UC offers over $20 million in scholarships and prizes each year. This 'Incoming First-Year Scholarships' section of the website outlines many of the scholarships which are available for those who are leaving secondary school in 2024 and starting study at UC in 2025.
There are many more available for future years of study and new scholarships are established regularly; make sure that you search for all that you could be eligible for using our Scholarships Database.
Each scholarship has different eligibility criteria (e.g. subject/course you are enrolling in, your citizenship, age, gender, ethnicity, school, region, etc).
Read each scholarship's Regulations to see if you meet the criteria. Apply for all the scholarship you are eligible for, as it is often possible to hold more than one scholarship at a time.
If you don’t meet the eligibility criteria, or won’t be enrolling in a programme the scholarship supports, then don’t apply for that scholarship.
A number of scholarships are open for those who have taken a gap year between completion of their secondary schooling/university-entrance qualification and the start of their undergraduate degree studies at UC. Check the Regulations of each scholarship in the ‘Eligibility criteria’ to confirm which scholarships these are. So long as the applicant has not undertaken any degree-level tertiary study in the interim and they meet all eligibility requirements, they can apply for these scholarships.
To submit a scholarship application students will first need to register for a myUC account. Once you have an account, click on the 'Apply for Scholarships' link in the top left hand menu. Use the 'Search' tab to find the scholarship you wish to apply for and click the 'Apply Here' button. This will then bring the scholarship into your account where you can work on it and submit when completed.
A number of scholarships are open for those who completed their secondary schooling/university-entrance qualification more than a year ago (i.e. those not covered by the gap year policy). Check the Regulations of each scholarship in the ‘Eligibility criteria’ to confirm which scholarships these are. So long as the applicant has not undertaken any degree-level tertiary study in the interim and they meet all eligibility requirements, they can apply for these scholarships.
Completing your Application
When registering for a myUC account, do not use your school email address, or an email address which isn’t your own (e.g. your parent’s email). Ensure the email address you use in your application is one that will still be active for at least six months after the closing date of your application. You need to have ongoing access to the email throughout the application and awarding process, so using an email you will lose access to (school email), or one you may have limited access to (someone else’s email), could mean you will miss important communications. If you don’t have a personal email, you can create one for free with Google, Outlook or ProtonMail.
Start your application as soon as possible, to give yourself the maximum time to complete your application and submit it before the deadline.
It takes time to complete a scholarship application and the earlier you start, the longer time you will have to provide all the relevant information and documents, to have your referee supply a reference and to write your statements. You will also have time to go back to your application and make changes and improvements.
Some applicants leave their applications to the last minute and find they do not have the documents or information they need. Sometimes they have problems with their computers and other devices, or they need assistance with their application. Some underestimate how long it will take to draft personal statements or they do not allow enough time for their referee to provide their reference. Leaving your application to the last minute is not an acceptable reason to not have completed and submitted your application by the due date and time.
Make sure you get as much information about the scholarship as possible from the Scholarship Regulations. If you can, find out about the organisation that is awarding the scholarship and try to tailor your application according to their vision and goals.
When writing statements, it is a good idea to draft them in a Word document and then cut and paste them into the relevant area. This will also allow you to use the text for other applications. Keep in mind the word limit and remember that you can use bullet points (this can make it easier for the selection committee to read as well). Think about how you can sell yourself – if you find this difficult, get some guidance from other people.
Your referees are very important.
If references are required, particularly a school reference, please check with your school if there is a nominated member of staff who will be the primary point of contact for all school reference requests.
It is your responsibility to identify referees and ask if they can act in this capacity. Look at the information in the regulations as well as the guidance provided in the application to identify the most appropriate person. Make sure you ask your referees early on and that they are aware of their submission date. Enter their contact details accurately in the reference request section, and follow up with them to ensure they have received the emailed request notification.
It's your responsibility to ensure that referee reports are in by the due date.
Referees have one additional week after the application deadline to complete and submit their reference so check your application status and remind them to complete the reference if it is not done by the application deadline.
It's your responsibility to ensure that referee reports are in by the due date.
Referees have one additional week after the application deadline to complete and submit their reference.
You will be sent an email confirming your referee has submitted their reference so if you haven't received this prior to the closing date, check your application status and if it says 'Request Pending', remind your referee to complete the reference.
If you have submitted your application but your reference has not been received, your application will still be sent to the Selection Committee for consideration as the references are only part of what they will be looking at.
Submitting your Application
Start your application as soon as possible, to give yourself the maximum time to complete your application and submit it before the deadline.
Do NOT leave it until the day to submit your application. This application round attracts the highest number of applicants of any application round throughout the year. Leaving the submission of your application until the last minute could mean that the system will experience slow-down, due to the thousands of people also trying to submit their applications. This can result in you not being able to submit by the timed deadline.
Late applications are not accepted so it is essential that you submit your application before the closing date and time.
The Incoming First-Year Scholarship applications open approximately 20 June each year and most close at 11:59pm (NZT) on 15 August.
Certain first-year international scholarships have several application rounds and therefore have several closing dates. Please refer to the specific Scholarship pages for individual dates.
A reminder email will be sent to all people with incomplete applications one week before the deadline. If you receive this email, please don’t ignore it, even if you think you have submitted your application. This reminder is only sent to applicants with an incomplete application so it therefore means your application has NOT been recorded as successfully submitted.
When your application has been successfully submitted, you will be sent an email confirmation of this and your Application Status (visible at the upper-right corner of the main dashboard) will update to either “Submitted” (fully submitted and any required references are also completed) OR “Request pending” (fully submitted, but one or more required references still pending completion). If you do not receive the confirmation email, please first check your spam folder, and then double-check your application to ensure it has been submitted correctly. If in doubt, contact the Scholarships Office.
