
Submit your Application
Share your ideas to be in with a chance of receiving a £1000.
Would an award of £1000 help you achieve the difference you aspire to make?
Do you have an idea that could help your community?
With training would you be able to make a difference to other peoples’ lives?
Then the Aspire Awards can help!
Whether you wish to work with young people, train in Makaton, create a community garden or even tackle digital poverty, this is your opportunity to receive the funding to help you accomplish this. As long as your idea is feasible to undertake and meets one or more of our Aspire Values, you could be in with a chance!
Offered in conjunction with Santander, there are 30 awards of £1,000 available. Our Aspire Awards are exclusively for undergraduate students from groups underrepresented in higher education and who might not have otherwise been able to fulfil their ideas.
We believe that these enriching activities are an important aspect of your University experience; they serve to equip you with transferable skills and contribute towards your personal and cultural development, which will benefit you beyond University.
Applications for the Aspire Awards will open on Monday 22nd February 2021 and remain open until Friday 19th March 2021.
Share your ideas to be in with a chance of receiving a £1000.
See what some of our previous winners achieved with their awards.
Find out what makes a strong application to give you the best chance of being successful!
The awards aim to fund well-planned, realistic projects and ideas that meet one or more of our Aspire Values, which are:
You are eligible to apply for an Aspire Award if you are:
And also identify with one or more of the following Widening Participation characteristics:
You’ll be asked to identify on your application which of the above characteristics you identify with.
Eligible students will be contacted by email when the application window opens.
Anything's possible! We’re seeking to help you carry out those activities or projects that you've thought about doing but may not have had the resources to do. This could be anything from volunteering in your local community to learning a new skill which will benefit you for years to come; now is your chance!
There are no limitations to the ideas you can put forward, however we do ask that you can feasibly carry out the project and achieve your objectives within the academic year.
Your ideas will also need to meet one or more of our Aspire Values, as outlined above, so do take these criteria into consideration when developing your ideas.
This year in particular we are looking for ideas and initiatives which serve to help local communities across the UK and those impacted by Covid-19.
If you’re looking for inspiration, then you can look through examples of previous winners here.
To apply for an Aspire Award please complete the application form, in its entirety, on the Santander website.
Once received, your application will be assessed by our panel of judges and the outcome emailed to you after the application window has closed. We aim have all applicants notified of an outcome in April 2021.
Incomplete applications will not be considered.
If you do not provide sufficient information the Team may not be able to process your application.
We are looking for projects and ideas that are feasible, well-planned, and fulfil one or more of our Aspire Values, as outlined above.
Generally, a good application will…
If you’d like some guidance on the application process or have questions about your application, then you may like to attend one of our application workshops.
Yes! We’ll be holding workshops where we'll offer advice and guidance to help you complete your application. The session will cover everything you need to know to help give you the best chance of being successful!
If you’d like to book onto one of our sessions then you can do so here.
If you’re unable to make a session then simply email studentinclusion@soton.ac.uk and we'll share a recording of the session once it has taken place.
All applications will be considered by a panel of judges.
The panel will first consider each application for feasibility – any proposed projects that are not thought by the judges to be feasible will not be considered further.
Those that are considered to be feasible will then be rated by the judges according to our Aspire Values. If the project meets none of these criteria, it will not be considered for an award.
Consideration will also be given to quality of planning and the benefit of undertaking the project to the recipient, as outlined in the application.
You will be notified by email after the application window has closed if your application is successful.
Successful applicants will be invited to a Celebration Ceremony, where they will receive their award. For 2021 this is likely to take place online.
You may also be required to submit further documentation prior to carrying out your project, i.e. a completed risk assessment.
Once you’ve carried out your project, we’ll ask you to write a short impact report (up to 400 words), including high resolutions photos, and return this to the Team within three months. This should contain information about your project, explaining what it was, and the benefit gained from the award. This report and photo may be used by the University and Santander to publicise future rounds of the Aspire Awards.
The timing of your payment will be based on the requirements of your project.
Aspire Awards will normally be paid by bank transfer (BACS). To ensure your payment is processed successfully, it is recommended that you check the bank details on your Student Record are up to date; you can do this online via Self Service on SUSSED. You can access Self Service here, and click on Personal Information and then Update Payment Details. We cannot be held responsible for delayed payments.
You may be required to agree to provide receipts/proof of payment for any part of the award spent.
If you have any questions or would like further information about the Aspire Awards please contact us on studentinclusion@soton.ac.uk.