The OptiGene Foundation Engineering Scholarship

To apply for this scholarship, the applicant must:

• Be a Home/UK student.
• Be a first-year student beginning their studies in September 2026 at the University of Surrey, studying:
  
  • Aerospace Engineering
  • Automotive Engineering
  • Biomedical Engineering
  • Civil Engineering
  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering
  • Mechanical Engineering 
• Have a household income of less than £35,000.
• Meet at least one of the following Widening Participation (WP) criteria as listed below:
  
  • Students from Low Participation Neighbourhoods (LPNs, defined as POLAR4 Quintiles 1 and 2 by OfS*
  • Students from an area of high deprivation (Index of Multiple Deprivation, IMD) Quintiles 1 and 2*
  • Students from a low-income family (eligible for Free School Meals in last six years)
  • Care leavers and students in local authority care
  • From families where parents/carers are in non-professional households (NS-SEC groups 4-8)
  • From families with no parental history of HE participation
  • Students classified as having a disability
  • Young carers
  • Mature learners
  • Refugees and asylum seekers
  • Students estranged from their families
  • Students who have a parent/carer who has served in the armed forces or reserves
  • Students from Black, Asian & Minority Ethnic backgrounds
  • Students from Gypsy, Roma or Irish Traveller (GRT) communities
  • Students who identify as a New Traveller, Boater, Bargee or Showperson.

*You can check to see if your postcode is in an IMD or POLAR4 Quintiles 1 or 2 area using the postcode checker tool here: Eligibility Criteria - Surrey WPO

Please note that we will need to verify your household income through the Student Finance England portal and, for us to do so, you will need the following:

• To be in receipt of Student Loan support from Student Finance England/Student Loans Company.

To give your permission for your household income information to be shared with the University of Surrey. To do so, you can contact the Student Loans Company directly on 0300 100 0607 (open Monday – Friday, 8am – 7pm) and ask for your information to be shared. Please note that this process can take several weeks to update, depending on how busy the Student Loans Company is, therefore we recommend updating your sharing permissions as soon as you submit an application, so as not to cause any delays during the application