All-inclusive financial support, from day one of your undergraduate degree.
The National First Nations Scholarship is for an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person who shows great potential and is getting ready to achieve their dreams.
The Scholarship is generously supported by Woolworths Group and Gordon Cairns.
Applications now open.
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All-inclusive financial support
For the full duration of your UTS degree, all your tuition fees are covered.
You will also receive a living expenses allowance of $20,000 per year, to help pay for food, rent, textbooks and bills.
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Open to First Nations persons
You're eligible if you live in Australia and are looking to study at UTS.
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Career opportunities
If you choose to, you can have access to career opportunities with Woolworths Group once you start your degree.
Who can apply
We encourage you to apply if you:
- Are a First Nations person,
- Have applied for admission into a UTS undergraduate degree,
- Are motivated to succeed in whatever your dreams may be,
- Are driven to contribute to your community, and
- Can show us how this scholarship will be meaningful to you.
Whether you are finishing up high school, or are thinking to go to university as a mature-age student, the scholarship will be offered before classes start – giving you the peace-of-mind to enrol in university without worrying about the cost.
UTS Elder-in-Residence Aunty Glendra Stubbs and future UTS students.
How do I apply?
There are two steps to apply for the scholarship:
Step one
Complete the application form - if you are unsure how to start, it always a good idea to ask for help from someone you trust, this may include your local community members, teachers, colleagues or friends. Talking through your ideas with someone can be a good way to start.
Step two
Interview - After applications close, you may be invited to attend an interview to further discuss your application. This will be a small panel conversation in person or online, and it is a way for the panel to get to know you and your aspirations.
What should I include in my application?
The application process is an opportunity for us to get to know you. You don’t have to address all of these points below. What is important, is that you choose the points that are most meaningful to you. The application process is designed to give us an idea of how the scholarship can help you reach your goals for the future and why university study and the scholarship is will be important to you.
Motivation to succeed in your preferred university course, this may include:
- Why university study and the scholarship is important to you
- How does this align to your dreams and aspirations
- Why are you passionate about this particular degree and/or UTS
- Or any other reasons you would like to come to university
How you have previously contributed or how you would like to contribute to your community in the future, this may include:
- Why your community is important to you
- Current involvement in your community – this may be your local Indigenous or the broader community
- How your degree may help you in the future with community goals, needs and aspirations
Likelihood that the Scholarship will help you undertake your UTS course. This may include:
- How receiving the scholarship will help you achieve your goals
- How this financial support will assist you with the cost of your studies
How do I apply for admission into UTS?
There are three main ways to apply for admission into UTS:
UAC Course Application – if you apply for admission through UAC, you will need to have UTS as a first preference by Friday 15 December 2023.
Early Entry Program - Designed for students who have excelled in Year 11, our Early Entry Program recognises and rewards the hard work that you have put into your studies, while providing you with some certainty about your next steps after school.
Jumbunna Pathway Program - At UTS, the ATAR is not the primary measure of success. Our Jumbunna Pathways Program into University is open to recent-school leavers (with or without an ATAR); non-school leavers; people with TAFE, College or previous University qualifications. Application open.
Key dates
Key Scholarship application dates
| Scholarship applications open | Tuesday 1 August 2023 |
| Scholarship applications close | Monday 13 November 2023 |
| Scholarship interviews | Monday 4 and Tuesday 5 December 2023 |
| Scholarship award date | Thursday 21 December 2023 |
Key Early Entry Program application dates
| Applications for 2024 open | Wednesday 07 June 2023 |
| Applications for 2024 close | Monday 04 September 2023 |
| Provisional offers released to applicants | Tuesday 19 September 2023 |
| NSW/ACT HSC students receive confirmation of course offer | Monday 18 December 2023 |
| Interstate students receive confirmation of course offer | Thursday 21 December 2023 |
Key UAC application dates
| UAC early bird undergraduate course application deadline (avoid higher application fees and apply by) | 11:59pm Friday 29 September 2023 |
| Last day to apply for December Round 2 course offer | Thursday 09 November 2023 |
| Last day to upload documents for December Round 2 course offer | Thursday 16 November 2023 |
| NSW and ACT ATARs released | Thursday 14 December 2023 |
| Last day to change your course preferences for December Round 2 course offer | Friday 15 December 2023 |
| December Round 2 course offers released | Thursday 21 December 2023 |
Who should I contact for help?
We recommend reaching out to the Jumbunna Institute for Indigenous Education and Research. Jumbunna supports the academic, social, cultural and emotional wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students at UTS and can give guidance about the best way to seek admission based on your circumstances.
Level 6 of the UTS Tower Building 1
Phone: 1800 064 312
Email: Jumbunna@uts.edu.au
With special thanks
The National First Nations Scholarship is made possible by the generous support of Woolworths Group and Gordon Cairns.
Woolworths Group is one of Australia and New Zealand’s leading retail groups. Their team is focused on creating better experiences together, for their customers, their communities and for each other. Woolworths Group is committed to supporting Indigenous self-determined education at UTS, through their support of the National First Nations College and Scholarship.
