The Gold Scholarship Programme

The Gold Scholarship Programme (GSP) is 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 GSP 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 sessions
• 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 campus 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 campus credit

For students on placement:

• Placement student thin paid placement - £2,500 total comprised of: £2,000 cash and £500 campus credit
• Placement student thin unpaid placement - £5,000 total comprised of: £4,500 cash and £500 campus 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

You must meet the following criteria to be considered for a Gold Scholarship:

• you are a new first-year Home UK undergraduate student in the 2026/27 academic year
• you have a household income assessment 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 education
• your home postcode is considered to be in an area of relative deprivation, as defined by the Indices of Multiple Deprivation 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 2026 will be invited to apply for the GSP 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/late May 2026, if you have made us your Firm or Insurance choice via UCAS.

Applications to the GSP will be scored solely on answers to the supporting questions; so, we urge applicants to answer the questions carefully and fully.

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 GSP 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 midday on Thursday 27 August 2026. To be considered for a scholarship, you must have submitted your application by the closing date. We cannot accept applications past this point.