Scholarship Fund terms

Our commitment

HeadStart commits to allocating 10% of qualifying HeadStart Community membership fees to the HeadStart Scholarship Fund, subject to a minimum annual allocation of £10,000.

Each HeadStart Scholarship Year runs from 1 September to 31 August. For every Scholarship Year, My HeadStart Limited commits to making at least £10,000 available through the HeadStart Scholarship Fund. If 10% of qualifying Community membership fees for that Scholarship Year exceeds £10,000, the higher amount will be allocated to the Fund.

"Scholarship Year" means the period beginning on 1 September and ending on 31 August in the following calendar year.

For this commitment, "qualifying HeadStart Community membership fees" means subscription fees actually received by My HeadStart Limited during the relevant Scholarship Year, excluding VAT or similar sales taxes, refunds, chargebacks and reversed or failed payments. The allocation is calculated after the Scholarship Year ends and the total amount committed to the Fund for that year will be confirmed before the awards for that cycle are finalised.

What is the HeadStart Scholarship Fund?

The HeadStart Scholarship Fund is an initiative funded and operated by My HeadStart Limited, trading as HeadStart. It has been created to recognise outstanding young people who engage fully with HeadStart, invest in their own development and demonstrate the ambition and potential to make the most of the opportunity.

The Fund is not a separate charity, charitable foundation or legal entity. It is a scholarship programme operated and funded by My HeadStart Limited. Amounts described as allocated to the Fund represent HeadStart's binding annual funding commitment for the applicable Scholarship Year and will be used for awards made under the published Scholarship Rules.

The educational programme, tools, content and community are the core benefits of HeadStart membership. The Scholarship Fund is an additional opportunity designed both to recognise exceptional engagement and to encourage members to complete their HeadStart pathway.

The £10,000 HeadStart Scholarship

Complete your HeadStart pathway. Put what you learn into action. Earn the opportunity to apply.

Eligible members who complete 100% of the designated HeadStart pathway can apply for the HeadStart Scholarship. For each Scholarship Year, HeadStart commits to a minimum total scholarship allocation of £10,000, with the amount increasing where 10% of qualifying Community membership fees exceeds £10,000.

The scholarship is not a random draw. Completing the pathway is an eligibility requirement only: it does not create an automatic entitlement to receive an award. Applications are assessed on merit under the published criteria.

Who can apply?

• You must satisfy the eligibility requirements published for the relevant scholarship cycle.
• You must complete 100% of the designated HeadStart pathway by the published completion deadline.
• You must submit a complete scholarship application by the published application deadline.
• You must satisfy any age, residency, student-status, membership or participation requirements published for that Scholarship Year.
• Employees, directors, judging-panel members and other people with a material conflict of interest may be excluded.

The application

Eligible applicants will be asked to submit a substantive free-text application. We want to understand the person behind the pathway completion: what you have achieved, how you have developed, what you have put into practice and where you want to go next.

A typical application question will be:

"Tell us why you should be awarded the HeadStart Scholarship, what you have learned or achieved during your HeadStart journey, and how receiving the scholarship would help you move further, faster."

HeadStart may also ask about challenges overcome, initiative shown, practical application of learning, future ambitions and the difference the scholarship could make.

How applications are assessed

Applications will be assessed on merit against criteria published for the relevant scholarship cycle. The intended assessment framework is:

Academic grades alone do not determine the award. HeadStart is interested in effort, growth, initiative, ambition, application of learning and the potential impact of the opportunity.

Judging and fairness

Applications will be considered by a HeadStart Scholarship Panel. Because the final assessment involves subjective judgement, the panel will include at least one suitably experienced and demonstrably independent judge. The independent judge must be independent of HeadStart, its intermediaries and the pool of applicants. Judges must disclose relevant conflicts of interest and must not assess an applicant where a material conflict exists. The full names of the judges will be made available on request.

