School of Engineering at the University of Birmingham - Engineering Enhancement Scholarship

What you get

You get a one-off cash payment of about EUR 3,500 (£3,000), paid during the first semester of your first year. It is a single payment, not a monthly grant. It does not cover or reduce your tuition fees, and the money is yours to spend as you need. The award comes from the School of Engineering at the University of Birmingham. It supports strong first-year engineering students from parts of the UK where few people go to university.

Who can apply

• Level: You are starting a first-year undergraduate (Bachelor's) engineering degree that ends in BEng or MEng.
• Field and university: You are enrolled on one of the listed engineering courses at the University of Birmingham, Edgbaston campus. These cover Civil, Electronic and Electrical, Mechanical, Mechatronic and Robotic, and general Engineering, including versions with an industrial year or study abroad.
• Fee status: You count as a UK ("Home fees") student. This means you are from the UK or Ireland and live there.
• Where you live: Your home postcode has a POLAR4 score of 1. POLAR4 measures how many young people from an area go to university. A score of 1 is the lowest, so this targets areas where few people study.
• Timing: You applied to Birmingham as one of your original five UCAS choices, then accepted it as your firm choice.
• Other awards: You cannot hold this at the same time as the Engineering First Class Scholarship.

How to apply

There is no separate application. Every student who meets the conditions is contacted automatically during the first semester. The one deadline that matters is the UCAS one: you had to apply to Birmingham by 6pm on 30 June and place it as your firm choice.

How realistic are your chances?

This award is cut very narrowly. You must study a specific engineering degree at one university, hold UK fee status, and live in a POLAR4 score-1 postcode. That combination rules most people out, so the eligible group is small. If you clearly meet those conditions, you do not compete or apply at all, since the university simply contacts everyone who qualifies.