Gittins Family Charitable Trust Bursaries

The Gittins Family Charitable Trust Bursaries will support students studying specific nursing and engineering degrees, who might otherwise find themselves in financial difficulty while studying at the University of Leicester. Applicants must be resident in the UK and commencing a full time undergraduate degree in September 2023.

Award

Each bursary will provide recipients with £1,000 a year for three years (Engineering) or four years (Nursing).

If a recipient is studying Mechanical Engineering over four years or more, they would receive £1,000 in each of their first three years only.

Three awards will be provided for Engineering students and three will be awarded to Nursing students.

Eligibility

Applicants must satisfy the following to be considered for this scholarship:

1. Hold an offer of admission to one of the following full-time undergraduate degree programmes at the University of Leicester, commencing study in September 2023:
• Mechanical Engineering BEng
• Mechanical Engineering MEng
• Nursing with Leadership Dual Registration Mental Health and Adult MSci
• Nursing with Leadership Dual Registration Mental Health and Child MSci
2. Have been assessed for fee status as a 'Home' student.
3. Have a household income below £40,000.
4. Made an application to Student Finance England for a tuition fee and maintenance loan. Please ensure you have given consent to share the information with the University for academic year 2023/4, as this information will be used to determine eligibility.

Award Criteria

Priority will be given to applicants whose verified household income is assessed by SFE as £25,000 or less. Consideration will be given in challenging financial circumstances for applicants with a household income between £25,000 and £40,000, for example with more than one immediate family member at university, where demonstrated in the personal statement.

Preference will be given to male applicants with an offer of admission to Nursing and female applicants with an offer of admission to Mechanical Engineering, where appropriate.

Your personal statement of between 600 and 900 words should explain:

1. why the scholarship would be beneficial to your studies
2. how it would help you to achieve your academic goals
3. how your education would be of future benefit to you, your community and/or society
4. what achievements, academically and personally, you are most proud of. This could include overcoming a challenging personal circumstance. There is no right or wrong answer. We are keen to hear your personal story.

How to apply

The deadline for applications for the bursary award has now passed and we are no longer accepting applications. We will notify all applicants as to the outcome of their applications by end of November 2023.

Please check your eligibility before making an application. Awards may be withdrawn if we later become aware successful scholars have not met eligibility criteria or to have provided false information.

As part of the application process, you will be asked to confirm the following information:

• Full name
• Student number (eg 123456789) or if not known your UCAS number
• Programme of study you’ve applied for
• Name of School or College you are currently attending
• Email address
• Confirmation that you have applied, been assessed for and expect to be in receipt of the maximum level of support from the Government through Student Finance England for tuition and maintenance loans and that you have provided consent to share your information with the University.
• Confirmation you understand you will be required to submit a very brief update report each year that will be shared with the Gittins Family Charitable Trust. You have the right to remain anonymous.

Notification

Successful applicants will be notified by November 2023.