The information provided on this webpage is for 2023/4 entry or existing students only. Our current plans for 2024 entrants are also shown below.

We are offering up to 50 students a year the opportunity to take part in this exciting scholarship programme.

The Gold Scholarship provides a £5,000 bursary per year of study (excluding paid placement periods) to help towards course-related costs, and includes a range of activities to help you make the most of your Bath experience and develop your career aspirations, including:

• 50 hours of volunteering, fundraising or outreach a year
• optional mentoring
• personal development, networking and skills training sessions*
• support with placements and internships
• pastoral support networks

*Scholars are required to take part in a number of sessions across the academic year, some of which will take place on evenings and at weekends.

For the 2023/24 academic year your Gold Scholarship payment dates are:

• 21 September 2023 for the the early payment of the Gold Scholarship (Year 1 only)

then the balance across three equal payments on

• 6 December 2023
• 14 February 2024
• 24 April 2024

Payments in future years will follow a similar payment pattern of three equal instalments in December, February & April.

Early payment of your Gold Scholarship - supporting you starting at Bath and accessing technology

If you are a new first-year undergraduate student receiving a Gold Scholarship, we will make an early bursary payment of £500 prior to starting your studies to support your access to and allow you to purchase any technology you may require before teaching starts. In order to receive this payment you must have registered online, completed all administrative tasks associated with your confirmation of place to study at Bath, and have provided your bank details by a set date. You will be emailed information on how to submit bank details should you be successful in gaining a Gold Scholarship. Full information about this early payment can be found in our Terms and Conditions.

If you are a current Gold Scholar please refer to the Gold Scholarship Programme Terms and Conditions for your year of entry.

Find out about being a scholar from our student bloggers.

To be eligible, you must:

• be an eligible new first-year Home UK* undergraduate student starting studies in 2023 and
• starting a full-time campus based undergraduate degree and
• be eligible for and have a student loans household income assessment of £25,000** or below

You must also meet one or more of the following criteria:

• your home address is in an area where there is a low participation of young people progressing into higher education
• your home address is considered to be in an area of general disadvantage according to Indices of Multiple Deprivation
• you or your family receive a state means-tested benefit
• you have an Access to HE Diploma
• you are a care leaver
• you are irreconcilably estranged from your parents or guardians
• you are a Young Carer
• you are a refugee or asylum seeker

*Eligible UK students are those assessed as eligible for tuition fee and maintenance loans, as determined by Student Finance England, or other relevant UK student loans awarding agency, and have a Home fees status as determined by the University. When applying for the maintenance loan, you should request for it to be based on your household income, and for permission to be given by the person whose income is being assessed.

**You need to request a household income assessment to be completed by your student loans awarding agency, even if you are not planning on taking out a maintenance loan. Find out more about applying for household income assessments.

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.

Application Timeline

• All offer-holders for 2023 entry will receive information about our funding schemes within their offer letters
• May onwards: Firm and insurance offer-holders for 2023 entry will be emailed information on how to apply
• 4th September 2023: Applications close for the Gold Scholarship Programme
• Mid-September: Notification of Gold Scholarship award outcomes will be emailed

Application Process

New first-year undergraduates who are due to start studies in 2023 will be invited to apply for the Gold Scholarship 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 2023, if you have made us your Firm or Insurance choice via UCAS.

Make sure you have given permission for your/your family's household income assessment to be shared with the University by your student loans awarding agency. Without this, we are unable to assess your eligibility for our funding awards.

The University is grateful to our alumni and individual donors who support these awards.

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 will be able to offer you helpful information and advice.

As of September 2024/5, we are broadening the Gold Scholarship Programme to students with a student loans household income assessment of £30,000 or below. We will continue to award up to 50 scholarships per year, with selection based on contextual factors and a written application.

The following payment structure will apply:

• First year on campus - £3,250 cash, £750 accommodation reduction, £1,000 campus credit
• Continuing student studying in Bath all year - £4,000 cash, £1,000 campus credit
• Placement student thin paid placement - £2000 cash, £500 campus credit
• Placement student thin unpaid placement - £4,500 cash and £500 campus credit
• Placement student thick unpaid placement - £5,000 cash