Higher Education Scholarship

If you are considering a higher education course at New College Swindon University Centre, there are some scholarships that you can apply for to help your journey.

Wiltshire Community Foundation

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The Principal’s Higher Education Scholarship

The Principal’s Higher Education Scholarship is open to students who are starting the first year of a Higher National Certificate (HNC) or Higher National Diploma (HND) at New College Swindon. There is one scholarship awarded per academic year.

The scholarship will cover the full tuition fees for either an HNC/HND programme. There are no restrictions on the duration of study (part-time or full-time)

To be eligible for consideration, a student:

Must achieve the requisite entry requirements for your chosen part-time or full-time HNC or HND
Must have submitted the course application no later than 31st August 2024

And

Must meet at least one of the widening participation criteria listed below…

You are not eligible to apply if you are continuing an existing HNC or HND course

New College Swindon is committed to widening participation in Higher Education from those groups who are under-represented and who face potential barriers to access. You are eligible to apply under the widening participation element of the HE Scholarship if you meet any of the following criteria:

You are the first member of your immediate family to enter Higher Education
You have been in care as a looked-after child for at least 13 weeks since the age of 14
You have a disability or you are a carer of an ill or disabled family member
You have applied for the full Maintenance Loan available
You are from a black and minority ethnic group
You are estranged from your family and have no other source of income
You meet one of the following two postcode criteria:

You come from one of the most deprived areas of the country as defined by the Governments IMD (Indices of Multiple Deprivation) database. You can check this by inputting your postcode and downloading the report, your result is displayed in column F. If your result in column F is 1, 2, 3, or 4; you meet this criteria. Please note this information only covers addresses in England. Follow the IMD website for more information.
You come from an area where it is unusual for people to progress to Higher Education or go to University. This is defined by the Governments classification called POLAR4. To meet this criteria your address must fall into quintile 1 or 2. Follow the Tableau website for more information.

Note: to check your eligibility for the above two postcode criteria’s, please use the postcode lookup tool using the home address where you lived during your last year of School or College.

Further Details

To be eligible to apply for the HE Scholarship, you must have enrolled and be able to provide proof of enrolment onto HNC or HND by the end of October 2024 at New College in Swindon.

Closing Date

The closing date to apply is Thursday 31st August 2024, 6pm

Terms of Scholarship

When applying to the Principals Higher Education Scholarship scheme, you agree to support marketing activities by providing your feedback and photograph for internal and external promotion. This includes and is not limited to any websites, social media, advertising and events.

Allocation

The 2024/25 scholarship award includes the tuition fees for either a HNC or HND programme. There are no restrictions on the duration of study (part time or full time). Please note, if you intend on studying for two years but have only enrolled on to a HNC for a year, the scholarship will only fund the programme that you have enrolled on to. In this case, it would be for a HNC for a single year.

Every reasonable attempt will be made to communicate with the selected student from the details provided within the application. If we are unable to confirm communications by the provided deadline, we reserve the right to withdraw the scholarship and award to another student.

The successful student must provide proof of enrolment on to a HNC or HND course at New College. If you are unable to provide proof you will become ineligible to win and another student will be selected to replace you.

Applicants’ personal data will be used in accordance with GDPR legislation.

Due to the vast amount of expected applications received, we are unable to contact unsuccessful applicants.

Withdrawal of Scholarship

We reserve the right to withdraw a Scholarship from anyone who is found to have misled New College about any aspect of their eligibility and to seek full payment for the Scholarship.

If a student changes to a programme of study outside those listed under the eligibility section above, the scholarship will be withdrawn.

Selection Process

A selection panel consisting of senior academic staff and the senior management team will consider your HE Scholarship application. The panel will look at personal circumstances of those who meet widening participation criteria and take into account achievements of the academic merit applicants. All applications are anonymised and the decision of the panel is discretionary and final. Please note that you may be asked to provide evidence where relevant.

When making their decision, the panel will give regard to the following:

Applicant has provided a clear rationale for applying for a Higher Education course at New College, Swindon
Applicant has identified clearly how the scholarship will be beneficial to his/her student experience
Applicant has clearly articulated future ambitions; these goals relate to the Higher Education course he/she has applied for, and they involved appropriate and credible contribution from which others will benefit