Overview
We are committed to supporting student athletes who are performing at an advanced level. Building on the success of women’s football in the region, we have created these scholarships to support eligible undergraduate students to fulfil their potential while studying at the University.
This scholarship offers following generous support package for each year of continuous study (excluding placement and study abroad year):
- £2,000 cash payment for each year of undergraduate study (up to a maximum of three years)
- And, specialist support, including mentoring, sport massage and physiotherapy, gym access, strength and conditioning, nutritional advice and lifestyle management
There are five scholarships available.
The Elite Sports Scholarship (Women’s football) 2025/26 is for students who:
- Study an eligible full-time undergraduate course in autumn 2025
- Are aged 18 or 19 on 1 September 2025
- Identify as a woman or non-binary playing for a women's football team
- Have been selected within the last 18 months to compete at Regional, National or International level
- Are a member of Team Sunderland as an Elite Athlete
- Participate in football recognised by BUCS (British Universities and Colleges Sport)
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 at the time of application are eligible.
International students are not eligible.
2. You must apply for and meet the conditions of your offer, then successfully enrol onto and study an eligible course
You must be applying to commence your studies in autumn 2025 based at City Campus, Sir Tom Cowie at St Peter’s Campus, Dance City, or the Northern Academy of Music Education (NAME).
3. As an Elite Athlete you must continually meet the following conditions:
- You must agree to represent the University in your chosen sport.
- You must have exemplary class attendance and maintain satisfactory academic and sporting progress to retain access to the allocated support.
- You must play a full part in sport at the University and represent the University when it is compatible with training, competition, and academic courses.
- You are required to display the highest standards of sporting behaviours at all times as expected in sport generally and abide by the Team Sunderland Code of Conduct.
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.
As part of the application process, you must submit:
- A statement detailing your most recent achievements in football (up to 2,000 characters). You must specify the competition, age group, event, and year. Please include any recent inclusion in excel, national, international, or regional squads.
- Any video footage of a performance in the last 12 months.
- A reference from a coach/trainer or National Governing Body of Sport.
Please note that applying for this scholarship does not guarantee that you will receive it.
Receiving the scholarship
The Elite Sports Scholarship will be awarded following an application process. All applications that meet the criteria will be shortlisted for consideration.
Scholarship recipients will receive the following cash payments in each year of study, subject to validation checks and academic progression:
- Year 1: £2,000 in February 2026
- Year 2: £2,000 in February 2027
- Year 3: £2,000 in February 2028
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.
If you do not supply us with the required information by November 2025, the scholarship or bursary 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 withdraw after a payment is made, the University will not seek reimbursement however, you will not receive any further instalments.
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 a scholarship or bursary payment is made to you in error, the University reserves the right to recover any awards or overpayments from you, the student. This may result in you being asked to repay an award if it was paid to you in error. It is also the responsibility of you, the student, to ensure that all awards and payments received are accurate. Any payment discrepancies will be rectified by the University or the student.
If you transfer to another course and repeat a year, or repeat a year of the same course, the award will not be paid in the repeated year. Any payments due to you will continue once you progress onto the following level (s) of study on the course.
If you are on a placement year or studying for a year and not paying full fees, the award will not be paid during that year.
If you take a leave of absence (LOAB), your payments will stop until you return and progress academically.
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.
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.
Published: 18 October 2024