When to apply
The Helena Kennedy Foundation accepts applications each from the 1st January to the 31st March. The Foundation only accepts applications from students who are in their final year of further education and intend to progress to higher education in the same year. We can accept applications from students who are applying to university but intend to defer their place to take a gap year. The timings of our application process means that students will usually only have one opportunity to apply to the Foundation.
Which award should I apply for?
The Foundation offers 20 main bursaries each year, alongside a number of Badged Bursaries, funded by organisations that support the Foundation's purpose and mission and want to target this support direct to students. Click the link for more information on the Foundation's Badged Bursary Scheme.
Some of the awards that we have available are open to any student who meets our main eligibility criteria and who has been nominated by their college for an award. Some awards have additional criteria which a student must meet in order to be considered for these awards. For example some awards are for students who are going to specific universities, are studying particular courses, or have particular life experiences. During the application period a list of available awards for the year will be posted on this website, together with additional criteria for these awards where appropriate. This information is only given so that students can include relevant information in their personal statement. It is not necessary for students or colleges to identify which award they wish to apply for. The foundation will consider students for all awards for which they are eligible.
Application process: if you are a student
- If you meet our eligibility criteria and you want to apply for an award you will need to approach the Student Services team at your college and find out how they are planning to identify the 5 students that the college can nominate.
- Download the application form and guidance notes from this website (this information will only be available during the application period). Read the information carefully to make sure that you complete all the required sections.
- Complete the application form and personal statement.
- Ask a college tutor, student services person, or other member of staff at college who knows you well, to provide you with a reference – information for referees on what to include in the reference can be found in the guidance notes and in the application form. Before completing their reference, your referee should have read your application form and personal statement – please ensure that they have a copy of it.
- Ask your college Principals to sign your application form.
- Return your form to the Foundation. Receipt of your form will not automatically be provided but if you want to contact us to make sure that we have received it, then please do.
Your application will be considered by Trustees after the closing date. All students will be informed of the outcome of their application before the end of July. The Trustees decision is final.
Application process: if you are a member of college staff
We recognise that it can be very difficult to identify 5 students that you wish to nominate for an award, particularly where you have a large college or many sites. Unfortunately the Foundation can only accept 5 applications from each college.
We ask that you begin the process of identifying applicants early in the application period to allow enough time for students to write their personal statements and complete their forms and for referees to complete statements. Please also leave enough time for Principals to sign forms as this can sometimes be problematic!
If you want any advice or information about the process of making applications to the Foundation please do not hesitate to contact us. We send information to all colleges by email, but if you would like to nominate yourself to be your college’s named contact for information about the awards please contact Rachel Watters.
We are happy to answer questions about the awards application process outside of the application period, please contact Rachel Watters by email or telephone 01908 363486.
