Application help and advice

Find guidance on how to apply for school-leaver scholarships, including troubleshooting issues with the application system, and who to ask to be your referee.

Accessing CommunityForce

You’ll apply online via CommunityForce, our application system. If you’re having problems accessing CommunityForce, try in another web browser, or email scholarships-office@vuw.ac.nz for help.

The system is slower when there are more applicants online, so it may pay to try again in 30 minutes if you’re having issues.

We’ll contact you by email after you’ve applied

All emails about your scholarship application status will come from admin@communityforce.com—it’s best to add this address to your contacts, so notifications don’t end up in your junk folder.

You can also check the status of your application in Pūaha, our student portal (for instance ‘under committee review’ means it is under consideration).

You can expect to receive an email with the outcome of your application at the start of October.

Choosing referees

It’s important to choose referees who know you well and can comment on the qualities and characteristics required for the scholarship you’re applying for. A family member cannot act as a referee, except for the Financial Support section.

The referee for the Financial Support section must be a parent or caregiver due to the sensitive nature of the questions asked about household income and assets.

Proving eligibility for Kahurangi Māori Student or Mana Pasifika Scholarships

If you are not sure how to verify your whakapapa please contact our Future Students team for help. You can email future-students@vuw.ac.nz, or contact our Māori or Pasifika Future Student Advisers directly.

Māori Future Student Advisers—Kaitawaka Māori

Te Mapihi Tutua-Nathan: temapihi.tutuanathan@vuw.ac.nz
Tayla Petera-Gerrard: tayla.petera-gerrard@vuw.ac.nz

Pasifika Future Student Advisers

Tapu Vea: tapu.vea@vuw.ac.nz
Fa'aaliga Leota: faaaliga.leota@vuw.ac.nz

When to apply if you’re taking a gap year

If you’re considering taking a gap year before you start university study, it’s up to you when to apply for scholarships. You can apply while you’re on a gap year if you meet the other eligibility criteria and have not studied at degree level.

If you apply for a scholarship and are successful, and then you decide to take a gap year, you will have to reapply the following year as there are no deferrals.

Eligibility for school-leaver scholarships

You can apply if you are:

• a New Zealand Citizen or Permanent Resident
• a New Zealand Residence Class visa holder
• an Australian Citizen or Permanent Resident
• an International Student who will have completed at least two full years at a New Zealand Secondary School by the time of commencing study (for example, you have completed Year 12 and are in the process of completing Year 13).

If you hold a New Zealand Residence Class visa, you can apply for a school-leaver scholarship as a domestic student. However, to qualify for StudyLink support and Fees Free you need to have held your residency class visa for 3 years minimum, by which time you more than likely have NZ permanent residency.

Eligibility for students already undertaking tertiary-level study

If you’ve been taking 100-level courses while still at high school as part of an accelerated programme, you can still apply for school-leaver scholarships—provided you’ve not gained admission to a degree programme at any tertiary institution, and you have not completed more than 60 points at tertiary level.

Accept your offer by the deadline

If your application is successful, we’ll email you a scholarship offer that’s conditional on gaining University Entrance.

Make sure you respond to the scholarship offer before Tuesday 15 October. If you don’t, your scholarship offer will expire and the scholarship may be reallocated.

Meeting the conditional requirements

When your Year 13 results become available in January, the Scholarships Office will check to make sure you have met the requirements for eligibility to take up the Scholarship. You need to have gained University Entrance to retain your scholarship. Even if the University has advised you to undertake and apply for a pathway programme prior to commencing your undergraduate degree at Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington, you will not be eligible to hold the Scholarship.

Please advise us if you are intending to study part-time or if you are waiting on additional credits to confirm University Entrance as we will review individual circumstances.

Scholarship payments

You can choose to have the payments put towards accommodation at one of our University halls of residence, in which case the total amount will be paid in two instalments in February and July.

If you choose to have your scholarship go towards tuition fees then the total amount will be credited towards your student fees account when you receive your first invoice.

If you qualify for Fees Free then your scholarship for that year will be paid out to contribute to your living costs. The payments will be made in two instalments, in Trimester 1 and 2 after the withdrawal periods. Payment must be used for study related costs such as accommodation, books for study, travel to and from university, or to support your living costs while you are studying.