Equity Scholarships Scheme University of Newcastle (ESSUN) Scholarship

Scholarship details

Establishment

University of Newcastle has a proud history of supporting motivated and talented students to both gain entry to university and to thrive in their field of study, regardless of their background and individual circumstances.

The Equity Scholarships Scheme University of Newcastle (ESSUN) provides scholarships assistance to students who are experiencing financial hardship and other personal circumstances impacting study, including:

• Carer responsibilities
• English language difficulty
• Financial hardship
• Long term medical condition/ disability or ongoing effects of abuse
• Regional or remote disadvantage
• Sole parent responsibilities
• Additional attributes such as Indigenous Australian or having Refugee status.

Definitions of types of disadvantage and documents required to demonstrate these are available on the UAC ES web page here.

The ESSUN Scholarship can be held alongside other, donor-funded scholarships so please do apply for Shaping Futures and others you meet the criteria for.

For more information on this scholarship, please review the full Terms and Conditions.

Eligibility

To be eligible to apply for this scholarship, you will need to:

• Be enrolled in any year of any enabling or undergraduate program with University of Newcastle.
• Be experiencing financial hardship. This may mean that you receive (or expect to receive) a centrelink means-tested income support payment this year, or that you are able to demonstrate financial hardship on the basis of a comprehensive assessment.
• May be experiencing other types of educational disadvantage as assessed as part of your scholarship application.
• Be an Australian citizen, Australian Permanent Resident (includes New Zealand Permanent Residents).
• Not hold a current ESSUN, Indigenous Accommodation Scholarship, or Indigenous Education Scholarship.
• Not have previously received an ongoing equity scholarship for the standard duration of your degree program with UON.

Required Documentation

Required documents will be listed on the ‘Your Documents’ page of your application. The application portal accepts PDF only. A maximum of 3 PDF smaller than 5 MB can be added per document type upload field.

• You may be required to provide documents to support your educational disadvantage claims. These will be identified when you apply based on your individual application responses.

Benefit

The scholarship provides a benefit between $2000 and a maximum of $4250 for the year depending on your semester of offer, study load, and if you have a compulsory placement during the academic year.

You will receive an initial payment of $500 following acceptance of your scholarship offer and enrolment with University of Newcastle.

Your study load will then be reviewed each semester census date and will take into account any courses undertaken in winter, summer, or trimester terms. You will receive $1500 for semesters in which you study a full time load (30 units or more), or $750 for semesters with a part-time load (20 units or less).

An additional lump sum between $500 and $750 may be approved for students undertaking compulsory placement within the academic year. You would need to apply for this additional amount in writing to scholarships@newcastle.edu.au and provide evidence showing the length and location of your placement.

The number of scholarships is indicative only and will vary depending on funding available in each year.

Selection

Selection is based on the assessment of information provided in the application and in accordance with the number of scholarships and funding available in each academic year. Applications are assessed and ranked against different areas of educational disadvantage, with financial disadvantage being a primary criteria. Scholarship offers are made to applicants who best meet this criteria.

Both successful and unsuccessful applicants will be notified of the outcome of their application. Successful notices will include a formal offer of the scholarship and instructions on how to accept the scholarship.

If you are unsuccessful, it does not mean that you are not in need; rather, it means that other applicants have been assessed as being in greater need. Your application will stay active for future offer rounds during the current scholarship offer year and you are encouraged to reapply in each year you study.

College

• College of Engineering Science and Environment
• College of Health Medicine and Wellbeing
• College of Human and Social Futures

Contact Details

Admissions and Scholarships
Student and Academic Services
University of Newcastle
University Drive
CALLAGHAN NSW 2308

Phone: +61 2 4921 5000
Email: scholarships@newcastle.edu.au