Scholarships at University of Aberdeen

Summary

The aim of this scheme is to give the children of those who have died in the service of their country a head start in life by enabling them to obtain a university degree or further education training.

Description

The scheme will provide a contribution towards the cost of a first undergraduate course at a publicly-funded UK higher education institution, regardless of course length. The university scholarship contributes towards both the tuition fees and maintenance fees. Since tuition fees vary across the UK according to place of domicile and place of study the university scholarship is adjusted to provide a similar level of support to all applicants across the UK.

Amounts. The amount of the further education and university scholarships are provided at the link below. University scholarships are made up of an amount to cover fees and a maintenance grant. The amount paid for fees will be the actual amount charged up to a maximum of £9,000. The maintenance grant is £4,950. These amounts will be reviewed annually.

Existing University Scholarship Recipients. Those students whose study began prior to September 2012 will not be charged the new higher rate fees by their universities. Therefore, students already in receipt of a university scholarship who are continuing their education for further academic years will receive the same amount as they did for previous academic years.

Eligibility

The scheme is open to an applicant who meets all of the following criteria:

• Cause of Death. A parent of the applicant died whilst serving in HM Armed Forces and the parent’s death was deemed to be attributable to their service, and for which the child or surviving parent is receiving benefits under a MoD attributable benefits scheme.
• Date of Death. The deceased parent died after 0001 hours on 1 January 1990.
• Relationship. At the time of death the deceased serviceperson had legal parental responsibility for the applicant, or the applicant was the biological child of the deceased and was born within 42 weeks of the parent’s death. This includes biological children, adopted children, children subject to a special guardianship order and step children resident with and dependent on the deceased. Fostered children are not eligible
• Place of Study: Scholarships will only be provided for study in the UK. Those who are resident in either the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man, residence in England will be assumed. Funding will not be provided for study at any institution outside the UK, except as an integral part of a degree course at a UK university. E.g. a year in France as part of a degree in French.
• Foreign and Commonwealth: Applicants who are not domiciled in the UK must obtain a place at a UK institution before applying for a scholarship. Scholarships will be provided as though the applicant is resident in England. Arrangements and costs for visas and travel will be the responsibility of the applicant; they will not be covered by this scheme.

Criteria

Means Testing: The award of a scholarship will not depend on the financial situation of the applicant or their family. The receipt of a scholarship should not preclude a recipient from applying for other financial support, such as the Government’s Access to Learning Fund or university funds, should they find themselves in hardship.

Death of a Service Parent while at School or University: If a child becomes eligible for a scholarship during an academic year while in further education or at university, payments will be backdated to the start of the term in which their parent died or will begin from the start of the next term following a death during the holidays. Academic Year: For the purposes of this scheme the academic year is deemed to run from 1 September to 31 August of the following year.

Application Procedure

Scheme Administration: The scheme will be administered by the Service Personnel and Veterans Agency (SPVA). All correspondence for the Scheme Administrator, including applications, should be sent to: Armed Forces Bereavement Scholarship Scheme Administrator: SPVA Norcross Thornton-Cleveleys Lancashire FY5 3WP

An application for a university scholarship should be made by the eligible child and sent to the Scheme Administrator at the address above. Further details and the application form can be found at the link below

Deadline

No deadline specified