The Choral Scholarships for September 2025

To compliment our BA (Hons) Music course, we are delighted to announce our Choral Scholarships for September 2025.

Students in receipt of a Choral Scholarship will receive a £700 cash payment. All eligible Full-Time self-funded students will be considered, please see full terms and conditions below.

This Choral scholarship offers a unique opportunity to work with professional musicians at St Nicholas Cathedral in Newcastle and sing in the newly formed Newcastle Cathedral Consort, a joint venture between the Cathedral and Northumbria University, as well as singing in other services as required.

If you are passionate about music and eager to take an active role in the music environment at Northumbria, then apply today for a Choral Scholarship.

Apply Now. Applications will close at 16:00 on Friday 29 August 2025.

Terms and conditions

To be eligible for the Choral Scholarship you must:

Be a UK/Home student - This includes students domiciled in Jersey, Guernsey, The Channel Islands, Ireland and Isle of Man
Have applied for a Full-Time Undergraduate course starting in September 2024. Foundation Year students are also eligible to apply.
Choose Northumbria as your firm choice by 30 June 2025
Register with Student Finance England (SFE), Student Finance Wales (SFW) or Student Finance Northern Ireland (SFNI) as they administer the payment of the academic scholarship on behalf of the University. Scottish students must make an application to the Students Award Agency for Scotland (SAAS) for maintenance funding, which will enable SAAS to pay the student’s academic scholarship on behalf of the University.
Alternatively, a Scottish student who does not wish to apply to SAAS for maintenance funding will need to provide bank details to the University in order for an individual payment for the academic scholarship can be made. Scottish students who have not applied to SAAS for maintenance funding, but who are identified for a scholarship will be contacted by the University in the first semester about the payment of their scholarship. Payment will be made direct to your bank account.

Eligible courses

All Full-Time Undergraduate and Foundation Year courses, studied at the Newcastle Upon Tyne campus and Coach Lane campus. If you choose to undertake a placement year, the scholarship will not be paid in this year.

Important Information

Applicants should also note:

Successful students are required to sing in the Cathedral University Choir and attend rehearsals at St Nicholas Cathedral as follows: Tuesdays from 16:45 – 19:30, Wednesdays 13:00 – 14:00 and another afternoon (to be determined) from 16:45 – 18:00 during University term-time
Attendance at rehearsals is mandatory and progress will be monitored; should attendance and/or progress be unsatisfactory, the scholarship will be rescinded
Successful students can withdraw from the Choral Scholarship at any time, however any unpaid monies would not be paid
The Choral Scholarship is a cash payment
Payments will be made as 25% in November 2025, 25% in February 2026, and 50% in May 2026
Payment is made in each year of Undergraduate study, dependent on progression to the next year and adhering to scholarship terms and conditions
If you choose to undertake a placement year, the scholarship will not be paid in this year
If you defer your place and/or leave your course before the full scholarship amount is paid, the remaining monies will not be paid; however the University will not usually seek to claim back any of the scholarship money already paid
If you have outstanding debt with the University (for example, unpaid tuition fees or accommodation) the scholarship payment will be withheld until the debt is cleared
Northumbria University reserves the right to withdraw this scheme at any point
The University’s decision is final and cannot be challenged; there is no right of appeal

Selection Process

There is a competitive selection process for this scholarship scheme. Applicants need to apply via online written application; shortlisted applicants will then need to attend a singing audition with Cathedral and Northumbria University representatives, on campus at Northumbria University. The audition will involve the performance of one piece of music or a section from a longer work, lasting between 4 and 8 minutes (own choice) sight-reading and a voice test
Applicants are required, in no more than 1500 characters, to 'Describe your singing experience to date and how you would contribute to vocal and choral music-making at Northumbria University and St Nicholas Cathedral'
Successful applicants will be informed as soon as possible following the closing date

Last Updated: 20/01/2025