Eligibility

The Graduation Gown bursary is for students who find it difficult to attend their graduation ceremony because of gown costs. The bursary is open to prospective graduands. By 'graduand', we mean a person about to receive an academic degree or award at a graduation ceremony.

To be eligible for this bursary, you must:

• be graduating from an undergraduate or postgraduate course;
• have been invited to a graduation ceremony in Bristol (students invited to the China Celebration are not eligible to apply); 
• have no outstanding debt to the University.

Your eligibility will be based on information in your 2024/25 academic year records. This includes information previously supplied to the University by the Student Loans Company (or its regional funding providers plus the Student Awards agency for Scotland) and the receipt of payment from these schemes:

• Standalone bursary
• Sanctuary scholarship
• Unite Foundation scholarship
• Financial Assistance fund
• Digital Support fund
• University of Bristol bursary
• Access to Bristol bursary
• Bristol Scholars bursary

Bursary awards

You can get a full (100%) discount on gown hire and a FOC photography package if you received one of these awards in the 2024/25 academic year:

• Standalone bursary
• Sanctuary scholarship
• Unite Foundation scholarship

All other successful applicants will receive a 50% discount on gown hire.

How to apply

1. Wait until you receive an invite to your graduation ceremony before applying.
2. Read the terms and conditions.
3. Apply using the online application form. You will need your invitation to answer the questions on the application form.
4. You must submit a bursary application even if you do not yet know your results. However, the bursary will only be granted if you meet the eligibility criteria for graduation.
5. All applications should be submitted by the deadline published on the Graduation Gown Bursary web page.
6. The online application form will close once the deadline has passed. There is no appeal process. We do not accept late applications. 

Assessment process

The Student Money Advice and Funding Team will assess students’ financial support received in the 2024/25 academic year. If the cost of hiring gowns for all eligible applicants is greater than the available budget, we will rank applications in this priority order:

1. Graduands who have received the Bristol Standalone bursary, Unite Foundation scholarship or the Sanctuary scholarship from the University of Bristol in the 2024/25 academic year.
2. Graduands who have previously received a payment from the Financial Assistance fund or Digital Support fund, administered by the Student Money Advice and Funding Team in the 2024/25 academic year.
3. Graduands who were awarded the University of Bristol bursary, Bristol Scholars bursary or Access to Bristol bursary in the 2024/25 academic year. 
4. Students with the lowest household income, based on information previously supplied to the University by the Student Loans Company (or its regional funding providers plus the Student Awards Agency for Scotland). You must consent to the SLC sharing this information with the University of Bristol for this information to be considered in your application. 

If there are more eligible applicants in a particular priority group than awards remaining, we will use this information (in priority order):

1. Total support received from the Financial Assistance fund or Digital Support fund in the 2024/25 academic year.
2. Receipt of payment from the University of Bristol bursary, Bristol Scholars bursary or Access to Bristol bursary during the 2024/25 academic year.
3. Graduands with the lowest household income.

Other criteria

• The bursary can only be used to hire a gown from the University’s provider of ceremonial wear, Ede & Ravenscroft. It cannot be used to pay any other supplier or for any cash equivalent.
• The bursary cannot pay for additional support such as travel or accommodation for the graduation ceremony.
• Successful applicants, who discover after applying that they cannot attend their ceremony, should inform the Graduation Office at the earliest opportunity.
• Offers of bursaries are not transferable to other graduands.
• Offers of bursaries cannot be deferred to a later ceremony. In cases where graduands wish to defer their graduation to a later ceremony, it would be necessary to reapply to the scheme.
• Graduands who the fund is unable to support, either because they are not eligible or because of budgetary constraints caused by the volume of applications, will be notified of the decision before their graduation ceremony.
• There is no appeal process against decisions for this discretionary bursary.

Award process

We will send a discount code to successful applicants after we have reviewed the applications.

You can use the code when ordering your gown from our official suppliers, Ede and Ravenscroft.

The Graduation Office will let all applicants know if their application was successful or unsuccessful. Do not hire your gown until you have been contacted about your application.

Not all graduands who apply and who are eligible can be guaranteed a bursary. We accepted one in three eligible applications for the last four congregations.