Overview
We are committed to supporting student athletes who are performing at an advanced level. Building on the success of women’s football in the region, we have created these scholarships to support eligible undergraduate students to fulfil their potential whilst studying at the University.
These scholarships offer eligible students the following generous support package for each year of continuous study (excluding placement and study abroad year):
- £2,000 cash payment for each year of undergraduate study (maximum of three years).
- Specialist support including mentoring, sport massage and physiotherapy, gym access, strength and conditioning, nutritional advice, and lifestyle management.
There are five scholarships available.
The Elite Sports Scholarship (Women's Football) 2024/25 is for students who:
- Study an eligible full-time undergraduate course in 2024/25
- Are aged 18 or 19 on 1 September 2024
- Identify as a woman or non-binary people playing for a women's football team
- Participate in football and have been selected within the last 18 months to compete at regional, national or international level
- Will be a member of Team Sunderland as an Elite Athlete
Who's eligible?
1. You must be a 'Home' or 'Overseas Island' student on an eligible full-time course
The Government classes all students as ‘Home’ or ‘International’. This status determines which tuition fees you pay, and which scholarships and bursaries you are eligible to receive.
Overseas Island: Isle of Man and the Channel Islands students are eligible for this scholarship.
International students are not eligible for this scholarship.
You must be a first-year student applying to commence your studies in autumn 2024 based at City Campus, Sir Tom Cowie at St Peter’s Campus, Dance City, the Northern Academy of Music Education (NAME) or the University of Sunderland in London.
2. As an Elite Athlete you must continually meet the following conditions:
- You must agree to represent the University in your chosen sport.
- You must have exemplary class attendance and maintain satisfactory academic and sporting progress to retain access to the allocated support.
- You must play a full part in sport at the University and represent the University when it is compatible with training, competition, and academic courses.
- You are required to display the highest standards of sporting behaviours at all times as expected in sport generally and abide by the Team Sunderland Code of Conduct.
Awarding the scholarship
The Elite Sports Scholarship (Women's Football) 2024/25 will be awarded following an application process. All applications that meet the criteria will be shortlisted for consideration by the Awarding Committee. An award will be made following a checking and verification process.
How to apply
If you are starting a full-time undergraduate course in autumn 2024 or are entering year one having completed an Integrated Foundation Year, you can apply for this scholarship from March 2024.
You can apply for this scholarship via your myApplication account. The deadline for applications is Wednesday 31 July 2024.
As part of the application process, you must submit:
- A statement detailing your most recent achievements in football (up to 2,000 characters). You must specify the competition, age group, event, and year. Please include any recent inclusion in national, international, or regional squads.
- Any video footage of a performance in the last 12 months.
- A reference from a coach/trainer or National Governing Body of Sport.
There are five scholarships available. Please note that applying for this scholarship does not guarantee that you will receive it.
Receiving the scholarship
Once the scholarship award has been allocated, the successful students will be notified via email of their provisional award in late August 2024.
The scholarship recipients will receive a cash payment of £2,000 on the fifth working day in February in each year of study, subject to validation checks and academic progression.
The scholarship cash payments will be paid via bank transfer into your UK bank account via the University.
It is your responsibility to enter your bank details onto your myApplication account so that this payment can then be processed to you.
The University agrees to pay you, the student, all scholarships, and payments that are awarded and due to you whilst you are on your programme of study. If a scholarship or bursary payment is made to you in error, the University reserves the right to recover any awards or overpayments from you, the student. This may result in you being asked to repay an award if it was paid to you in error. It is also the responsibility of you, the student, to ensure that all awards and payments received are accurate. Any payment discrepancies will be rectified by the University or the student.
If you fail to enter your bank details to enable the payment to be made to you before your course end date (or your date of leaving your programme of study if earlier), this scholarship and payment will be withdrawn and will no longer be due.
The scholarship award is conditional on you maintaining satisfactory engagement and making academic progress on your course of study in the reasonable opinion of the Programme Team. If you transfer to another course and repeat a year, or if you repeat a year of the same course, the scholarship will not be awarded in the repeated year. However, the scholarship award will continue once you progress onto the following level(s) of study. If you withdraw from your course before receiving a scholarship payment, the scholarship offer will be withdrawn.
If you are on a placement year or studying for a year and not paying full fees, the award will not be paid during that year.
If you take a Leave of Absence (LOAB), you will be eligible to receive the remainder of your award when you return.
If you do not respond, we reserve the right to re-allocate funding. If you do not supply us with the required information, including any evidence you have been asked to submit, and the scholarship award cannot be paid in early February 2025, the scholarship offer will be withdrawn.
This scholarship will only be payable if all tuition fee payments are up to date and there are no monies owed to the University.
If you have an outstanding university debt of £50 or more, you will not receive the scholarship until the debt has been cleared.
As part of the admissions process, the University will verify various aspects of a UCAS or direct application to determine that you should be classed as ‘Home’. The following criteria will be verified:
- Declared nationality
- Country of birth
- Area of permanent residence
- Date of entry into the UK (if applicable)
- Location of previous education
Disclaimer
Every effort is made to ensure that all details included in these guidance notes are correct at the time of writing. They are intended to act as an information source only for potential scholarship, bursary or award applicants and in no way should they be considered legally binding or guarantee an award of a scholarship, bursary or award.
The University will not be deemed to be in breach of any legal or contractual obligations due to changes to eligibility criteria beyond the reasonable control of the University. It should therefore be noted that these guidance notes are regularly reviewed and are naturally subject to change from time to time sometimes without notice. The University’s decision is final.
Published: 5 April 2024