Unum access to university bursary
Birkbeck is pleased to partner with UNUM to offer £1000 bursaries for new students who will be starting the first year of their undergraduate-level studies at Birkbeck. The bursary is designed to offer assistance to students who are in need of extra financial support to undertake their first year/term of undergraduate studies. Applications are now open for 2020-21 entry.
Eligibility
You must be applying to study, full-time or part-time, for the first term or year on any of these undergraduate courses at Birkbeck:
- certificate of higher education (1-2 years, part-time)
- foundation degree (2 years full-time, 3 years, part-time)
- undergraduate degree (BA, BSc, LLB) (3 years full-time; 4 years part-time)
- undergraduate degree (BA, BSc, LLB) with a foundation year (4 years, full-time).
UNUM Access to University bursaries will be awarded to students who meet all of the initial criteria and two or more of the secondary criteria and who submit a strong application essay.
Initial criteria (you must meet all of these criteria)
- You must be entering your first term or year of an undergraduate course at Birkbeck during the academic year 2020/21.
- Your annual household income must be below £25,000 (evidenced via Student Finance England or a Birkbeck Means Testing form).
- You must be eligible to receive a tuition fee loan from Student Finance England and have consented/will consent to the sharing of data submitted to the Student Loans Company or will provide a Means Testing form to confirm your income. For any queries about eligibility for student loans, contact Birkbeck’s Student Advice Service or come along to a Money at University event.
- You must have attended at least one Birkbeck access event (in person or online).
- Upcoming events can be found here
- These can include:
- Get Started workshops
- Our Big Ideas lecture series; online, in the community, or public lectures on campus
- A Birkbeck outreach event or programme at University Square Stratford, or online
- Any Birkbeck taster event (on campus or online) or a virtual student experience evening
- Participation in the Get Talking mentoring programme or other schemes through Birkbeck Access and Engagement
Secondary criteria (you must meet two or more of these)
- You must meet at least two of the following:
- be the first in your family to attend university
- be from a Black, Asian or minority ethnic background
- be over 21 years old
- be classified as disabled
- be a Care leaver
- hold non-traditional university-entry qualifications (ie Access to HE Diploma; Intermediate, Advanced or BTEC Apprenticeship, BTEC First, BTEC National or equivalent)
- have limited or poor prior education attainment (for example, left school with no qualifications, low grades at GCSE and/or have a disability for which you did not receive support whilst in education which had an impact on your achievement)
- have no qualifications higher than Level 2 (ie O Levels, GCSE or equivalent)
- have been absent from formal education for nine years or more.
How to apply
- Complete the application form UNUM Access to university bursary application form including a supporting statement of no more than 300 words.
- All students: download the application form and email the completed form, along with your application essay.
- Part-time students will also need to request a Means Testing form.
- All applicants are advised to read the FAQ document before making an application.
Deadlines
- The deadline for applications is midnight on Friday 31 July 2020.
- Final decisions will be made by Friday 14 August at the latest.
- Please note: decisions are final and cannot be appealed.
Bursary payment schedule
- Bursary payments will be made three weeks after the start of each term that you are attending your course and directly into your bank account by BACS transfer.
- You will only receive payment after your course has started; therefore, if your course does not start until the spring (January) or summer term (April), you will not receive any payments prior to this.