The McGlashan Trust Grant Application Form for Postgraduate Students

Application Criteria

We award grants to students for postgraduate study. To meet our criteria you must:

• Be born in Scotland OR be born elsewhere and planning to study in Scotland
• Be able to demonstrate current financial challenge with little or no access to family support; we prioritise supporting students facing socioeconomic challenge
• There is no upper age limit for applicants (this is a new change from 2026 onwards)

Please note:

•        We will support students born in Scotland to study in Scotland or outside of Scotland

•        When we support international or students from the rest of the UK these never make up more than a third of our total student awards

Application Process

To assess your application we need to understand whether you meet our criteria

•        Please complete the application form below in full. The form must be completed in one go (it's not possible to save your progress and return to the form at a later session). We'd therefore recommend you have a look at all of the questions we ask below first, then gather any necessary information, then fill in the form once you're ready to apply.

•        We understand not all applicants will be able to answer all our questions, and that is okay. If this is the case, please add a note or leave the question blank

•        We will be in touch with all applicants after the deadline of 31 May. We aim to be in touch with the outcome by 1 July at the latest

Contact us at info@mcglashantrust.org if you experience any technical difficulties with this form.

1. What is your first name?
2. What is your family name?
3. What is your full address?  It's particularly important you provide us with your postcode in this section.
4. What is your mobile phone number?
5. What is your date of birth?
6. Were you born in Scotland?
7. If you were NOT born in Scotland, in which country were you born?
8. Do you have any family caring responsibilities/dependants? If so, who?
9. What is the title of the postgraduate course for which you are seeking support?
10. What is the name of the institution where you will be studying?
11. Have you received your postgraduate course acceptance letter from your institution? If not, please tell when this is expected. Please note we ask all applicants to upload a copy of their course acceptance letter at point of application
12. What is the start date of the postgraduate course you seek support for?
13. What is the end date of the postgraduate course you seek support for?
14. Is the postgraduate course full time or part time?
15. In a maximum of 500 words, please tell us why you want to undertake this course. You may wish to tell us about:

1. Your previous educational achievements and qualifications
2. The difference this course of study will make to your life and career
3. Where you see yourself in 10 years’ time

16. In a maximum of 500 words, please tell us about your activities and interests outside of your studies. You may wish to tell us about:

1. Paid Employment
2. Volunteer Experience
3. Hobbies and Leisure Time

17. We will now ask you some questions about your finances during your course. In the interest of fairness to your fellow applicants, please answer honestly. We will not ask to see financial records but may have additional questions during the assessment period. Where we ask for specific figures we'd be grateful if all answers given were in £ Pound Sterling. During the course of your studies, how much have you budgeted to spend on accommodation (per month) if applicable?
18. During the course of your studies, how much have you budgeted to spend on bills / utilities (per month), if applicable?
19. How much are your course fees (annual) if applicable?
20. During the course of your studies, how much have you budgeted to spend on groceries (per month) if applicable?
21. During the course of your studies, how much have you budgeted to spend on transport (per month) if applicable?
22. During the course of your studies, how much have you budgeted to spend on course books / other equipment (per month)?
23. During the course of your studies, how much money have you budgeted to spend on other personal / leisure costs (per month)?  Please feel free to give details of what this might include.
24. Do you have any loans or debts? If so, please list in detail and share an overall total.
25. During the course of your studies, how much money do you expect to earn from paid employment (please insert a figure detailing average monthly earnings)?
26. During the course of your studies, how much money do you expect to earn from any grants or loans (monthly average), if applicable?
27. During the course of your studies, how much money do you expect to receive as support from your family (average monthly income) if applicable?
28. During the course of your studies, how much money do you expect to receive from savings (please insert a figure detailing average monthly earnings)?
29. If the above information (income vs. expenditure) presents you with a clear budget deficit, please give details here of how you plan to address that deficit.
30. At school, were you eligible for free school meals or an equivalent (e.g. clothing grant)? If you don't know the answer to this question, please type "don't know".
31. What was your UK postcode when you were 14 years old?   If you don't know the answer to this question, please type "don't know". If you were not resident in the UK at age 14, please type "not applicable".
32. What was the occupation of your highest earning parent or carer when you were 14 years old?  Please select from the best fit from the following categories:

1. Professional occupations e.g: teacher, nurse, physiotherapist, social worker, police officer, accountant, solicitor, medical practitioner, scientist, civil or mechanical engineer
2. Managers or administrators: finance manager, chief executive, large business owner, office manager, retail manager, bank manager, restaurant manager, warehouse manager
3. Clerical/ intermediate occupations: secretary, personal assistant, call centre agent, clerical worker, nursery nurse
4. Technical / craft occupations: motor mechanic, plumber, printer, electrician, gardener, train driver.
5. Routine / service occupations: postal worker, machine operative, security guard, caretaker, farm worker, catering assistant, sales assistant, HGV driver, cleaner, porter, packer, labourer, waiter or waitress, bar staff.
6. Long-term unemployed (claimed Jobseeker’s Allowance or earlier unemployment benefit for more than a year)
7. Small business owners (fewer than 25 employees) e.g. corner shop owners, small plumbing companies, retail shop owner, single restaurant or cafe owner, taxi owner, garage owner
8. Retired
9. I don't know
10. I prefer not to say

33. Please provide the name and contact details (email / telephone number) of the person you've approached to provide you with an academic reference. (This cannot be a friend or family member.) These references should be sent by email (either by yourself or the referee) to: info@mcglashantrust.org. Please note we are unable to chase your references for you.
34. Please provide the name and contact details (email / telephone number) of the person you've approached to provide you with a second reference from paid employment or volunteer experience. (This cannot be a friend or family member.) These references should be sent by email (either by yourself or the referee) to: info@mcglashantrust.org. Please note we are unable to chase your references for you.
35. Is there anything else you wish to say about or add to your application?  

1. By submitting this form, I confirm that all the information I have included is truthful and correct.

 2. I confirm that I have uploaded two references (one academic and one employment related) and a copy of my confirmation letter from my chosen institution.

 3. I understand if these are not submitted, my application will not be processed.

The McGlashan Trust is the controller of your personal information.  We are committed to safeguarding the personal information of our applicants. We will use the information that we collect about you lawfully and in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).