2012 Helen Kennedy Foundation Awards

Deadline: 30 March 2012
Open to:  students in the final year at a publicly-funded further education institution
Award:  £1500 bursary

Description

The Helen Kennedy Foundation offers 20 main bursaries each year, alongside a number of Badged Bursaries, funded by organisations that support the Foundation’s purpose and mission and want to target this support direct to students. Click the link for more information on the Foundation’s Badged Bursary Scheme.
Some of the awards are open to any student who meets the main eligibility criteria and who has been nominated by their college for an award. Some awards have additional criteria which a student must meet in order to be considered for these awards. For example some awards are for students who are going to specific universities, are studying particular courses, or have particular life experiences. A list of the awards available in 2012 is listed here. This list indicates the specific criteria required for some of the bursaries. This information is only given so that students can include relevant information in their personal statement. It is not necessary for students or colleges to identify which award they wish to apply for. The foundation will consider students for all awards for which they are eligible. 

Eligibility

HKF offers financial help to students currently undertaking a course in a not for profit adult or further education institution, who intends to progress to a higher education programme.
Before making an application to the Foundation please ensure that you meet our eligibility criteria as follows:

Students can apply to the Foundation if they are:

• In the final year at a publicly-funded further education institution at the time of applying
• Aiming to start a first-time programme of higher education in the autumn of the year in which they are applying at a UK higher education institution. Students taking a ‘gap’ year will be considered.
• Experiencing barriers to continuing their education
• Able to demonstrate that they face severe financial hardship

Students cannot apply if they:

• Are already on a higher education course
• Are seeking funding for a postgraduate course
• Have already received an HKF award
• Have previously undertaken a higher education course
• Are studying or intend to complete their higher education course at an international institution.

Applicants who do not meet the eligibility criteria will not be considered for an award.
You should only apply for an award if you are facing financial and personal difficulties which will make progression to higher education difficult.

Application

If you meet the eligibility criteria and you want to apply for an award you will need to approach the Student Services team at your college and find out how they are planning to identify the 5 students that the college can nominate.
Download the application form and guidance notes. Read the information carefully to make sure that you complete all the required sections.
Complete the application form and personal statement.
Ask a college tutor, student services person, or other member of staff at college who knows you well, to provide you with a reference – information for referees on what to include in the reference can be found in the guidance notes and in the application form.  Before completing their reference, your referee should have read your application form and personal statement – please ensure that they have a copy of it.
Ask your college Principals to sign your application form.
Return your form to the Foundation.  Receipt of your form will not automatically be provided but if you want to contact the Foundation to make sure that we have received it, then please do.
Your application will be considered by Trustees after the closing date.  All students will be informed of the outcome of their application before the end of July. The Trustees decision is final.
Application process: if you are a member of college staff
It can be very difficult to identify 5 students that you wish to nominate for an award, particularly where you have a large college or many sites.  Unfortunately the Foundation can only accept 5 applications from each college.
You are asked to begin the process of identifying applicants early in the application period to allow enough time for students to write their personal statements and complete their forms and for referees to complete statements.  Please also leave enough time for Principals to sign forms as this can sometimes be problematic!
If you want any advice or information about the process of making applications to the Foundation please do not hesitate to contact the Foundation. The Foundation sends information to all colleges by email, but if you would like to nominate yourself to be your college’s named contact for information about the awards please contact Susan.
The Foundation is happy to answer questions about the awards application process outside of the application period, please contact Susan by email or telephone 0207 729 4584.

Awards

Successful students are usually awarded a £1500 bursary towards the costs of continuing their education. The bursary is paid in installments throughout the student’s higher education course. Please note that the amount of the bursary can vary and some students will be offered scholarships instead of a bursary.
In addition to financial support, successful students will have the opportunity to take part in the the Foundation’s training, mentoring and work-shadowing programmes. This additional support and ongoing contact with the Foundation are key to the organisation’s objectives and so students should only apply if they feel they will benefit from both the financial support and the additional services available.
The Official Website