Frequently Asked Questions

You can check your eligibility more fully by clicking on the ‘Check Eligibility’ heading at the top of the page.  Once you have clicked on the ‘Check Eligibility’ section, you must fulfil the requirements.  Please be accurate in your answers.   DO NOT apply if you do not meet some or all of the requirements- check FAQs to help you particularly with application window dates.  Pay special attention to the defined Glasgow boundary and residency information.  

• You must have been resident in Glasgow for five years continuously prior to making you application i.e. Glasgow as your main place of residence
• You must not have moved to Glasgow solely for the purpose of study
• Your postcode must fall in the defined Glasgow boundary used by the Trust (please click on the highlighted ‘defined Glasgow boundary’ text to test your postcode). 
• You are in one of the categories of people who can apply as per the ‘Who Can Apply’ section
• Your course cannot already have started when applying

All applications are submitted online.  Applicants must meet the eligibility criteria before an application can be made. Please ask for the amount you need (our maximum is £1650) rather than what you would like as we want to support as many students as we can.  

Please let us know if you are asking for help with course fees or if it is for other costs (or a mixture).  We will need to see a short breakdown (with figures) of what you will use any award to go towards.

If you would like the award to be used to help meet course fees,  it is likely we would pay this directly to your academic institution.  We will require details from you as to who we can contact for an invoice.

The Glasgow Educational and Marshall Trust Committee meets four times a year: in March, June, September and December.  You should make an application (after you check your eligibility) at the times set below:  

PLEASE NOTE –   applications will only be considered during the application window relevant to your course start date.  Any application received outside of these windows will be rejected.  Note that, where relevant, you can make a fresh application for support in your next academic year.

No.  The Trust criteria states that applicants must have lived in Glasgow continuously for at least 5 years before making their application (as their main place of residence).  Applicants must not have moved to Glasgow for study purposes.  A residential status check will be carried out by the Trust covering the last 5 years.  So, if you were born in Glasgow, lived there for 5 years and then moved away you will not be eligible to apply.    

Yes, you can.  However, the Glasgow residency requirements remain.

The Trust will require you to provide evidence of your fee costs and how you have met that cost.  This should highlight if other funders have supported your costs.

You should only apply for an award if you have some proof of enrolment that you have been accepted on to a course.  This can include conditional acceptance.  However, you will have to provide evidence that you have been fully accepted onto a course at a later stage before any award can be released.  

No.  You cannot apply to the Trust for support for the current academic year if your course has already started.  You can, however, apply for support for the next academic year if that is relevant.  Please check the website for the application submission deadlines.  

Before providing us with information about your referees on your application form, please make sure that you have asked their permission in advance to act as your referees. 

For those undertaking academic courses, the Trust expects you to provide contact details of two referees.

-one must be an academic referee

-the second, either another academic referee or a professional/personal referee.  

For those undertaking vocational courses, you might want to 

-contact your current or previous employer to be one referee, 

-contact a personal referee or your course leader as your second referee.  

Your referees will be contacted directly by the Trust where they will receive a link to a short online Reference Form which they will have to complete.  Applicants should note that their application can only move to the next stages once references have been received in this way.  Please note that your personal referee cannot be yourself, a family member, ex-partner or current partner.  Also, you cannot use your own email address as a referee contact e-mail address.  

It is the applicant’s responsibility to make sure that your referee submits the reference on time.  If we do not receive a reference your application cannot be progressed.

You will be informed of the Governors’ decision by email as soon as possible following the relevant Trust Committee meeting.

Due to the high volume of applications we receive, we are unable to provide feedback as to why individual applications may have been rejected.

The Trust can help meet the costs of your course fees up to a maximum of £1,650.  An award can also help with the costs of books and materials for your course, and with your everyday travel costs to and from your place of study.  Alongside fees and materials, an award can also contribute to your living expenses, and can help with childcare costs.

The Trust can help meet the costs of your course fees up to a maximum of £1650.  An award can also help with the costs of books and materials for your course, and with your everyday travel costs to and from your place of study.  Alongside fees and materials, an award can also contribute to your living expenses, and can help with childcare costs.

The Trust can help meet the costs of your course fees.  Support can be provided for accredited courses only.  Awards are generally paid directly to your course provider as a one off payment.  Payment of course fees can also be made outwith our set payment timeframes.    

The Trust can help meet the costs of your course fees and some other costs associated with your studies up to a maximum of £1,650.  This can include the costs of materials you need for your course, to help buy any instruments or specialist equipment, and/or help with childcare costs whilst you are studying.

Financial support is available for schools to allocate towards transport costs. The Trust will require confirmation prior to considering an application that 50% of the costs have been secured. The maximum grant available is £1,000. Please click here to view the application form. 

GEMT will ask you to upload specific ID information.  This will form the basis of our online check which will take place in due course after you have uploaded the information we requested.  Please read over exactly what we need from you in the email as wrong submission or not submitting on time can mean delays in processing your award or even cancellation.

Note that you may not get the full amount you have requested, so do not depend on receiving the whole amount if you are successful.

Once checks have been made and there are no issues, we will then let you know the level of your award, and can then make a first payment to you at the appropriate time.

For most applicants, your award is split into two payments: 

-one at the end of November;

-one at the end of the following March

For vocational students, payment of the award will be made directly to the course provider.

No.  We will contact you asking you to provide your Tutor’s name and contact details.  We will then ask them to complete a short online Tutor’s Report.  On receipt of an acceptable Tutor’s Report, we can then release the next part of your award.  

If you change your course, you will be required to submit a new application for consideration by the Trust.  Your current application will be voided. 

You must inform us of any delay in starting your course.  This may in turn mean a delay in awarding your award.

No.  You will not be eligible to receive the agreed award.  You will have to re-apply.

There may be compatibility issues with the particular browser you are using.  Please try again using another browser.  Note that if you are a Mac user, there may be an issue with file extensions.  Please rename the file and remove the pdf extension.  If you continue to have problems, please take a screenshot and inform the Trust using our online form.

Yes, you can apply for the duration of your studies e.g. if you are on a 2 year postgraduate course, you can have an award covering both years.  You will have to apply annually on the dates set by the Trust, to be considered for any further awards. 

Yes, you can apply for support for any academic year of your course providing the academic year has not yet started.  In this particular case, you would not receive any support for your Third Year if you are applying when that year has already started.  You can however apply for support for your final year.  Please check the website for application submission dates. 

Your College or University may be able to provide information on other possible funding sources, either internal or external.  You may also wish to visit the SAAS website which also provides useful funding information for students, or carry out an internet search.

Please ensure you read the relevant FAQS and look carefully over the website as this should cover the information you need before you decide to make an application.

You will receive an email to tell you the Trust has received your application.  Please ensure you check your inbox and spam for this email. 

Please use our online contact form.  We aim to respond to your enquiry within 3 working days.  

We may call or text you on occasion, but generally we will email you.