ICAS Foundation Programme Application Form

Application Guidelines

Applications to join the ICAS Foundation are open to individuals planning to study (or currently studying) undergraduate accounting or finance related degrees at university, who also meet our eligibility criteria. We aim to support academically talented young people from family backgrounds with limited resources, who wish to attend university but may not have the means to do so without additional financial support.

Applicants to join the ICAS Foundation should be eligible for support from the Student Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS), Student Finance England or Student Finance Wales.

The ICAS Foundation programme includes bursary funding and mentoring support:

Bursaries are awarded to eligible students up to a maximum value of £2,500 per annum (at the discretion of the ICAS Foundation Trustees). This funding is intended to assist students with the costs of studying at university such as accommodation, study materials, travel and living costs. While the bursary awards can also be used to support your personal development with experience or qualifications, the bursary should not be used to support day to day living expenses of other family members.
Mentoring support is provided by a qualified Chartered Accountant, who has volunteered to assist a student with impartial guidance and the benefit of their experience. This is a structured, one to-one relationship that focuses on the needs of the student and is designed to support and encourage them to develop their potential in line with their career aspirations.

Eligibility

Applicants must plan to study an undergraduate accounting or finance degree and have a total household annual income under £34,000. This includes any employment income, self-employment income, pension income and return on investments. Applicants will be required to provide evidence that they meet the income criteria before the outcome of their application is confirmed.

Throughout the ICAS Foundation programme, students are required to:

Demonstrate their academic ability and remain on track to achieve first class honours or upper second-class honours at graduation.
Stay in regular contact with the Foundation, complete progress reports and provide exam results.
Actively participate in the ICAS Foundation mentoring programme.

Completing Your Application

Please submit your application using the form below. If you are unable to submit your application using the online form, please contact enquiries@icasfoundation.org.uk.

Please complete all the questions, answering as fully as possible.

Selection and Confirmation of Award

Applications will be reviewed by the ICAS Foundation Trustees and other advisors that they may consider appropriate. At this stage, Foundation programme applicants who have been put forward will be asked to provide more detailed information about their financial circumstances. Applicants who are eligible and approved in principle will be invited to attend a final stage informal interview, where their application will be discussed in more detail before funding is confirmed. The ICAS Foundation aims to inform applicants of the result of their application within 6 weeks of the closing date for applications, provided all relevant information is submitted.

Terms and Conditions

Applications will only be accepted from eligible students intending to study an undergraduate course in Scotland or an approved partner university in England where one or more of accounting or finance are the dominant areas of study.
ICAS Foundation bursaries are generally paid in two instalments - October and February.
Students on the ICAS Foundation programme are required to take part in the ICAS Foundation mentoring scheme. If the student leaves the mentoring scheme without the permission of the ICAS Foundation Trustees, then future bursary payments may cease.
Students join the ICAS Foundation programme for the duration of their undergraduate course and receive bursary and mentoring support throughout that time. Students are required to meet the conditions of the programme, including maintaining a high academic standard – you will be required to forward copies of your exam results each semester, which must show you are on track for a 2:1 Honours degree classification as a minimum.

Personal Details

Title / Salutation

First Name

Last Name

Date of Birth

You must use format DD/MM/YYYY to enter this date

Gender

Home Address: Street / Village

Your home address is the address that will be used for correspondence about your application.

Home Address: City / Town

Please only state one town or city here

Home Address: County

Home Address: Post Code

UK Resident

Please use a personal email address rather than a school / college email address if possible

Mobile Phone

Do you have any disabilities?

If yes, please give details:

What is your ethnic background?

You can choose ‘Prefer not to say’ as your answer, but an accurate response does help us gather statistical data.

If other, please give details:

Formal Education

Please include all achieved qualifications in this section, including National 5s / GCSEs, Highers / A-Levels and HNC / HND college qualifications.

You should also include any qualifications you are currently studying, including school or college courses, under Predicted Qualifications.

Name of Most Recent School / College / Sixth Form

Qualifications Achieved

Subject

Please include any National 5 / GCSE / AS Level results as well as Highers / A Levels and HNC / HND results.

Qualification Type

Qualification Grade

Date Qualification Achieved

You must use format DD/MM/YYYY to enter this date

Predicted Qualifications

Subject

If you have these, please email a copy of your predicted exam results to enquiries@icasfoundation.org.uk as verification of your predicted grades. For applicants coming from college, please detail your HNC / HND qualifications and include your predicted grades (and include any HNC etc qualifications under Qualifications Achieved).

Qualification Type

Predicted Grade

Predicted Date of Completion

You must use format DD/MM/YYYY to enter this date

Do you need to add any qualifications from a different school or college?

Name of School / College / Sixth Form

Qualifications Achieved

Subject

Qualification Type

Qualification Grade

Date Qualification Achieved

You must use format DD/MM/YYYY to enter this date

Predicted Qualifications

Subject

Qualification Type

Predicted Grade

Predicted Date of Completion

You must use format DD/MM/YYYY to enter this date

University Plans

If you are awaiting feedback from UCAS applications, please include details of all the university applications you have submitted.

Please ensure you tell us the specific title of the course that you have applied to study, as detailed on your UCAS application. (Course titles should include an accounting / finance topic area or have a course programme where at least 50% of modules are focused on accounting or finance.)

If you are a Direct Entrant to university from college, please also state your year of entry (i.e., 2nd yr entry / 3rd yr entry) alongside the degree title.

Are you currently studying at university?

