Overview
Funded from a philanthropic donation via the University of Sunderland’s Development and Alumni Office, the Sir Bob Murray Health Scholarship aims to support five eligible first-year undergraduate psychology students.
The Scholarship offers a cash award of £1,000 for undergraduate students who:
- are a first-year undergraduate student in 2025/26.
- are studying an eligible course.
- meet at least one of the widening participation priority awarding criteria outlined in section three.
Five scholarships are available. These will be allocated according to the criteria below, prioritising students currently underrepresented in higher education.
By applying for this scholarship, you agree to participate in PR/marketing activity if awarded.
Who's eligible?
1. You must be a 'Home' or 'Overseas Island' student on an eligible course
The Government classes all students as ‘Home’ or ‘International’. This status determines which tuition fees you pay, and which scholarships and bursaries you may be eligible to receive.
Overseas Island; Isle of Man and the Channel Islands students are eligible.
EU students with a UK Settled Status are eligible at the time of application.
International students are not eligible.
You must be a first-year student applying to commence your studies in autumn 2025.
2. You must apply for and meet the conditions of your offer, then successfully enrol onto an eligible course
You must successfully enrol onto one of the following eligible full-time courses in academic year 2025/26:
- BSc (Hons) Psychology
- BSc (Hons) Psychology with Counselling
- BSc (Hons) Clinical Psychology
- BSc (Hons) Forensic Psychology
3. You must meet at least one of the widening participation priority awarding criteria
When awarding this scholarship, priority will be given to applicants from the following groups:
- Low household income (equal to or below £27,500 per annum)
- Low household income (between £27,501 and £47,500 per annum)
- First person in your family to enter higher education (first-generation)
- You reside in a low-participation neighbourhood (POLAR4: Quantiles 1 and 2)
Please note, if we need to verify your household income as part of your scholarship application, you must have undertaken a means-tested Student Loans Company (SLC) assessment. You must also agree to share your data with the University via the SLC. The University will liaise with the SLC to verify household income.
How to apply
You can apply from March 2025. The deadline for applications is Sunday 31 August 2025. Once the deadline has passed, we are not permitted to accept any further applications.
You can apply via your myApplication account.
Your username is your student number, which can be found on all correspondence you have received from the University. If you are unsure of your student number, please contact Student Administration at studentadmin@sunderland.ac.uk.
Please note that applying does not guarantee you will be awarded this scholarship. Priority will be given to students who meet the greatest number of eligibility criteria.
Receiving the scholarship
Once scholarships have been allocated, the successful students will be notified via email of their provisional award.
Students awarded the scholarship will receive one payment of £1,000 on the fifth working day in February 2026. Payments are subject to satisfactory attendance and progression as confirmed by the Faculty.
The scholarship cash payments will be paid via bank transfer into your UK bank account via the University’s Development Trust.
Additional information
If you have not registered on your course within three weeks of the course start date or provided sufficient evidence of eligibility, the scholarship or bursary will be withdrawn and offered to another eligible student.
Once provisional awards are made, the Development and Alumni Office will contact awardees via registered contact details. If you do not respond, we reserve the right to reallocate funding. If you do not supply us with the required information by February 2026, the scholarship provisional award will be withdrawn.
If you withdraw from your course before receiving a scholarship or bursary payment, the award will be withdrawn. If you transfer to a course not listed above, you will not be eligible for this scholarship.
The award is conditional on you maintaining satisfactory engagement and making academic progress on your course in the reasonable opinion of the Programme Team.
The University agrees to pay you, the student, all awards, and payments that are due to you while you are on your course of study.
If you repeat a year of the same course, the award will not be paid in the repeated year.
If you withdraw in the same academic year after receiving your scholarship payment, you will be required to return the funding to the Development Trust.
If you are in debt to the University to the value of £50 or more, you will not receive payment until the debt has been cleared.
All payments will be made into your UK bank account. It is your responsibility to enter your bank details and ensure these are kept up to date. If you fail to enter your bank details to enable payments to be made to you before your course end date (or the date of leaving your course if earlier), all scholarships, bursaries, and payments will be withdrawn.
Income-assessed applications will be based on the Student Loans Company’s definition and assessment of household income. Your declared household income will be checked and verified. Bursaries will only be offered to those students who have a household income of £47,500 or less.
As part of the admissions process, the University will verify various aspects of a UCAS or direct application to determine that you should be classed as ‘Home’. The following criteria will be verified:
- Declared nationality
- Country of birth
- Area of permanent residence
- Date of entry into the UK (if applicable)
- Location of previous education provider
Disclaimer
Every effort is made to ensure that all details included in these guidance notes are correct at the time of writing. They are intended to act as an information source only, and in no way should they be considered legally binding or guarantee an award.
The University will not be deemed to be in breach of any legal or contractual obligations due to changes to eligibility criteria beyond the reasonable control of the University. It should therefore be noted that these guidance notes are regularly reviewed and are naturally subject to change, sometimes without notice. The University’s decision is final.
Appendix
Use the information below to determine what evidence will be required as proof of priority group:
You are the first person in your family to enter higher education (first-generation)
During the enrolment process, the University will verify ‘first generation’ evidence.
You have an annual household income of £25,000 or less
If you are a ‘Home’ student who has applied for means-tested loans and grants from the Student Loans Company (SLC), the University will liaise with the SLC to verify your household income.
You have an annual household income between £25,001 and £42,875
If you are a ‘Home’ student who has applied for means-tested loans and grants from the Student Loans Company (SLC), the University will liaise with the SLC to verify your household income.
You reside in a low-participation neighbourhood (POLAR4: Quantiles 1 and 2)
This refers to geographic areas where the number of 18 and 19-year-olds participating in higher education is less than two-thirds of the UK average rate. Check your eligibility by postcode.
During the enrolment process, the University will verify this based on your postcode. This will be based on your address at the time of applying to the University.
Published: 31 October 2024