Funding priority groups

For funding priority groups 2025/2026 including summer 2026, please see bottom of this page.

Queen Mary has an established priority group system for allocating all funding that is managed by the Global Partnerships and Opportunities (GPO) team. This ensures that available funding reaches students from disadvantaged and underrepresented backgrounds in outgoing mobility at Queen Mary first. 

Queen Mary students going abroad to participate in either a semester/year-long placement or a summer/short-term programme who complete the GPO managed funding application process for their relevant programme(s) are considered for funding based on the highest priority group for which they would qualify (with priority group (1) being the highest), even where they qualify for more than one group. The GPO team may request supporting evidence/documentation from a student where information cannot be verified by internal teams at Queen Mary.

^{Note: Students going to Switzerland are only eligible for Turing Scheme funding if they are in priority group (1) or (2).}

Funding priority groups for 2026/2027

(1) Study and work placements* undertaken by students from a disadvantaged background (as defined by the Turing Scheme):

• Students with an annual household income of £35,000 or less (only if means tested by Student Finance)
• Students receiving Universal Credit or income-related benefits
• Care leavers and students who are care-experienced
• Students who have caring responsibilities^†
• Estranged Students
• Refugees and asylum seekers

(2) Study and work placements* undertaken by students from a disadvantaged background (as further defined by Queen Mary):

• Students who, on entry to Queen Mary, lived in a UK neighbourhood or area which has a high level of financial, social or economic deprivation (this is defined by a home entry postcode in MySIS that is classed as one of the following ACORN 2025 groups: M, N, P, Q, R, S or U)

(3) Study and work placements* undertaken by students from underrepresented groups (as defined by the Turing Programme and in line with Queen Mary widening participation objectives):

• Students with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Students will have a disability as defined in the Equality Act 2010.

(4) Study and work placements* undertaken by students from underrepresented groups (as defined by the Turing Programme and in line with Queen Mary widening participation objectives):

• Students who were made a contextual offer for admission to Queen Mary

(5) Study and work placements* undertaken by students from underrepresented groups (as defined by the Turing Programme and in line with Queen Mary widening participation objectives):

• Students who are the first in their family to attend university‡

(6) Study and work placements* undertaken by students from underrepresented groups (as defined by the Turing Programme and in line with Queen Mary widening participation objectives):

• Students from an ethnic minority background

(7) Students who have not met criteria for any previous group (an additional application may be required by the GPO team):

• Study placement or unpaid work placement

(8) Students who have not met criteria for any previous group (an additional application may be required by the GPO team):

• Paid work placement

^{(*) Placement has to be an integral part of the degree or a summer school/short-term placement that is promoted as eligible for GPO managed funding.} 

^{(†) This refers to students who both: a) look after a family member, partner or friend who needs help because of their illness, frailty, disability, a mental health problem or an addiction, and cannot cope without their support; and b) is not paid for this care. This definition is not intended to capture all parents or guardians by default. For a student who is parent or guardian of a child, this does not, in itself qualify as carer under the Turing Scheme and Queen Mary definitions. The student would only meet the carer criterion where their caring role meets one or more of the specific circumstances cited above (such as caring for a child with a disability) and who provide care beyond ordinary parental responsibility.} 

^{(‡) This refers to students who are the first generation to go to university, even if the following have gone: sibling ** husband, wife or partner ** biological parents of students have been adopted ** a parent with whom the student has had no contact during their secondary and post-16 education (or longer) ** foster parents ** care workers ** uncles, aunts and other members of the student's extended family. A student would not be recognised as being first in the family if the following have gone to university or are currently doing so: parents ** stepparents, a parent’s unmarried partner living in the household and adoptive parents who throughout the three-year period prior to the start of their university course have been living in the same household as the student.}