Which university are you currently studying at?

If other, please provide details:

What degree are you studying?

When did you start your degree?

You must use format DD/MM/YYYY to enter this date

Which year of study will you enter this Autumn?

First Preference

Which university is your first choice?

If other, please provide details:

What degree have you applied to study?

Have you received an offer for this course?

If your offer is conditional, please confirm your offer requirements

Second Preference

Which university is your second choice?

If other, please provide details:

What degree have you applied to study?

Have you received an offer for this course?

If your offer is conditional, please confirm your offer requirements

Additional University Application

University Applied To

If other, please provide details:

What degree have you applied to study?

Have you received an offer for this course?

If your offer is conditional, please confirm your offer requirements

Referees

Please provide contact details for one referee who can inform us about your character and confirm that you are likely to complete your university course. This should be someone from your current or most recent education, such as school or college. If you are not currently in education, or it has been some time since you were in education, please provide a reference from your current employer or similar.

You should check with your referees before submitting this form that they are happy to be contacted directly by the ICAS Foundation to provide a reference for you.

First Name

Last Name

Where do they work?

Work Address: Street / Village

Your home address is the address that will be used for correspondence about your application.

Work Address: City / Town

Work Address: County

Work Address: Post Code

In what capacity does this person know you?

Additional Information

We encourage applications from students who have experience of care, have caring responsibilities, are estranged from their families or who have previously applied for asylum in the UK.

If you answer yes to any of the questions below, please provide further details in the relevant question of the 'About You' section.

Do you have experience of care? (i.e., lived in residential care, foster care, kinship care (cared for by family / friends) or at home under the supervision of a social worker)

Do you have long-term unpaid caring responsibilities for a family member/s?

Are you an estranged student? (i.e., no contact or support from family members)

Have you previously applied for asylum / refugee status in the UK?

How did you hear about the ICAS Foundation? (Please select your main source of information only.)

If other, please give details:

The following questions are used to help us understand more about you and your background. They are standard questions recommended by the UK's Social Mobility Commission.

What was the occupation of your main household earner when you were aged about 14?

Which type of school did you attend for the most time between the ages of 11 and 16?

Were you eligible for free school meals at any point during your school years?

Did either of your parents attend university by the time you were 18?

Funding

Please answer all these questions as far as possible.

Generally, the ICAS Foundation will not accept applications from students in receipt of additional funding from a similar trust or scholarship provider. (This does not include SAAS bursary or loan support – we encourage students to apply for their SAAS bursary and any other available support as soon as it is possible for them to do so.)

Where you have applied for additional funding, please let us know as your application will still be considered by the ICAS Foundation pending confirmation of any other support.

Is your annual total parental, guardian or household income less than £34,000?

Have you applied to / do you intend to apply to SAAS, Student Finance England, Student Finance Wales or Student Finance Northern Ireland for financial support during your studies? (We will require a copy of your finance provider’s confirmation in due course)

Please select which government agency you have applied to / intend to apply to.

SAAS Funding Applied For

Tuition FeesBursarySLC Student Loan

SFE / SFW / SFNI Funding Applied For

Tuition Fee LoanMaintenance Loan

If you have applied for any other SAAS or Student Finance England / Wales / Northern Ireland support, please give details below.

Have you applied / do you intend to apply for funding from any other source to support your studies / personal development? (e.g., in-kind support such as accommodation fees covered)

If yes, please give details of the organisation you have applied to, the potential level of funding and the dates these funds are applicable to cover.

About You

Please answer the questions below as fully as possible, as these are a key part of how we assess your application. Ideally, we are looking for you to include at least 200 words in your answer to each of the questions below.

Tell us about yourself. (This could include where you live, who you live with and if they attend school / have a job, why you have decided to apply to your first choice university and course and what career you want to go into after university.)

How would you benefit from the ICAS Foundation’s support? (You should include information on all the benefits offered by the ICAS Foundation and how these will help you achieve your career ambitions.)

What skills have you developed that you believe are important for accountants? (You could tell us about any part-time / volunteer experience you have, any skills you’ve developed in your personal life e.g. as a young carer, any community activities you’ve undertaken such as sports or clubs, or participation in any university / career insight programme.)

Please let us know any other details that you think would be helpful for us to know when assessing your application. (We consider all applications in context, so we would encourage you to provide as much detail as possible about your circumstances.)

Submitting Your Application

The ICAS Foundation is a Registered Scottish Charity SC034836.

By submitting your application, you confirm that, to the best of your knowledge, all information you have given is accurate and that you will inform the ICAS Foundation immediately of any change in your circumstances. You also agree to supply any additional information we require to process your ICAS Foundation application.

Before submitting your application to us, please ensure you have checked the ICAS Foundation Application Guidelines and completed all of the fields on the application form. Incomplete applications which have not completed all required fields will not be submitted.

You can email any available supporting documents (such as your prelim results) to the ICAS Foundation at enquiries@icasfoundation.org.uk.

We will notify you of the outcome of your application within 6 weeks of the closing date.

The ICAS Foundation is fully committed to handling personal information in accordance with data protection legislation and best data protection practices. Our Privacy Policy explains our approach to the personal information we handle in carrying out our activities as a registered charity. You can find this on our website at: https://www.icasfoundation.org.uk/who-we-are/privacy-anddata-protection

If you are unable to submit your application using this form, or have any difficulties in submitting your form, please inform the ICAS Foundation by emailing enquiries@icasfoundation.org.uk.

Contact Information