Educational Trusts & Charities

You may be able to get some financial help with study costs, tuition fees, books and travel expenses. In some cases you may get help with living costs.

Some trusts are local and depend on specific criteria e.g. where you were born, went to school or live now; others depend on surname or parents' occupations. Others are more general or focus on the subject you are studying.

There are several ways to find suitable trusts:

• SAAS maintains a register of Scottish Educational Grants. Fill in form REE1 from SAAS and return it to SAAS. They will make a search for you and tell you about any suitable trusts.
• Educational Grants Advisory Service - a similar service, most useful for International students.
• Scholarship Search - a free website that lets you search for scholarships, trust and sponsorships.
• Trust Fund Information - A downloadable list of some general and specific trusts and scholarships compiled by the Student Funding Team.

Trusts and Scholarships at Glasgow Caledonian University

• Talented Athlete Support Programme
• GCU Scholarships

How to apply to trusts and scholarships

Some organisations will send you an application form, whilst others prefer you to write a letter of application. Even if you know an organisation will send you an application form, you should still make your first letter quite detailed and specific. Here are some guidelines on how to write to a trust or charity.

Structure

It is important to structure your letter well:

• start with a personal introduction: who you are, your age, where you come from, what course you are doing and where
• next, say why you are writing to them, for example, give the reasons for your hardship
• then, explain how financial assistance would help, for example, it would let you finish your course.

Content

You must be clear and concise – remember the organisation probably receives a lot of applications. Make sure you include all the relevant facts, but stick to the point. Be truthful but don’t dramatise your case.

Supporting information

It usually helps if you include a letter of support from a member of academic staff. This should say that you are an able student, capable of completing the course. If the tutor knows your circumstances, they may want to mention the effect financial hardship is having on your studies, but do not feel that you have to tell financial details to your tutor if you do not want to.

Updated: 13 December, 2011 | Student Funding Team | Legal