Overview
A cash scholarship of £1,200 per year for students studying a three-year University of Sunderland Nursing course (maximum of £3,600). Priority awarding will be given to scholarship applicants who have previously been employed, or their family member has been employed, by Helen McArdle Care.
There are five scholarships available. Two awards will be available for autumn 2023 intake students and three awards will be available for spring 2024 intake students.
This scholarship is funded from a philanthropic donation via the University of Sunderland’s Development and Alumni Office. By applying for this scholarship, you agree to participate in PR/marketing activity if awarded.
Who's eligible?
1. You must be a 'Home', 'Refugee', or 'Overseas Island' student on an eligible course
The Government classes all students as ‘Home’ or ‘International’. This status determines which tuition fees you pay, and which bursaries, scholarships and awards you are eligible to receive.
Overseas Island; Isle of Man and the Channel Islands students are eligible for this scholarship.
Asylum seekers and students with refugee status are eligible for this scholarship.
EU students with UK Settled Status at the time of application are eligible for this scholarship.
If you are an ‘International’ student, you are not eligible for this scholarship.
Students who have already studied a degree in another subject discipline or are alumni of the University of Sunderland are still eligible to apply for this scholarship.
2. You must apply for and meet the conditions of your offer, then successfully enrol onto an eligible course
You must enrol on one of the following University of Sunderland Nursing courses in spring 2024:
| Course | UCAS code |
|---|---|
| BSc (Hons) Adult Nursing Practice | B7S7 |
| BSc (Hons) Mental Health Nursing Practice | B7S5 |
| BSc (Hons) Children's and Young People's Nursing | B7S8 |
3. Priority will be given to scholarship applicants who have been employed by Helen McArdle Care or their family member have previously been employed by Helen McArdle Care
The Development and Alumni Office will verify with the donor that scholarship applicants have previously been employed by Helen McArdle Care, or their family member has been employed by Helen McArdle Care.
4. Secondary awarding priority will be given to students who are the first in their family to enter higher education (first generation) or are students with family commitments
During the enrolment process, the University of Sunderland will verify ‘first generation’ evidence.
Students with family commitments will be verified via an application for the NHS (National Health Service) Learning Support Fund. For the scholarship, we are defining family commitments as having parental responsibility for a child who is under 15 years of age at the start of the academic year, or under 17 years of age if the child is registered with special educational needs.
5. Tertiary awarding priority will be given to scholarship applicants who meet any of the widening participation priority awarding criteria
When awarding this scholarship, priority will be given to applicants from the following groups:
- Care-experienced student
- Estranged student (irreconcilably estranged from both parents/carers) under the age of 25 on 1 September 2024
- Gypsy, Traveller, Roma, Showman or Boater
- Asylum seeker or refugee
- Carer
- Household income equal to or below £27,500 per annum
- Household income between £27,501 and £47,500 per annum
- Mature student (aged 21 or over on 1 September 2024)
If we need to verify your household income as part of your application, you must have undertaken a means-tested Student Loans Company (SLC) assessment. You must also agree to share your data with the University via the SLC. The University will liaise with the SLC to verify household income.
Scholarship applicants may be contacted during the scholarship awarding process to verify widening participation criteria.
Awarding scholarships
The Helen McArdle Nursing Scholarship will be awarded following an application and ranking process based on the priority awarding criteria.
How to apply
If you are starting a relevant University of Sunderland Nursing undergraduate course in spring 2024, you can apply for this bursary from January 2024. The deadline for applications is Tuesday 30 April 2024.
You can apply for this scholarship via your myApplication account. There are three scholarships available for spring 2024 intake students. Please note that applying for this scholarship does not guarantee that you will receive it.
Receiving the scholarship
The scholarship will be paid by bank transfer.
If you have not registered on your course within three weeks of the course start date, the scholarship will be withdrawn and offered to another eligible student.
For spring intake students, a cash award of £1,200 will be paid to you on the 5th working day of October 2024, October 2025, and October 2026.
The scholarship payment is conditional on you maintaining satisfactory engagement and making academic progress in your course of study in the reasonable opinion of the programme team. If you withdraw from your course before receiving a scholarship payment, the scholarship offer will be withdrawn.
If you withdraw in the same academic year after receiving your scholarship payment, you will be required to return the funding to the Trust.
The University agrees to pay to you, the student, all scholarships and bursaries, 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.
Awarded scholarship recipients are obliged to take part in public relations and marketing activity as a requirement of being awarded this funding.
