York Futures Scholarships

Source: https://www.york.ac.uk/students/work-volunteering-careers/skills/internship-placement/yfs/ Parent: https://www.york.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/applying/care-leavers/

York Futures Scholarships are designed to support current undergraduate home students to improve their personal and professional development by allowing them to access employability experiences they would otherwise not be able to afford.

Apply for financial and practical support to suit your ambitions at the different stages of your time at York.

"The scholarship scheme allows students to further explore their ambitions potentially outside of York. I was able to use the funding to travel to London (which is outrageously expensive from York these days) for various insight days with firms, networking events, interviews and assessment centres that otherwise would have been out of my student budget."

Seb, BA (Hons) History and Politics

Please note that we review the York Futures Scholarships on an annual basis, and so the information below is correct for the 2025/26 academic year and may be subject to change in subsequent years.

Eligibility criteria

• Current undergraduate home fees students may apply for either level of funding (£250 or £1,000)
• All scholarships should be used during the same academic year (including summer vacation) in which they are awarded - so the activity/activities for which you receive funding must be completed by September before the start of the next academic year.
• Students can only be awarded one York Futures Scholarship per academic year.
• Students cannot receive funding during a leave of absence.
• Students cannot apply after completing their studies at the University of York.
• Students on York Online courses are not eligible to apply for a York Futures Scholarship.
• Please note, HYMS students must be registered with the University of York in order to be eligible to apply.
• Students studying postgraduate courses are not eligible to apply.
• Students must meet at least one of the financial need or widening participation criteria listed below to be eligible to apply.

The York Futures Scholarships aim to support students to access employability related experiences they would otherwise not be able to afford. Applications from students who demonstrate financial need and meet one or more of the following criteria are prioritised:

• care leavers and care experienced students
• estranged students
• students who have unpaid caring responsibilities for a parent, family member, partner or friend
• students with children
• students seeking asylum in the UK
• students with refugee status in the UK
• home students who were eligible for free school meals in high school and/or sixth form/college (does not include universal infant free school meals)
• students whose student finance maintenance loan allowance indicates household income less than £35,000
• home students whose home postcode falls within IMD (Index of Multiple Deprivation) 1 or 2 areas
• students who are the first generation in their family to go to higher education, (including if a parent went to university as a mature student)

Once students meeting one or more of the priority criteria above have been considered, then any remaining funding is prioritised for students meeting one or more of the following widening participation criteria. These criteria reflect groups underrepresented in higher education who may face disadvantage when accessing professional development opportunities:

• students from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds (including students from Gypsy, Roma or Traveller backgrounds).
• mature students (those aged 21 or over on the first day of undergraduate study at York).
• disabled students (this includes students with long-term health conditions, specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia, dyspraxia and ADHD, autistic spectrum conditions and mental health conditions)
• students with a gender identity different to that assigned at birth
• students who identify as LGBTQ+
• students from military families

Applications are competitive, and awards are allocated on evidence of financial need, the eligibility criteria as detailed above, and on assessed application form questions.

York Futures Scholarships Student Privacy Statement

*Eligibility criteria for York Futures Scholarships 2025/26 aligns with the Office for Students’ guidance on those student groups eligible to receive funding under the Progression part of York's specific Access and Participation Plan. This means that funding is available for undergraduate home students only.

Levels of funding

There are two funding levels available. You can apply for a different level at different times in your university career, depending on the activities you want the funding to help with.

Funding is allocated on the basis of the student's individual need alongside the nature of their plans and how these link to personal and/or professional development.

Please note that students can only apply for one level of funding per application cycle, and no alternative offers will be made. Furthermore, students can only be awarded one York Futures Scholarship of any amount per academic year.

If you have any questions about the funding levels, please contact york-futures-scholarship@york.ac.uk

£250

The £250 award is designed to help students to access smaller scale opportunities linked to career development. Some examples of how you could use the money include: to cover the travel costs for an interview or for visiting an employer or relevant organisation, purchasing business attire* for an interview or work experience opportunity, the cost of attending a conference or relevant training opportunity etc. You should be able to demonstrate specific and actual costs associated with a specific opportunity/opportunities. 

