The Paul Winters Scholarships for September 2025 - Applications are now closed

The Paul Winters Scholarships will award one Full-Time BSc (Hons) Sociology student with £3,500 per year during their Undergraduate studies, to a total of £10,500*. The money can be used to enhance the student’s learning and overall university experience.

The Paul Winters Scholarship was established to support Sociology students through their university journey. Since studying Sociology at Northumbria University, Paul has enjoyed a successful career and recognises the impact of his time at Northumbria in a personal and professional capacity. This donation will provide support for the fourth, fifth and sixth Paul Winters scholarships at Northumbria, enabling access and progression through the Undergraduate journey.

At Northumbria, we are passionate about bringing together our inspirational courses, forward-thinking staff and innovative students to tackle the challenges of tomorrow. If you are ready to start your university journey with Northumbria, create your best future, and meet the criteria below, APPLY NOW.

Eligibility Criteria

Students who meet at least one of the following characteristics will be considered;

You live in a neighbourhood with a low progression rate to Higher Education. Please use your main home address and not your term time address and use the Postcode Checker to check your neighbourhood progression rate*
You are a woman
You are from a Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic (BAME) background
You have declared a physical and/or mental health condition, long-term illness, or learning difference on your UCAS form**

The deadline to apply is 16:00 on Friday 04 July 2025.

*If your POLAR4 young participation quintile is identified as 1 or 2, you will be eligible to apply OR; After searching your postcode, click view detailed results and if your TUNDRA MSOA quintile is identified as 1 or 2, you will be eligible to apply (This only applies to applicants living in England)

**UCAS application data will be used to verify submitted information

Terms and Conditions

To be eligible to apply you must also:

Be a UK/Home applicant - This includes students domiciled in Jersey, Guernsey, The Channel Islands, Ireland and Isle of Man
Apply to study on BSc (Hons) Sociology, to begin at the Newcastle Upon Tyne campus on a Full-Time basis in September 2025
Choose Northumbria as your firm choice by 30 June 2025
Meet all individual entry requirements
Be a self-funded student (i.e. not in receipt of sponsorship or other funding for the payment of fees, such as employer funding)
Have applied for one or more elements of the Government Student Finance package (for example, tuition fee loan, maintenance loan)
Have registered with Student Finance England (SFE), Student Finance Wales (SFW) or Student Finance Northern Ireland (SFNI)
As a Scottish student, have registered with Student Award Agency for Scotland (SAAS) and apply to be means-tested for maintenance funding, in order that SASS can send your data to Student Finance England
Agree to share consent via your Government Finance Provider with Northumbria University

Important Information

Students selected for the Paul Winters Scholarships will not be eligible for any other Undergraduate scholarship schemes
If you apply and are successful for more than one scholarship, you will automatically receive the highest value scholarship
If you apply and are successful for more than one scholarship of the same value, you will be asked to select your preferred scholarship
The Paul Winters Scholarships are awarded as cash
Payments will be made as 25% of total in November 2025, 25% of total in February 2026 and 50% of total in May 2026 and in these months in subsequent years
Funding is provided on an annual basis, based on the successful student progressing to the next year of study
*If you choose to undertake a placement year, the scholarship will not be paid in this year
The successful students will be required to send a thank you letter to the donor
The successful students will be expected to provide yearly progress updates with the donor as appropriate
If you do not provide a thank you letter and progress updates to the donor, the scholarship may be withdrawn
If the successful students defer their place at Northumbria University before the scholarship has been paid, the scholarship offer will be withdrawn
If the successful students decides to leave the course after the scholarship payment has been made; the University will not make efforts to reclaim the amount, however any subsequent payments will be cancelled and the scholarship offer will be withdrawn
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. In no more than 3000 characters (500 words) - 'How will this Award support your aspirations to succeed in Higher Education?' - applications will be considered on the strength of response against a marking criteria
Applications close at 16:00 on Friday 04 July 2025
We will let you know the outcome of your application following results day in August 2025

Last updated: 02/12/2024