Aziz Foundation Scholarship

Overview

For information only – this external scholarship is provided by the Aziz Foundation.

The Aziz Foundation Scholarships Programme offers 100% tuition fee master's scholarships to support British Muslims to study at UK universities. The scholarships are aimed at those who wish to advance in their careers and bring positive change to their communities and beyond. The aim is to support emerging leaders who have a high level of commitment to the community and who can demonstrate that they can lead and inspire in their respective fields.

The University of Sunderland is a member of the Aziz Foundation Preferred Partner Scheme.

There are up to five scholarships available for academic year 2024/25.

Who's eligible?

1. You must be a 'Home' student

The Government classes all students as 'Home' or 'International'. This status determines which tuition fees you pay, and which scholarships you are eligible for.

These scholarships are only open to those who qualify for ‘Home’ fee status in the UK, and applications from international students will therefore not be considered.

2. You must apply for an eligible University of Sunderland postgraduate course

You must enrol on one of the following courses in 2024:

• MA Design
• MA Visual Practice
• LLM Commercial Law and International Trade
• LLM Criminal Law and Procedure
• LLM International Human Rights
• LLM Law
• LLM Legal Practice
• MA Journalism / Journalism (Sports)
• MA Media Production (Film and TV)
• MA Public Relations
• MA Radio, Audio and Podcasting
• MA Childhood and Youth Studies
• MSc Inequality and Society
• MSc Leadership in Criminal Justice and Policing
• MBA Business Administration (Sports Management)
• MSc Sport and Exercise Sciences
• MBA Business Administration (Sustainability)
• MSc Sustainable Tourism
• MSc Computing / Applied Computing
• MBA Cybersecurity*
• MSc Cybersecurity / Applied Cybersecurity
• MSc Data Science / Applied Data Science

*London campus course only.

3. Applicants should also meet all of the following requirements:

• Be active within a Muslim community and demonstrate intimate knowledge of issues affecting British Muslim communities.
• Demonstrate long-term commitment to community/societal development within Britain.
• Show how the course will increase your effectiveness in one of the following areas relating to British Muslims:
  
  - Effective Advocacy and Enhance Public Perception – facilitating better representation and contribution of Muslims to civil society to combat Islamophobia and positively transform perceptions of British Muslims.

  - Community Service and Social Development – raising the aspirations and standards within British Muslim communities.

In addition to the above, candidates are also expected to have an excellent understanding of their chosen industry and how to progress within it, with relevant, prior experience and/or achievements in the field. Candidates should also have knowledge of how the course will enable them to generate social impact.

4. The Aziz Foundation will prioritise scholarships for candidates who can demonstrate that they cannot afford all or part of the tuition fees for their course.

These scholarships are being given as Zakat. Therefore, applicants will need to self-assess to determine their Zakat eligibility using the Islamic Relief and/or NZF Zakat calculators as an indicator. If you do not owe any Zakat, you will be eligible.

5. The Aziz Foundation will apply the following test, using information you supply, social indicators, and available data, to determine your financial means:

• A list of the secondary school(s) you attended, which acts as an important social indicator.
• The amount of your student debt.
• Information relating to your financial circumstances on the application form, including caring responsibilities, dependants, and existing commitments.
• Whether you are the first in your family to enter higher education.
• Using existing government data, such as the Department for Levelling Up Index for Multiple Deprivation (IMD) and Office for Students’ (OfS) place-generated data and social indices (e.g. POLAR, TUNDRA, Uni Connect Areas), which provides information on general trends on access to Higher Education and participation rates by postcode, indicating rates of social mobility and deprivation.

The assessment will include some or all the means testing criteria above, variously weighted, and will contribute to the panel’s final decision on the candidate.

Scholarship applicants may be contacted during the scholarship awarding process to verify widening participation criteria.

How to apply

If you are starting an eligible postgraduate course in 2024, you can apply for this scholarship from January 2024.

To register an account and apply for this scholarship, please visit the Aziz Foundation website.

We strongly suggest you read and take heed of the Aziz Foundation’s guidance on “What makes a good personal statement? (.pdf)”.

The deadline for applications for cycle one is 12 noon Thursday 28 March 2024.

The deadline for applications for cycle two is 12 noon Friday 14 June 2024.

If your course starts between June – August 2024, you must apply during cycle one, otherwise, your application will not be considered.

For courses starting from September 2024, you may apply in either cycle.

You may apply only once in any given academic year (either in cycle one or cycle two but not both).

Please note that applying for this scholarship does not guarantee that you will receive it.

Receiving the scholarship

Aziz Foundation scholars are not eligible to receive any other University of Sunderland scholarships, bursaries or discounts such as the Alumni Discount or North East Postgraduate Discount.

If you are successful, it is a mandatory requirement as a condition of your award that you undertake at least one of the following:

• Participate in widening participation schemes at the University of Sunderland.
• Volunteer with a community or civil society organisation – the Foundation can help facilitate this.
• Act as a mentor, post-graduation, through the Foundation.

In the event of a discontinuation of studies, the University’s standard refund policy on fees will apply.

Published: 3 April 2024