You don’t need to have fully secured the opportunity to apply, but you should be able to demonstrate how completing the activity/activities which you plan to use the York Futures Scholarship for, will support you in your personal and/or professional development and employability.

You can view the application questions for the £250 level below

*students seeking business attire may also wish to check out the Work Wardrobe which provides professional clothing free of charge to students who need it for work or interviews. This is run by York Cares, based in Careers and Placements, and is available at Careers fairs on campus, as well as on Tuesdays in the Careers building.

£1,000

The £1,000 award is designed to help students to access a specific career development opportunity/opportunities. Some examples of how this level of funding may be used are: to support travel costs, setup costs for a year long opportunity, up-front living expenses related to an opportunity, training courses, conferences, to support you in accessing work experience, internships or volunteering. 

Opportunities for which you apply for funding should develop you personally or professionally. You will need to use your application to show how the opportunity you want the funding to support will genuinely enhance your career ambitions and/or your employability. 

You can view the application questions for the £1,000 level below.

Application guidance

Students should clearly demonstrate how the funding could support access to career-related activity which would otherwise be unattainable, as well as how completing the opportunity/opportunities will support their personal and/or professional development.

Applicants should have specific plans for the funding and be able to provide clear categorised costs of how the funding would be spent. We would usually expect that the funding applied for will demonstrably cover 75%-100% of the total amount needed to facilitate the opportunity/opportunities in question.

It is important to consider the application questions carefully when applying and provide sufficient detail. Links to the application questions are included below.

When applying please consider what the assessors are looking for:

• a clear link between the opportunity/opportunities that you are seeking to take and your longer term career plans/employability.
• an indication that the award is needed to take full advantage of the opportunity; for example, that it is located in a city other than York or your hometown.
• evidence that the experience offers potential learning for you.
• where the experience is wholly unpaid this should be in line with what might reasonably be expected of the organisation or industry involved; for example, it is a charity or voluntary organisation

Please note: the York Futures Scholarships are not designed to support the furtherance of academic work, such as dissertation research, unless you can make a clear case that supports your longer term career ambitions.

The application form asks for the following information:

• Student details and personal characteristics (see eligibility criteria section)
• Application questions on your reasons for applying for a York Futures Scholarship, details of your plans for the funding and how this will support your personal/professional development. Application questions are linked for each level of funding below.

Personal characteristics data will be used as part of the application process, but will not be shared with the awarding panel members.

Application questions 2025/26

We encourage all applicants to read the questions carefully and provide as much detail as possible. The planned application questions for each level of YFS are listed below. Please note that these may be subject to change, so applicants should ensure they read the application form clearly when it goes live.

York Futures Scholarship questions £250 level

York Futures Scholarship questions £1,000 level

When to apply: application dates

There are two opportunities to apply online for each level of a York Futures Scholarship each academic year.

Planned application rounds for the 2025/26 academic year are:

• Round 1 - for both levels (£250 and £1000). Applications open on Monday 20 October 2025 at 9am and will close on Monday 17 November 2025 at 5pm.\ We aim for outcomes for this round to be communicated to students by the end of Semester 1 Week 11 (by Friday 11 December 2025, before the start of Winter Vacation)
• Round 2 - for both levels (£250 and £1000). Applications open on Monday 16 March 2026 at 9am, and will close on Monday 13 April 2026 at 5pm. We aim for outcomes for this round to be communicated to students by the end of Semester 2 Week 12 (by Friday 15 May 2026).

Apply for Round 2

Get in touch\ Contact the York Futures team in Careers and Placements by emailing york-futures-scholarship@york.ac.uk

Other scholarships, bursaries and financial support to consider

• Check out the bursaries and scholarships webpage to find out what other financial support is available at the University of York.
• For those interested in studying or working abroad whilst at York, check out the Global Opportunities Finance and Funding webpage to find out what support you could be eligible for.
• Santander Career Support Awards of £250 will be awarded to 60 University of York students this year to help with expenses for employability-related experiences.
• If you are facing general financial difficulty, you may be eligible for assistance funding from the University.
• Students seeking business attire may also wish to check out the Work Wardrobe which provides professional clothing free of charge to students who need it for work or interviews. This is run by York Cares, based in Careers and Placements, and is available at Careers fairs on campus, as well as on Tuesdays in the Careers building.