Future Ready Enabling Scholarship

Scholarship details

Establishment

The Future Ready Enabling Scholarship is for students who have experienced educational disadvantage for a range of reasons and will provide financial assistance to support completion of Open Foundation or Yapug and hopefully progression to an undergraduate degree. Whether it’s covering study essentials, easing travel costs, helping with childcare, or giving you a little breathing room as you focus on your studies, this scholarship will help you on your pathway to undergraduate study.

Applications for this scholarship are now open for students starting Open Foundation or Yapug in 2026.

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

Applicable to equity, financial disadvantage, disability, Indigenous, regional and remote, Open Foundation, Yapug, enabling, full or part-time study.

Eligibility

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

• Be enrolled in an enabling program (Open Foundation or Yapug) with the University of Newcastle.
• Demonstrate the impact of educational disadvantage such as carer and sole parent responsibilities, financial hardship, a long-term medical condition or disability, the ongoing effects of abuse, regional/remote disadvantage, or applicant attributes such as being an Indigenous Australian, having a Refugee background, or placement with an Out-of-Home Care provider.
• Not have previously received this scholarship.
• Not hold a concurrent scholarship of equal or higher annual value.

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.

• A personal statement (approx. 1 A4 page) outlining your academic achievements, career aspirations in the relevant area of study, and how this scholarship would assist you. This statement will cover all scholarships you are submitting for.

• You may be required to provide documents to support your educational challenges and personal circumstances. These will be identified when you apply based on your individual application responses.

Benefit

This scholarship is a one-off payment of $1000 made in the semester of award.

Payments are typically received 2–3 weeks after the semester census date, or 2–3 weeks after you accept your offer if the census date has already passed.

The scholarship benefit and number of scholarships awarded may vary and will be determined by the funding available for the period 2025 to 2027.

Selection

Selection for this scholarship is based on a thorough assessment of each application, considering both the eligibility criteria and the applicant's demonstrated educational disadvantage.

Scholarships staff will assess applications in the following order of priority:

• Fulfilment of all eligibility criteria.
• Evidence of educational disadvantages.
• Academic merit and/or engagement with the enabling program may be considered.

Once recipients are selected, offers will be made via the scholarship application portal.

Contact Details

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

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