The Helen Sharp Undergraduate Scholarships in Modern Languages

What is the selection process?

Your application will be assessed by a panel chaired by Professor David Cowling, as Head of the School of Modern Languages and Cultures. The panel will consider your application against the following three criteria:

1. Your academic talent:
   • Your UCAS application provides us with the information that we need.
2. How the award will enhance the contribution you can make to life at MLAC and the University more broadly:
   • In the application form you will explain: how you hope to contribute to life at MLAC; how being an active member of MLAC will help you to grow and develop during your time at Durham; how scholarship funding would help you to do that.
3. Your financial situation:
   • Your Student Finance England (or equivalent) letter enables us to verify your Household Income
   • It is important that Scholarships like these support as many students as possible and reach those students who can benefit most from them. To help us do that, please tell us about any other funding you receive which you are not required to pay back e.g. grants, awards, Scholarships, Bursaries and similar. You do not need to tell us about any tuition fee, or maintenance loans you are entitled to.  This information will be considered alongside your verified Household Income (see above).

If I am awarded a Scholarship, what else do I have to do?

If you are awarded a Scholarship, you will be asked in the first and third term of each academic year to write a short reflection on the part your Scholarship is playing in your experience as a student of the School of Modern Languages and Cultures at Durham University. By accepting the offer of a Scholarship you will be agreeing to provide the short reports outlined above. These reports will be shared with the donor who is funding your Scholarship, so they can see how this support is helping you, and may be published in full or in part in School and/or University publications in print and/or online. You may also be asked to contribute other quotes or content from time to time.  If reports, comment or other content you have submitted are to be published, you have the option for these to include your name, photograph, or other content that might identify you, or not – if you prefer not to be identified as the recipient of a Scholarship.

Scholarships are about offering support to those who might benefit from them most. Support is typically financial, but can also come in the form of having a community around you who can act as trusted friends, mentors and approachable sources of listening, advice and signposting to wider networks. You will be invited, at least once per academic year, to meet with other students in receipt of a Scholarship, along with a small number of staff of MLAC and/or the University, and perhaps the donor of your Scholarship. These meetings are intended to help you by creating a community of Scholars that you can feel part of, by giving you access to Durham staff who are in your corner, by giving you the chance to understand what motivates your donor to fund your scholarship, and for you to express your response to your scholarship in person.  You may also receive invitations to participate in occasional other events relating to your Scholarship.  By accepting the offer of a Scholarship, you will be agreeing to make the time (wherever possible) to attend and participate in such meetings and events.  

What if I have questions about the Scholarship?

If you have any questions about Scholarships in MLAC, please email Professor David Cowling, Head of the School of Modern Languages, at mlac.hos@durham.ac.uk

Thank you for your interest in The Helen Sharp Undergraduate Scholarships in Modern Languages