Further information on Medical Education Scholarships

Scholarships

We have a range of scholarships available for students starting in the 2023/24 academic year.

Funding to cover tuition fees with the balance paid towards living expenses.

• The Ireland Healthcare Graduate Medicine Scholarship supported by the United Health Foundation and Optum Ireland
  • Two scholarships of €20,000 over 4 years (€5000 a year for 4 years).
  • Open to all Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland fee status students (priority given to candidates with home addresses in the ‘North West City Region’ of Donegal and Derry & Strabane Council areas).
• The Acorn Medical Scholarships

  • Two scholarships of £20,000 over 4 years (£5,000 a year for 4 years) – open to all Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland fee status students.
  • Priority will be given by the selection panel to eligible applicants who are resident in Co Derry/Londonderry.
• The hVivo Medical Education Scholarships
  • Three scholarships of £8,000 over 4 years (£2,000 a year for 4 years) – open to all Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland fee status students.
• The Morrison Medical Education Scholarships
  • Three scholarships of £8,000 over 4 years (£2,000 a year for 4 years) – open to all Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland fee status students.
  • Priority will be given by the selection panel to eligible applicants who have completed an undergraduate degree in an Arts subject (including Creative Arts) subject i.e. not in a Science subject.

Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible for the scholarship you must:

• NI Students

  Applicants must fulfil all of the following:

  Essential Criteria

  • Holding an offer for the UU MBBS course starting in August 2023
  • Being eligible for NI fee status at UU
  • Being a resident of NI
  • Having financial barriers i.e. household income below specified thresholds at the point of entry to the course (August 2023). Applicants meet this criterion if their household income is below £30,000

  Additional Criteria

  Applicants may fulfil one or more of the following criteria:

  • Being the main carer for a family member or dependent
  • Being care experienced
  • Being in receipt of disability or personal independence payments
  • Residing in an area of high deprivation/low participation
  • Attended a post-primary school with high deprivation indicators
• ROI Students

  Applicants must fulfil all of the following:

  Essential Criteria

  • Holding an offer for the UU MBBS course starting in August 2023
  • Being eligible for ROI fee status at UU
  • Being a resident of ROI
  • Having financial barriers i.e. household income below specified thresholds at the point of entry to the course (August 2023). Applicants meet this criterion if their household income is below €34,000 (ROI applicants)

  Additional Criteria

  Applicants may fulfil one or more of the following criteria:

  • Being the main carer for a family member or dependent
  • Being care experienced
  • Being in receipt of disability or personal independence payments
  • Residing in an area of high deprivation/low participation
  • Attended a post-primary school with high deprivation indicators
  • Holding a medical card (ROI applicants only)

Essential Criteria

• You hold an offer for the UU MBBS course

  You meet this criterion if you hold a Conditional Firm (CF) offer for the MBBS course starting in August 2023.

  You do not need to submit evidence, the School of Medicine will confirm you meet this criterion.

• Eligible for NI or ROI Fee Status

  You meet this criterion if:

  • you are eligible for NI fee status
  • OR  you are eligible for ROI fee status

  You do not need to submit evidence, the School of Medicine will confirm you meet this criterion

• A resident of NI or ROI

  You meet this criterion if, at the start of the MBBS programme in August 2023, you:

  • you hold Northern Ireland residency status
  • you are ordinarily resident in Northern Ireland for the 3 year period immediately prior to August 2023
  • you hold Republic Of Ireland residency status
  • you are ordinarily resident in Republic Of Ireland for the 3 year period immediately prior to August 2023

  Proof of address

  You can provide evidence of your home address by providing documentation that includes your name and address such as:

  • utility bill
  • bank statement
  • rent/mortgage statement
  • driving licence
  • payslip
  • NHS card
  • benefits letter.

  If you have settled status, please also provide evidence of this and further details.

• You experience financial barriers or have a low household income at the point of entry to the course

  You meet this criterion if, at the point of entry to the MBBS course in August 2023, your household income is:

  • below £30,000 for NI applicants based on the median annual earnings (Oct 2022)
  • below €34,000 for ROI applicants

  In the application form there is a question where applicants must outline the impact of not receiving a Medical Education Scholarship.

  Please provide details of your current income and how you anticipate it will change when you commence the course.

  Please use this space to articulate any financial barriers you face and any other financial support you will receive during your MBBS.

Additional Criteria

Additional consideration will be given to those who meet any of the following criteria:

• You are the main carer for a family member or dependent

  You meet this criterion if:

  • you are a carer who provides unpaid care to a family member who could not cope without their support due to, for example, illness, disability, a mental health issue, or substance misuse
  • you are someone who is the sole carer/provider for dependent children

  Please provide any evidence you have to support your application. However, we understand if is not possible.

• You are care experienced

  You meet this criterion if you have experience of being care experienced (fostering/adopted/care home or other supported residential care).

  This includes individuals who have lived in public care or as a looked-after child, including placements with foster carers under local authority care or kinship care, in a residential children's home, or who have been adopted after being in care.

  Please provide the name and contact details of the relevant social worker.

• You are in receipt of disability or personal independence payments

  You meet this criterion if you are in receipt of disability living allowance/personal independence payments/other benefits.

  Please supply a photocopy of a recent (within last 3 months) disability living allowance or personal independence payments.

• You live in an area of high deprivation/low participation

  You meet this criterion if you currently live in a designated area of high deprivation/low participation. High deprivation is indicated with a score of 356 or less. Please see the evidence column for tools on how to check this.

  For NI applicants please provide a link to the page showing your
  postcode and note the deprivation rank. Applicants can check eligibility using the NISRA postcode
  checker: https://deprivation.nisra.gov.uk/

  For ROI applicants please provide details, for example if you live near a DEIS post-primary or provide other detail to evidence.

• You went to a post-primary school with high deprivation 

  You meet this criterion if you attended a post-primary school with high deprivation indicators.

  You must provide the name and address of your secondary school.

  • NI applicants can  check if they attended a secondary school with a Free School Meal Entitlement of 50% or more

  • ROI applicants can check on gov.ie - List of Schools into DEIS (www.gov.ie)
• You have a medical card (ROI applicants)  

  You meet this criterion if you hold a medical card in the ROI.

  You must provide a copy of your medical card.