number of dependants in your household, please do so here (optional) (500 characters max.)

    If you do not feel that simply noting the number of dependants in the household fairly reflects your situation, please outline additional information here (e.g. a dependent who is unable to work etc)

    Q27. Have you been a permanent resident for the last five years (since 2019), or did you complete GCSE or A-levels, in one the following east London boroughs: Hackney, Newham, Tower Hamlets, or Waltham Forest.

    The UCL East London Scholarship is only open to applicants who have resided in one of the above boroughs for the past five years, or who completed GCSE or A-Levels within one of those boroughs. Please indicate if this criterion applies to you, so you can be considered for the award.

    Q28. During the final year of your undergraduate studies, did you receive any scholarship, bursary or grant from your institution or the UK government that was based on your household income or financial hardship?

    Please indicate if, during the final year of your undergraduate degree, you were in receipt of any kind of funding – scholarship, bursary, grant etc. – either from your university or from the UK government that was awarded based upon your personal or household financial situation. This could include a low-income scholarship or bursary from your university either paid to you or towards your accommodation, a fee waiver, a non-repayable maintenance grant from Student Finance England, etc, as long as the criteria on which these awards were made was low income. Please note that you will be asked to provide evidence of any such funding – in the form of an official award notification letter – if your application is successful.

    Q29 . If you answered ‘yes’ to the above question, please provide a brief description of the funding including who it was awarded by (i.e., your university, Student Loans Company)

    Please give a very brief description of the funding your received and who it was awarded by. E.g. “A £1000 Undergraduate Bursary awarded by University College London.” Please note that you will be asked to provide evidence of any such funding – in the form of an official award notification letter – if your application is successful.

    Q30. Are you the first member of your family to attend university at any level?

    This should include your immediate family, including parent(s), spouse and sibling(s) who have studied at undergraduate or postgraduate level at any university.

    Q31. If you have any further information that you would like to provide on your household situation, please do so here (optional)

    If you feel some factors about your household income are not captured above, please provide these here.

    Q33. Are you registered as having a disability?

    This should be marked ‘Yes’ if you are recognized as disabled. Please note that we will need to verify this information and would expect you to register with UCL’s Disability Services department.

    Q34. Are you a single parent?

    Please indicate whether you are a single parent.

    Q35. Have you ever lived in care?

    Please indicate if you have ever lived in care, even if you are no longer living in care.

    Q36. Are you currently in receipt of state benefits?

    Please indicate if you are currently in receipt of any state benefits (Housing Benefit, Jobseeker's Allowance, Child Tax Credit etc.) including any that would stop as the result of your studies. Please note that you will be asked to provide evidence of this if your application is successful.

    Q37. Are you a Forced Migrant?

    UCL uses the term 'forced migrant' to mean one of the following: 

    • Refugee.
    • Asylum seeker.
    • Those who have been granted a temporary form of leave as the result of an asylum or human rights application (e.g. limited leave to remain, discretionary leave to remain, humanitarian protection, UASC leave).

    Please note, you will still need to meet the scheme eligibility criteria of being considered a UK student by UCL.

    Leadership Statement (this should be submitted for Professor Malcolm Grant Scholarship only)

    Students wishing to be considered for the Professor Malcolm Grant Scholarship are also required to provide a Leadership Statement.

    Please highlight any leadership roles or positions of responsibility you have held, or currently hold, covering the following 5 aspects: 

    • Vision / Goals
    • Excellent Communication
    • Motivating Others / Performance
    • Decision Making / Problem Solving
    • Passion and Enthusiasm

    500 words maximum (please include a word count) and please upload your document as a Word document or PDF only.


    Your form is complete

    Thank you for taking the time to complete your application for the Masters Funding Awards for 2024/25.

    If you have any further questions not answered above, please feel free to contact Student Funding.