- 1. Decide your eligibility and selection criteria
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- First decide your eligibility criteria. Eligibility criteria are what will make your applicant eligible (or ineligible) to apply for the scholarship. For example, to apply for the scholarship you must be a home fee student and have applied for a Taught Masters coiurse at UCL.
- Then decide on your selection criteria. These are the criteria you will use to rank your applications so you can make your scholarship award and so you also have a reserve list of candidates. These could be financial need, academic merit or a combination of the two.
- If you have a gift agreement in place and/or have completed the scholarship proposal form, these criteria should be detailed there. If not then please go to "Propose a new funding award for students (a scholarship or bursary)" and complete the form there first
- Please note if your scholarship is a positive action scholarship and any of the criteria above are based on a any of the protected characteristics in the Equality Act 2010 (age; disability; gender reassignment; marriage and civil partnership; pregnancy and maternity; race; religion or belief; sex; or sexual orientation), it is compulsory to first complete an Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) and have this approved by UCL’s central Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. Please email equalities@ucl.ac.uk for advice.
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- 2. How to make a selection based on financial need
A financial need award can be selected by the department or by the Student Funding Office depending on the scheme criteria. An recipient may be selected solely on basis of financial need or on the basis of financial need and academic merit. Please note the financial need assessment also takes account of various social mobility characterictics such as first in family to university, careleaver, disability.
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You should have already submitted a scholarship proposal form here to the Student Funding Office (SFO) . Subject to discussion of the proposed funding award and availability of resources, the SFO will suggest the administration option which is most suited to your award. These are:-
- If the award criteria are solely based on financial need, the SFO may be able to add the award to their umbrella funding award process and carry out the selection in full, including handling payment of the award to the student. This is best suited to a substantial award scheme with multiple awards and spanning more than one year.
- If the criteria of the scheme are based on both financial need and academic merit, the SFO may be able to provide a shortlist of candidates based on the financial need criterion by including the award in our umbrella funding schemes. The department/faculty can then assess this shortlist based on academic merit and finalise the selection of candidates. The department/faculty must then make the award, including handling payment of the award to the student. This is best suited to a substantial award scheme with multiple awards and spanning more than one year.
- Alternatively, the SFO can provide a financial needs assessment template for departments to use for an award which is either based on a) financial need only or b) both financial need and academic merit. The department/faculty must then carry out their own selection, make the award and handle payment to the student.
The financial need assessment template provided will depend on the nature of the funding award. The more complex financial need assessment requires training and is best used for substantive schemes. A user-friendly version has been developed for funding schemes which are low value or for a short period only. The SFO will guide departments as to which is most appropriate on a case-by-case basis.
Please note that options 1 and 2 are subject to a service level agreement, which will be provided by the SFO, as any central selection must be run according to SFO processes and timelines (see step selection timeline)
For guidance on the options outlined above, including requesting a copy of the SFO’s financial needs assessment template and / or service level agreement, please contact the SFO at sfostaffenquiries@ucl.ac.uk.
- 3. How to make an academic merit selection
What departments and faculties need consider when making an academic merit selection. A scholarship recipient can be selected solely on academic merit, or on a combination of financial need and academic merit (please see the preceeding step if you wish to include financial need as part of the assessment).
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An academic merit selection is based on an applicants ‘ academic achievements and potential. This is assessed by a panel of academic colleagues. This selection or part of the selection must be carried out by the department or faculty.
When creating your panel and making your selection you must consider the following:-
- The process must be clear and transparent.
- When forming the panel, colleagues can use UCL Fair Recruitment practices and / or the principles UCL applies as part of admissions selection as a guide to ensure the panel is representative and fair. Please see section 11 "The Recruitment Panel" for guidance.
It is up to academic colleagues whether the selection is done on the basis of information gathered through the admissions process and / or an application form or whether an interview with the candidate is required.
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- 4. Donor involvement in the selection process
Advice on whether a donor should be involved in the selection process and how.
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With a philanthropic gift, the donor cannot choose the award recipient; UCL will be exclusively responsible for selecting the most suitable recipient in line with the terms detailed in the related gift agreement. The donor can direct funds to support students on certain courses who meet particular criteria (with the agreement of the department/faculty and UCL Advancement as appropriate) but cannot choose the recipient themselves or, in the case of postgraduate students, dictate their area of research.
In exceptional circumstances, they may provide input during the selection process but should never have the final decision. Donor involvement in the selection process usually only applies for practice-based degree programmes, such as art and architecture, where the selection process involves an interview and an assessment of the applicant’s work.
- 5. How to decide your selection timetable
What are UCL’s main selection dates and what to consider when putting in place your selection timetable
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The more time allowed for advertising and recruitment, the better; this ensures a larger pool of talented applicants have sufficient time to consider and apply for the award. It also ensures that the award can be used in the most strategic way, for example, attracting additional students to apply to study at UCL as a result of the financial support available to them. The timelines are different depending on whether the award is aimed at UG, PGT or PGR students.
Please see the "UCL Student Funding Office Selection Timetable" document below for timelines recommended and adhered to by the Student Funding Office (SFO). Please note if SFO is carrying out your financial need selection then these timetables will apply.
Departments/faculties can choose to advertise and carry out selection at a later date than those included below but should be aware that doing so will affect the number of applicants to the award. It may also mean that the department/faculty select candidates from students that already hold offers to study at UCL, rather than attracting additional applicants. Late advertising and/or selection of awards is also likely to impact adversely on international students who have to have sufficient time to apply for the necessary visas.
UCL Student Funding Office Selection Timetable PDF
- 6. What data to capture on your scholarship application form
If you are creating your own scholarship application form, find out what data to capture on a scholarship application form and how to comply with GDPR requirements
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Please ensure that the application form is capturing only data which is needed for the assessment of the award. An application form must contain UCL’s Data Protection Statement and consent to share statement plus the applicant declaration.
By applying to the award, applicants are confirming that they are happy for their name and course details to be shared with the award’s donor (if their award is externally funded and if their application is successful). For data protection reasons, it is essential that students are made aware of this at the point of applying and again as part of the award offer process (via the Award Offer and UCL Award Agreement).
All selections carried out by the department/faculty should be done fairly and applicants should be informed of the outcome within an appropriate timeframe (or advised ahead of time that no response by a particular date indicates that they have not been successful). In cases where a donor sits on the selection panel and will view application forms, the department/faculty should consult with the local Data Protection Lead to ensure the process is set up in line with GDPR rules.
Please request the most up-to-date copy of UCL’s Data Protection Statement, Award Offer Template and the UCL Award Agreement from the SFO every year via sfostaffenquiries@ucl.ac.uk
Please note you should also ensure any retention of unsuccessful and successful applications complies with data retention regulations.
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