HeadStart will retain an appropriate written record of the assessment process, including scoring and the basis for the final decision. Any shortlist, interview, tie-break or verification stage used for a particular cycle will be explained in the published application information before applications close.

How the Fund grows

For every Scholarship Year from 1 September to 31 August, HeadStart commits to allocating 10% of qualifying HeadStart Community membership fees to the Fund, subject to a minimum allocation of £10,000. If the 10% calculation exceeds £10,000, the higher amount will be made available for scholarships and any additional HeadStart opportunity awards expressly described in the published terms for that cycle.

Before applications open for each cycle, HeadStart will publish the minimum number and nature of awards available and the relevant application timetable. The total annual Fund allocation may ultimately be higher because the 10% calculation is finalised after 31 August. Any amount above the initially advertised award value will be applied to additional or enhanced awards under supplementary terms published before those additional awards are offered; it will not reduce or replace an award already advertised.

Payment of an award

The successful applicant will be notified using the contact details supplied to HeadStart and may be asked to provide reasonable evidence of identity, eligibility and material information contained in the application before payment is made.

The payment method and timetable will be stated for the relevant scholarship cycle. Unless expressly stated before applications open, the scholarship will be paid as a cash award without a requirement that it be spent on a particular item or course. No separate fee will be charged to submit an application or to receive an award.

Important terms

• HeadStart membership and payment of membership fees do not guarantee a scholarship.
• Pathway completion creates eligibility to apply only where all other eligibility conditions are met.
• Scholarship awards are determined through merit-based assessment and not by random selection.
• Applications must be genuine. HeadStart may reject applications involving fraud, plagiarism, impersonation, fabricated information or manipulation of pathway completion.
• Applicants may be required to verify information provided in their application.
• For each cycle, HeadStart will publish clearly and prominently the opening date, closing date, pathway-completion deadline, anticipated decision date, nature and number of advertised awards, how to apply and all material eligibility restrictions. Significant conditions will also be included or clearly signposted in the initial marketing where required.
• HeadStart will not extend a closing date or materially change the eligibility requirements, judging criteria, advertised award or other significant terms of an open scholarship cycle except where circumstances outside its reasonable control make this unavoidable or continuation would be unlawful. Any permitted change will be communicated promptly and applied so as to avoid unfair disadvantage to participants.
• Personal information will be handled in accordance with HeadStart's Privacy Notice. Separate consent should be requested for optional photographs, videos, testimonials or extended publicity.
• The cycle-specific Scholarship Rules form part of these terms. If there is any inconsistency, the cycle-specific rules will prevail only to the extent that they provide additional detail or reflect a change that was lawfully and clearly disclosed before participation; they cannot be used to reduce an award or materially disadvantage applicants after a cycle has opened.

Award and notification

HeadStart will make reasonable efforts to notify the selected recipient and will award the advertised scholarship as described, or a reasonable equivalent only where the original award cannot lawfully or practically be provided. If a selected applicant is found to be ineligible or fails reasonable verification, HeadStart may offer the award to the next highest-ranked eligible applicant in accordance with the published judging process.

Why HeadStart does this

HeadStart is a commercial education and development business. We believe commercial success and positive impact can reinforce one another. By committing part of Community membership income to scholarships, the growth of the HeadStart Community can create more opportunity for the people within it.

Success creates opportunity.

As HeadStart grows, the Scholarship Fund grows with it. The annual minimum is £10,000, but the 10% funding commitment means a larger Community can support a larger pool of scholarships and opportunities.

Before applying

Please read the scholarship information for the relevant Scholarship Year before applying. It will confirm the eligibility criteria, application and pathway-completion deadlines, judging process, advertised awards, payment arrangements and any additional conditions that apply.

These terms are intended to explain the HeadStart Scholarship Fund and its principal rules. My HeadStart Limited will keep the Fund and each scholarship cycle under review for compliance with applicable UK consumer, promotional, gambling and data-protection requirements. Specialist legal review of the paid-membership and merit-assessment structure will be obtained before the first scholarship cycle is launched.