Please note, once provisional awards are made, the Development and Alumni Office will contact awardees via registered contact details. 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.
If you transfer to a non-nursing course, you will not be eligible for this Helen McArdle Nursing Scholarship.
If you have an outstanding university debt of £50 or more, you will not receive the scholarship until the debt has been cleared.
If you do not enter your bank details onto myApplication by the time of your graduation, the scholarship award will be withdrawn. Scholarship awards will only be paid if all tuition fee payments are up to date.
Your declared scholarship application information will be checked and verified following enrolment as a student at the University of Sunderland. Final scholarship awards will only be offered to those students with verified details.
As part of the admissions process, the University will verify various aspects of a UCAS or direct application to determine that an applicant 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 provider
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.
Appendix 1 – Evidencing priority criteria
| Underrepresented group | Evidence |
|---|---|
|
You are a Gypsy, Traveller, Roma, Showman or Boater. You are currently seeking asylum in the UK, or you are a dependant, spouse or civil partner of someone currently seeking asylum in the UK. (You will need to have an active asylum case). or You hold Discretionary or Limited Leave to Remain as a result of seeking asylum in the UK, or you are a dependent, spouse or civil partner of someone who has been granted Limited Leave to Remain as a result of seeking asylum in the UK or another form of temporary status. and You are unable to access UK student finance (tuition fee loans and/or maintenance loans) by virtue of your immigration status. |
Verified by a teacher or adviser Evidence of UK residency Currently attending a school, college, community or voluntary group where a teacher or adviser can provide a reference in support of your application or a letter from an immigration solicitor/legal advisor. or Evidence of eligible immigration status. This is either your own right or as a dependant of someone with the status:
and Evidence of UK residency |
|
You have sole or shared responsibility for the care of a relative who has a chronic or terminal illness, disability, mental health problem, alcohol, or drug addiction. |
Verified by a teacher, adviser or GP that you are a carer who has caring responsibilities for a minimum of 15 hours per week or You are a carer who has caring responsibilities for an average of 15 hours per week and you are able to provide proof of your current caring responsibilities or You are in receipt of Carer’s Allowance |
|
You have an annual household income of £27,500 or less |
If you are a Home student who has applied for means-tested loans and grants from the Student Loans Company, the University will liaise with the Student Loans Company to verify your household income levels. Awards will be made on a sliding scale based on confirmed annual household income. Households with lower incomes will be prioritised over higher household incomes. In the event of any duplicated annual household income values, POLAR4, Quintile 1 and 2 data will be used to rank recipients. |
|
You have an annual household income of between £27,501-£47,500 |
If you are a Home student who has applied for means-tested loans and grants from the Student Loans Company, the University will liaise with the Student Loans Company to verify your household income levels. Awards will be made on a sliding scale based on confirmed annual household income. Households with lower incomes will be prioritised over higher household incomes. In the event of any duplicated annual household income values, POLAR4, Quintile 1 and 2 data will be used to rank recipients. |
|
You are a mature student You are aged 21+ on 1 September of the academic year you commence your course |
Your student record will evidence this using your date of birth following your application and enrolment. |
|
Care experienced status |
At the University of Sunderland, we have adopted the broader definition of ‘care-experienced’ as this term is inclusive of the range of care settings someone may have experienced. Our definition of care-experienced is someone who, at any stage of their life, and for any length of time, has been in care e.g. looked after by the local authority. This includes the following:
For further information please contact the We Care Team on 0191 515 2216 or email care.contact@sunderland.ac.uk |
|
You are irreconcilably estranged from both parents/carers and you are under the age of 25 on 1 September 2023 |
You have had no contact at all with your parents/carers for at least 12 months and this is unlikely to change or You can demonstrate on other grounds that you are irreconcilably estranged from your parents/carers (e.g. exceptional circumstances or assessed as independent by Student Finance England or by a Local Authority because you are estranged from both parents/carers) For estrangement cases that cannot be confirmed by Student Finance England (SFE), proof of evidence of ‘genuine estrangement’ would need to be supplied to the University. All applications of estrangement are assessed on an individual basis. Please note – You will not be considered estranged on the basis that you (i) live separately from your parents/carers, (ii) have recently fallen out with your parents/carers, or (iii) your parents/carers are unwilling to complete income assessment forms or contribute towards your student finance. For further information please contact the We Care Team on 0191 515 2216 or email care.contact@sunderland.ac.uk |
Published: 27 November 2023