Keep checking your emails and scholarship status throughout the application process including after the scholarship has closed. They may need more information from you or have important information for you.
After Submission
Keep checking your emails throughout the application process including after the scholarship has closed. They may need more information from you or have important information for you.
Sometimes successful scholarship offers are lost because candidates do not respond to the offer letter in sufficient time - their email address may be wrong, or they may be on holiday - and the scholarship is then offered to another candidate.
Here are the different status notifications on your application:
Pending Submission – your application has not yet been submitted.
Request Pending – you have successfully submitted your application but one or more required references are still pending completion. It is a good idea to remind your referee of date their reference is required.
Submitted – your application has been successfully submitted and all reference requests have been completed.
Additional Info Requested – you have been sent an email asking for further information. Check your spam folder and if you are unable to find an email, contact the Scholarships Office.
Award Accepted – you have successfully accepted your scholarship offer. You will have received an email confirming your acceptance. Check your spam folder.
Award Declined – you have successfully declined your scholarship offer.
Withdrawn – you have either; (a) withdrawn your application; or (b) you have not accepted your scholarship offer by the deadline so your scholarship offer has been withdrawn.
Scholarship Offers
Notifications for this application round are typically sent out in the first week of October. Offers are manually triggered, so it may take several hours for all offers to come out so please be patient. It can sometimes take two days to send all notifications.
The awarding of each scholarship is determined by a members of a Selection Committee. The individual Scholarship's Regulations outline the details of who is in this Committee.
Applicants are assessed based on the specific selection criteria for each individual scholarship they are eligible for which is also outlined within the Scholarship Regulations.
Notifications for this application round are typically sent out in the first week of October. These will be sent by email from admin@communityforce.com email address so check your junkmail folder regularly. You can also check within your application as an 'Acceptance' box will appear if you have been offered a scholarship.
If you have not been selected for any of the scholarships you applied for, you will receive an ‘unsuccessful’ notification by email.
If you are successful and selected for at least one scholarship, you only receive further emails for scholarships you are successful for. You will not receive any “unsuccessful” notifications for any scholarships you are not selected for. If you receive an offer for one scholarship, but not for any other scholarship/s you applied for, then you are not currently a first-choice recipient for the other scholarship/s.
If you have not been selected for any of the scholarships you applied for, you will receive an ‘unsuccessful’ notification by email.
If you are successful and selected for at least one scholarship, you only receive further emails for scholarships you are successful for. You will not receive any “unsuccessful” notifications for any scholarships you are not selected for. If you receive an offer for one scholarship, but not for any other scholarship/s you applied for, then you are not currently a first-choice recipient for the other scholarship/s.
If you have applied for more than one scholarship, due to co-tenability restrictions on some scholarships, please wait before accepting any offer as you may be successful with more than one scholarship and you will need to decide which you will accept/decline.
Once you have decided to accept / decline a scholarship offer;
- complete the details within the ‘Acceptance of Scholarship’ section of the scholarship and;
- then click the appropriate ‘Accept’ or ‘Decline’ button on the top right-hand side of the scholarship dashboard.
Make sure you accept/decline your offer before the deadline has passed.
You will receive an email notification that we have received your decision so if you do not receive this email, please check your spam folder first before contacting the Scholarships Office.
First-choice recipients are typically given one calendar month to accept/decline their offer. Once this deadline has passed, reserve offers will be sent to those nominated as reserve candidates by the Selection Committee, as applicable. This means the bulk of reserve offers will be made from the first week of November.
Where there are a limited number of scholarships available (i.e. fewer than 10) and first-choice recipients decline their offers quickly, then reserve offers may be sent sooner.
Offers will be sent for all scholarships an applicant is selected for, regardless of whether they are co-tenable or not, as it is up to the applicant to determine which scholarship is most beneficial to their personal circumstances.
As such, an applicant may receive offers for two or more scholarships which are not co-tenable with each other, and must then decide which to accept and which to decline.
Co-tenability information is provided in both the scholarship regulations and the scholarship offer.
Payment of Scholarships
Not all scholarships are paid the same way. Some may be credited directly towards your UC tuition fees account, some may be credited towards accommodation fees at a UC-recognised hall of residence, and others may be paid via direct deposit to your Aotearoa New Zealand bank account.
Information about how a scholarship is paid can be found in the Scholarship Regulations and will be outlined within your scholarship offer.
This depends on the type of payment (as outlined above). Payment details are provided in the Scholarship Regulations, and will also be included in your scholarship offer. Some scholarships are paid in one lump sum, while others may be over two or more payments.
Lump sum payments
For scholarships paid via direct deposit to your bank account, nothing will happen until after the final date to withdraw with a full refund. At this point, manual enrolment checks will be conducted by the Scholarships Office, and payment will then be made to those who have met the conditions of tenure. This will likely be some time from late March through to late April, depending on available pay-run dates (these dates are not set by our office and cannot be changed).
Contributions towards Tuition Fees
Tuition fee scholarships are typically applied at the point of enrolment, so long as the conditions of tenure (per the regulations and your scholarship offer) have been met.
Contributions towards Accommodation
Accommodation payments can vary, and are administered based on the hall’s payment schedule, so please check the Scholarship Regulations, your scholarship offer, and your hall of residence for more specific information.
Scholarships and bursaries are typically tax-exempt (i.e. you do not pay tax on them) under Section CW-36 of the Income Tax Act 2007.
A summary and further links to information can be found on the New Zealand Legislation website.
Fees free is changing in 2025, however details of this have not yet been made public. Per the fees free website:
"The Government has advised they intend to change the Fees Free policy from 2025. The details of the change are yet to be confirmed, and we’ll update the Fees Free website when we have more information. Fee Free policy settings for 2024 are unchanged."
