Vice-Chancellor's Scholarship

Students applying for a Single or Joint honours Music degree will not be eligible for a Music scholarship and students applying for a Single or Joint honours Drama degree will not be eligible for a Drama scholarship.

Applicants must be able to demonstrate outstanding artistic, creative or sporting potential. Awards will be made on a competitive basis but applicants will normally be expected to satisfy the following minimum criteria:

• Music/Vocal awards: A minimum of Grade VIII in examinations offered by the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (or equivalent). Those students short listed for a scholarship will be required to attend an audition in Bristol at the end of February or beginning of March 2013. Full details will be sent to short listed students during the first two weeks in February. Any students invited to audition, who are not able to attend on the advertised date, will not be considered for a scholarship. Travel Bursaries to attend the audition are available for home (UK) students from lower income families (normally those with household incomes of £42,875 or less).
• Drama awards: Evidence of sustained extra-curricular engagement with theatre and/or filmmaking, along with distinguished achievement in relevant school subjects (eg theatre studies, film studies or other arts/humanities subjects.
• Sporting awards: Successful applicants will have had considerable success at representative level. It would be unusual for an award to be given to a student who had not had International honours, at least at Junior level. Although a student might apply for other scholarships, such as the government funded Talented Athlete Sports Scheme awards, the holder of a Vice-Chancellor’s award must not hold other funded sporting grants.

• The student shall apply through UCAS for admission to any undergraduate course at the University of Bristol by 15 January in the year of admission.
• The student must submit a separate Scholarship application directly to the Admissions Department by the 15 January in the year of admission.
• The student must firmly accept an academic offer a place on any undergraduate course at the University of Bristol by 1 September in the year of entry. If the offer is conditional, the student will need to fulfill the terms of his/her offer and have their place confirmed by 1 September in the year of entry.
• Successful applicants will be expected to: Successfully audition for the University’s Symphony or Chamber orchestras, or University Singers or Chamber Choir (keyboard players would participate in chamber ensemble playing, approved by the Music Department); or contribute substantially to the output of the University of Bristol Union (UBU) DRAMSOC or Music Theatre Bristol societies; or become a member of the High Performance Squad, part of the University High Performance programme.

Departments should ensure that their scholarship selection processes allow both international and home (UK and EU) students to be transparently considered.

Students must first be given an academic offer before they are considered for a VC scholarship. Their academic offer must follow our Admissions principles and each school’s published policy; the academic offer will be based on the applicant’s academic potential and attainment only.

All applications (both home (UK and EU) and international) must be received by the published deadline. No application may be considered until the deadline has passed.

Applications are considered initially by staff in the Sports Centre, Music or Drama department.

The applications are ranked and at least the top ten in each field are then forwarded, with the experts’ recommendations, to Pro Vice-Chancellors for the final selection

The Pro Vice-Chancellors make the final selection of 24, with at least six reserves.

Up to 24 awards are normally available each year, valued at £1,500 per year.

The scholarships will be awarded in the first instance for a period of one year, renewable provided that the above conditions are met and the student passes their examinations and progresses through to the next year of study on their chosen course.

Successful applicants will be expected to put Bristol as their firm choice in the first instance, and with regards to their scholarship offer, either:

1. Successfully audition for the University’s Symphony or Chamber orchestras, or University Singers or Chamber Choir (keyboard players would participate in Chamber ensemble playing, approved by the Music Department) and participate in other musical opportunities offered from time to time by the Department of Music.
2. Contribute substantially to the output of the University of Bristol Union (UBU) DRAMSOC, Spotlights, or Music Theatre Bristol societies
3. Become a member of the Advanced Sports Squad, part of the University High Performance programme.