Belfast Girls’ Club Union Scholarships

The fund will provide 1-2 local support scholarships and 1-2 International placement expenses scholarships for female students undertaking the BSc or PGDip Community Youth Work course at Ulster University (full-time or part-time).

In addition to the hardship fund the international/placement expenses bursary aims to offer on-course support to widening access students with a focus on experiencing cultures, environments and countries other than that of their domicile and socio-economic background.

1. International or Exceptional Placement Expenses Scholarship

The placement scholarship will consist of £500 - £1000 each year to support 1-2 students who meet the university widening access criteria, travelling to undertake an International practice placement.  In the event that there are no applications of a sufficient quality in a given year for the placement scholarship, the funding will be directed toward the support of more students through the hardship fund.

2. Study Support Scholarship

The scholarship will consist of £500 - £1000 each year to support 1-2 students who meet the university widening access criteria to help with costs of study, for example, the purchase of books or a laptop, or for travel expenses.

Application Process

Calls for applications will be made on an annual basis.

Please contact Eliz McArdle e.mcardle@ulster.ac.uk for more information or to request an application form.

Successful applicants will accept the scholarships in writing and be invited to attend a scholarships celebration event on the Belfast campus.

Closing date for Applications

Applications are closed for the 23/24 academic year.

Notes for applicants

Applicants should note that:

• the application will remain confidential between the applicant and Ulster University.
• the application will be assessed solely on the information provided.
• the provision of funds will be at the discretion of the Funding Panel.
• funds will be allocated on merit.
• eligibility in itself is not sufficient for funding.
• successful applicants may be asked to provide further evidence of eligibility.
• provision of false or misleading information will result in invalidity and may lead to disciplinary action.
• although applicants may make an unlimited number of submissions, funding will normally be limited to one award per applicant in any given year.

To be eligible to apply applicants must be a female full-time/part-time registered BSc or PGDip Community Youth Work student at Ulster University.

Eligibility will be assessed against Banner student records and information provided in the application.   In the first instance, applicants must also meet at least one, usually more than one, of the following criteria:

• be in receipt of an Ulster Widening Access Bursary.
• permanently reside (ie home address as recorded in Banner) in an area of high deprivation/low participation in higher education.  Applicants can check their eligibility against these criteria by entering their postcode using the quick look up tool.
• have undertaken their secondary education at a state school with a free school entitlement of 40% or more (applicants can check their eligibility against this criteria on the Department for Education website
• be in receipt of benefits which may include state income support, working tax credit or child tax credit.
• have declared to the University a background-of-care;
• have disclosed a disability to the University or be in receipt of disability living allowance/personal independence payments.
• Should the fund be oversubscribed, priority will be given to applications that meet several of the eligibility criteria.

All applications must be signed off by your course director.