York Enigma Scholarship

Open to UK (home) students only.

You must meet all of the essential criteria to be considered for a scholarship.

• You are studying at the University of York at undergraduate level from September 2021 (this is inclusive of undergraduates starting in September 2021 for a four-year intercalated Masters degree)

And

• You are a permanent resident in the UK, classified as Home (UK) in university admissions procedures, and have a household income below £70,004
• You studied in a UK state school or college
• You can show that you have faced significant barriers in your personal, social or domestic life that have affected your journey through school and college
• You should be able to demonstrate how a significant barrier might have caused you to have experienced a period of disrupted education

You must also meet at least one of the additional criteria.

• Be from a background underrepresented in higher education, as follows:
  • a. British Black background (such as Black or Black British - Caribbean, Black or Black British - African or Other Black background)
  • b. Asian or Asian British background (such as Asian or Asian British - Indian, Asian or Asian British - Pakistani, Asian or Asian British - Bangladeshi)
  • c. Mixed- or multiple-ethnicity background (such as White and Black Caribbean, White and Black African, White and Asian)
  • d. Roma, Gypsy or Irish Traveller background (including Boater or Showmen communities)
• Are/were care experienced
• Have experienced a period of homelessness
• Are estranged from your family (defined by the relationship between the family and student breaking down and becoming irreconcilable)
• Were eligible for Free School Meals
• Were in receipt of College discretionary payments
• Reside in a POLAR Q1/2 area
• Have attended a school or college at key stage 4 or key stage 5 that achieved below the national average
• Be the first in your family to attend higher education
• Have a disability or long-term health condition
• Are an adult learner (defined as students who were 25 or over on the first day of their course)
• Are from a military background
• Are a young carer (defined as being under 18 and helping to look after a relative with a disability, illness, mental health condition, or drug or alcohol problem. A young carer may look after a parent or a sibling. Caring for a child is not included in this.)
• Identify as LGBTQ+
• Are a refugee

A note on additional eligibility:

The York Enigma Scholarship is awarded in part to support students financially, in recognition of the significant barriers that they have overcome in pursuit of their education, but also with the opportunity to gain additional skills and experiences from working collaboratively as a cross-disciplinary team.

When applying, students are encouraged to consider the impact that meeting one or more of the additional criteria has had on their life and educational opportunities, and what they would like to get out of being an Enigma Scholar, by working together over the three years on this collaborative programme with students from other subjects to tackle a problem for social benefit.

You will be asked to consider how the Enigma Scholarship will help you to reach your ambitions, and how you demonstrate positive behaviours and attitude, including collaboration, willingness to learn, and inquisitiveness.

If you have any questions, please contact: enigma-scholarships@york.ac.uk.

Application deadline: Friday 19 November 2021, 11.59pm GMT

We'll share application details here when they reopen for future years of entry.

• The scholarship is available for a maximum of three years of undergraduate study.
• Scholarship recipients must be able to commit to monthly sessions, based on campus or virtually, during term time from Year 1 Spring Term, to work together on the project, including attending regular meetings with the programme team.
• Scholarship recipients are encouraged to complete the York Strengths Programme in their first year, and have the option of being allocated a mentor to help them with their development action plan and goal setting.
• If a scholar takes a year in industry or year abroad, they will still be able to make a contribution to the Enigma programme, and will still be eligible for their scholarship payment.
• Successful scholarship recipients are required to complete a Scholarship Partnership Agreement outlining reporting obligations as a scholar, including providing an annual written update and occasional meetings with the donor to the Enigma Scholarship Programme.