If you are in Years 1 or 2 of a full-time undergraduate programme, or Year 1 only of a full-time foundation degree, you could develop your sporting performance by applying for a Sports Scholarship worth up to £1,000 per academic year.
Sports Scholarships have nothing to do with your financial situation, degree subject or academic achievement. If you are talented at sport and participate, coach or officiate at a competitive level, then we want to hear from you.
Scholarship benefits
There are three distinctive levels of Sports Scholarship awards with different benefits and qualification criteria.
Gold
Up to £1,000 towards training and competition expenses each academic year
Please note, if you are awarded a Sports Scholarship, you must make satisfactory progress in both your sporting and academic pursuits to have the scholarship renewed annually prior to your graduation, irrespective of whether you are allocated a Gold, Silver or Bronze award. This must be evidenced by completing an annual review to demonstrate your ongoing performance levels.
Eligibility
To be eligible to apply for a Sports Scholarship, you must be enrolled on one of the following Edge Hill University awards:
Year 1 or Year 2 of a full-time undergraduate degree (BA/BEng/BSc/LLB/MBChB) or integrated Masters degree (MComp/MEng/MNSW/MSci)
Year 1 of a full-time foundation degree.
Please note, while MBChB Medicine and MBChB Medicine with Foundation Year students are eligible to apply for a Sports Scholarship, the scholarship benefits available may vary from those outlined above due to the longer length of these programmes.
Conversion degree (top-up) students, Erasmus students, repeat year students and permanent employees of Edge Hill University are not eligible to apply for a Sports Scholarship.
Your application will be judged to determine whether your application has been successful and, if so, to establish Gold, Silver or Bronze classification.
You will need to demonstrate that you meet one or more of the criteria below for a particular level of Sports Scholarship. The criteria serve as a preliminary guideline only and does not guarantee the receipt of a Sports Scholarship or a specific level of award. A sport National Governing Body must be one that is recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), International Paralympic Committee (IPC) or Sport England). A cap applies to the overall amount of money available to be awarded through Sports Scholarships.
Gold
• Evidence of selection for International or National representation at either senior or junior level by a recognised sport National Governing Body (NGB) within the last 12 months (for example selection for Great Britain or England) • Current regular first-team player competing in the highest tier nationally in your chosen sport • Ranked individually in the top 10 nationally by a recognised sport NGB • Athlete currently on a recognised NGB Talent pathway at the highest performance level • Coaching or officiating regularly at a national level (for example at FA referee levels 1-3 or the relevant NGB equivalent)
Silver
• Evidence of selection for regional representation at either senior or junior level within the last 12 months (for example, North of England) • Ranked individually in the top 25 nationally by a recognised sport NGB • Sports administration, Coaching or officiating regularly at regional level (for example, FA referee levels 4-5 or the relevant NGB equivalent)
Bronze
• Evidence of selection for County representation at either senior or junior level within the last 12 months (for example for Lancashire, also includes some small islands and nations) • Current professional club Academy or age group player (for example, Under 21s) • The ability to make a significant contribution to increasing participation in sport at Edge Hill University • A significant contribution to community sport in coaching, officiating or administration.
Please note: It is not possible to receive multiple scholarships in recognition of the same achievement, or to be awarded a Sports Scholarship as a current student if you were awarded one as an applicant.
A successful application for a Sports Scholarship as a current student will also make you ineligible to receive an Excellence Scholarship. You are welcome to apply for the two awards, however, and if both applications are successful, you will be able to choose which scholarship you would prefer to receive.
Case studies
Discover more about the achievements and endeavours of recent Sports scholars with our case studies of a selection of previous winners.
Chris Heaton
Chris specialises in sprint events, including keirin track cycling, winning the White Hope Sprint and competing at junior and under 23 levels.
Isaak Dalglish
Isaak has World and European Championship medals to his name in para-badminton and aspires to a place among the world’s elite players.
Jade Sandlan
Jade holds the Golden Belt British Title in Muay Thai boxing and is ranked in the top two in Great Britain in the sport.
James Rooney
James has been crowned Lancashire Boys Golf Champion and made the final qualifying round for the Open Championship.
Lewis Fairhurst
Lewis plays rugby league at North Wales Crusaders, having also won the Four Nations tournament starring for the England Universities team.
Michael Cartmell
Michael has overcome a freak accident during a football match to be selected for the North West Cerebral Palsy team.
Millie Forrest
Millie is ranked 2nd in Great Britain and 9th in the world in discus in the F37 category for people who have cerebral palsy.
Morgan Murphy
Morgan came third in the European Open Championships in the Japanese martial art of Aikido and is now preparing for a world championship.
Sarah Hutchinson
Sarah is a rising ice hockey star in the Women’s Premier League who has also been selected to play for England and Great Britain.
How to apply
To be considered for a Sports Scholarship, you need to complete and submit our Sports Scholarship application form through the Student Life Portal. A selection panel will judge all applications received. The level of Sports Scholarship (Gold, Silver or Bronze) awarded to successful applicants will be determined by the selection panel.
If you are awarded a Sports Scholarship, you will be expected to play a significant role in raising the standard of performance of the student sports teams and must be fully committed to training and competing for the University in British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) events wherever possible.
Scholarship applications are now open until 15 June 2025. Submit your application via the Student Life Portal.
