HEFCE Postgraduate Taught Scholarship Scheme: Final allocations

09 Oct 2014

61 new postgraduate taught students have been awarded HEFCE and University funding of £167,000 under the Postgraduate Support Scheme

The Scholarships were awarded on the basis of Widening Participation criteria, with individual scholarships ranging from £10,000 to £14,400. The School of Arts, Languages and Cultures was particularly successful in attracting scholarships, with 17 awards in total.

Even though the Scheme was advertised late in the academic cycle, it was still well over-subscribed. In total, the University received 418 applications, of which 301 were eligible under the Widening Participation criteria agreed for the scheme[1].

These applications were ranked according to the published criteria and weighted to ensure an equitable distribution of scholarships across Faculties and Schools (in proportion to total shortlisted applications). Where applications could not be differentiated on WP criteria, academic performance was considered and where necessary, input from Schools requested.

In August, the University received an additional £80,000 of scholarship funding from HEFCE, which enabled it to offer all applicants on the reserve list.

The HEFCE funding is for one year only but initial feedback from this and other scholarship schemes funded under the Scheme will inform HEFCE’s approach to the distribution of £50m National Scholarship Programme funding which is being directed towards PGT students from 2015/16.