The information supplied on this page is for undergraduate students starting their studies in September 2024 or after.
Please refer to the Historic Terms and Conditions for your year of entry if you joined the University of Bath before September 2024.
What is the Gold Scholarship Programme?
The Gold Scholarship available to students with a household income of £30,000 and below, and is worth up to £5,000 per year of study.
As well as financial support, the Gold Scholarship offers a compulsory enrichment programme to enhance personal development. This includes:
- 50 hours of volunteering or approved roles a year
- mentoring
- personal development, networking and skills training sessions1
- support with placements and internships
- pastoral support networks
The payment structure will be as follows:
First year on campus - £5,000 total comprised of: £3,250 cash, £1,000 Food and Drink credit, plus £750 accommodation reduction if in university-housed accommodation
Continuing student studying in Bath all year - £5,000 total comprised of: £4,000 cash and £1,000 Food and Drink credit
Details of the payment schedule can be found here.
For students on placement:
Placement student thin paid placement - £2,500 total comprised of: £2,000 cash and £500 Food and Drink credit
Placement student thin unpaid placement - £5,000 total comprised of: £4,500 cash and £500 Food and Drink credit
Placement student thick unpaid placement - £5,000 total comprised of: £5,000 cash
Gold scholars who take an unpaid placement period may also be eligible for the Placement Bursary.
Up to 50 students a year will be given the opportunity to take part in this exciting scholarship programme.
Eligibility
As a result of the new Access and Participation Plan, from 2024 onwards, you must meet the following criteria to be considered for a Gold Scholarship:
- you are a new first-year Home UK2 undergraduate student
- you have a household income assessment3 of £30,000 or below
- you are registered on a full-time undergraduate degree course based on the University of Bath campus
- you meet a contextual criterion
The contextual criteria that we consider are:
- eligibility for Free School Meals during secondary school education4
- your home postcode is considered to be in an area of relative deprivation, as defined by the Indices of Multiple Deprivation4 and IF you attended a private school, this was for no more than two years within the last four years.
- you are a Care Leaver
- you are estranged
- you are a Young Adult Carer
- you are a refugee
You must ensure that you:
- have requested for a household income assessment to be completed by your relevant UK student loans awarding agency e.g., Student Finance England (or equivalent)
- have not withheld permission for your household income assessment to be shared with the University by your student loans awarding agency
It is your responsibility to ensure that you have applied for a household income assessment ahead of starting your studies. It can take 6-8 weeks for the SLC to conduct and process a household income assessment; so, we strongly recommend that you start this process as soon as possible. Please do not leave it until August to apply for your student finance.
The University is not responsible for any delays in your student loans application being processed or information not being passed onto us by your student loans awarding agency.
How to apply
New first-year undergraduates who are due to start studies in 2024 will be invited to apply for the Gold Scholarship Programme through the University of Bath Application Tracker.
You will be required to answer 3 supporting questions, all with a word count of 250 words. You will be invited, by email, to do this from mid-May 2024, if you have made us your Firm or Insurance choice via UCAS.
These awards are discretionary, so even if you meet the criteria you are not guaranteed one. Some awards may be linked to specific faculties, departments or courses of study.
You can apply for both the Gold Scholarship and a Bath Bursary, but you will only receive one award if successful.
The consent option to share your household income with the University will be automatically ticked within your SLC application. Please ensure that neither you nor your parent/guardian unticks this, otherwise the University will be unable to assess your funding eligibility.
The University is grateful to our alumni and individual donors who support these awards.
Closing date?
The closing date for the Gold Scholarship Programme is 9am (GMT) on Monday 2nd September 2024. We will not accept applications past this point.
Scholar stories
Watch current Gold Scholars talking about the Gold Scholarship and discover what it's like to be a scholarship recipient at Bath.
Other funding opportunities
See our scholarships and bursaries web pages for information about other funding opportunities.
If you are a current student experiencing financial hardship you can speak to Student Money Advice who can provide you with helpful information, advice and additional financial support, where appropriate.