Overview
The St Nicholas’ Educational Trust promotes the undergraduate education of young people from Newcastle Upon Tyne who are in need of financial assistance, by providing scholarship support for university students. The Trust’s funding of undergraduate students is co-ordinated through partnerships with universities in the region.
The St Nicholas’ Educational Trust Scholarship offers a £2,500 cash award in academic year 2025/26, with the possibility of a further £2,500 cash award in academic year 2026/27 and 2027/28, subject to approval.
There are two scholarships available.
Who is eligible?
1. You must be a 'Home' student on an eligible course
The Government classes all students as ‘Home’ or ‘International’. This status determines which tuition fees you pay, and which scholarships and bursaries you may be eligible to receive.
EU students with a UK Settled Status at the time of application are eligible.
International students are not eligible.
You must be under the age of 21 on 31 August 2025, as students must be under the age of 25 to receive this scholarship if further awards are made over three continuous academic years of study.
You must not receive any other form of funding, including University of Sunderland awarded scholarships and bursaries, other than Student Loans Company (SLC) funding.
You are not eligible for this scholarship if you have been funded by the Enhanced Learning Credits Administration Service (ELCAS).
2. You must apply for and meet the conditions of your offer, then successfully enrol on and study an eligible course
You must be applying to start your studies in autumn 2025. You must be studying an eligible full-time undergraduate course at City Campus, Sir Tom Cowie at St Peter’s Campus, or the Northern Academy of Music Education (NAME).
Some of our undergraduate courses are not eligible for this scholarship. These are:
- Medicine MBChB
- Midwifery Practice
- Occupational Therapy Accelerated
- Physiotherapy
- Paramedic Science and Out-of-Hospital Care
- Social Work
- All Nursing courses
3. You must meet the eligibility criteria as outlined in these guidance notes
You must be under the age of 21 on 31 August 2025, as students must be under the age of 25 to receive this scholarship if further awards are made over three continuous academic years of study.
You must currently live within the boundaries of Newcastle Upon Tyne and have been a permanent resident for five years or more. Eligible postcode areas are defined as: NE1, NE2, NE3, NE4, NE5, NE6, NE7, NE13 and NE15.
You must have an annual household income of £47,500 or less. This will be verified via the SLC. You must give consent to the Students Loan Company to share your financial information with the University.
How to apply
The deadline for applications is Tuesday, 7 October 2025. Once the deadline has passed, we are not permitted to accept any further applications.
You can apply via your myApplication account.
Your username is your student number, which can be found on all correspondence you have received from the University. If you are unsure of your student number, please contact Student Administration at studentadmin@sunderland.ac.uk.
Please note that applying does not guarantee you will be awarded this scholarship.
Assessment and awarding process
Following confirmation of satisfactory evidence of annual household income and Newcastle Upon Tyne residency, successful applicants will be notified of their provisional award via email in November 2025.
To confirm Newcastle Upon Tyne residency, successful applicants will be asked to provide evidence of address via documents such as utility bills, bank statements, driving licence, etc
Receiving the scholarship
This scholarship is awarded as a cash award and will be paid via bank transfer.
Students awarded the scholarship will receive one payment in their first year of study on Friday, 7 February 2026.
The above payment may be repeated in year 2 and year 3 of study, subject to:
i. St Nicholas’ Educational Trust agreeing to provide funding to make awards in year 2 and year 3.
ii. You maintaining satisfactory engagement and making academic progress in your programme of study in the reasonable opinion of the Programme Team.
iii. You providing annual progress updates to the St Nicholas’ Educational Trust at the end of each academic year.
Recipients of the St Nicholas’ Educational Trust Scholarship must provide a thank you letter to the Trust upon award and meet with Trustees in person if requested.
Failure to carry out these requirements will lead to the scholarship being withdrawn.
Additional information
If you have not registered on your course within three weeks of the course start date or provided sufficient evidence of eligibility, the scholarship or bursary will be withdrawn.
If you do not supply us with the required information by November 2025, the scholarship or bursary provisional award will be withdrawn.
If you withdraw from your course before receiving a scholarship or bursary payment, the award will be withdrawn. If you withdraw after a payment is made, you will be required to return the funding to the donor.
The award is conditional on you maintaining satisfactory engagement and making academic progress on your course in the reasonable opinion of the Programme Team.
The University agrees to pay you, the student, all awards, and payments that are due to you whilst you are on your course 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 your responsibility to ensure all awards and payments you receive are accurate. Any payment discrepancies will be rectified by the University or the student.
If you repeat a year of the same course, the award will not be paid in the repeated year.
If you transfer to another course and repeat a year, the award will not be paid in the repeated year.
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), your payments will stop until you return and progress academically.
If you are in debt to the University to the value of £50 or more, you will not receive payment until the debt has been cleared.
All payments will be made into your UK bank account. It is your responsibility to enter your bank details and ensure these are kept up to date. If you fail to enter your bank details to enable payments to be made to you before your course end date (or the date of leaving your course if earlier), all scholarships, bursaries, and payments will be withdrawn.
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 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, and in no way should they be considered legally binding or guarantee an 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, sometimes without notice. The University’s decision is final.
Published: 1 August 2025