ICAS Foundation Programme Application Form 2025

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Application Guidelines

The ICAS Foundation empowers future accounting and finance professionals studying eligible courses by providing financial assistance, mentorship, and career guidance to students from low-income backgrounds.

Applications to join the ICAS Foundation are open to individuals planning to study (or currently studying) undergraduate accounting or finance related degrees at university, or selected HND college courses.

We recommend that you review all the information on our website, including the programme details, our introductory and application tips videos and our 'Meet the Student' case studies before completing your application.

Completing Your Application

Please submit your application using the form below. If you are unable to submit your application using the online form, please contact enquiries@icasfoundation.org.uk.

Please complete all the questions, answering as fully as possible.

Personal Details

Title / Salutation

First Name

Last Name

Date of Birth

You must use format DD/MM/YYYY to enter this date

Gender

Home Address: Street / Village

Your home address is the address that will be used for correspondence about your application.

Home Address: City / Town

Please only state one town or city here

Home Address: County

Home Address: Post Code

UK Resident

Please use a personal email address rather than a school / college email address if possible

Mobile Phone

Do you have any disabilities?

If yes, please give details:

What is your ethnic background?

You can choose ‘Prefer not to say’ as your answer, but an accurate response does help us gather statistical data.

If other, please give details:

Formal Education

Please include all achieved qualifications in this section, including National 5s / GCSEs, Highers / A-Levels and HNC / HND college qualifications.

You should also include any qualifications you are currently studying, including school or college courses, under Predicted Qualifications.

Name of Most Recent School / College / Sixth Form

Qualifications Achieved

Subject

Please include any National 5 / GCSE / AS Level results as well as Highers / A Levels and HNC / HND results.

Qualification Type

Qualification Grade

Date Qualification Achieved

You must use format DD/MM/YYYY to enter this date

Add another qualification

Predicted Qualifications

Subject

If you have these, please email a copy of your predicted exam results to enquiries@icasfoundation.org.uk as verification of your predicted grades. For applicants coming from college, please detail your HNC / HND qualifications and include your predicted grades (and include any HNC etc qualifications under Qualifications Achieved).

Qualification Type

Predicted Grade

Predicted Date of Completion

You must use format DD/MM/YYYY to enter this date

Add another qualification

Do you need to add any qualifications from a different school or college?

Name of School / College / Sixth Form

Qualifications Achieved

Subject

Qualification Type

Qualification Grade

Date Qualification Achieved

You must use format DD/MM/YYYY to enter this date

Add another qualification

Predicted Qualifications

Subject

Qualification Type

Predicted Grade

Predicted Date of Completion

You must use format DD/MM/YYYY to enter this date

Add another qualification

Additional Studies

Have you attended an activity to prepare you for higher education? (e.g. national or regional schemes / summer schools such as Sutton Trust, university-run programmes such as University of Glasgow Top-Up, taster courses etc.)

Application Helper

If you have answered yes to this question, please include specific details in your answer to the ‘skills development’ text-based question near the end of the application.

University Plans

If you are awaiting feedback from UCAS applications, please include details of all the university applications you have submitted.

Please ensure you tell us the specific title of the course that you have applied to study, as detailed on your UCAS application. (Course titles should include an accounting / finance topic area or have a course programme where at least 50% of modules are focused on accounting or finance.)

If you are a Direct Entrant to university from college, please also state your year of entry (i.e., 2nd yr entry / 3rd yr entry) alongside the degree title.

What is your current educational status?

HND Information

Please note that we are only accepting applications from HND Accounting Year 2 students at eligible colleges. Applications from Year 1 students or students at non-eligible colleges will not be considered.

Which university or college are you currently studying at?

If other, please provide details:

What degree or course are you studying?

When did you start your degree or course?

You must use format DD/MM/YYYY to enter this date

Which year of study will you enter this Autumn?

First Preference

Which university is your first choice?

If other, please provide details:

What degree have you applied to study?

Have you received an offer for this course?

If your offer is conditional, please confirm your offer requirements

Second Preference

Which university is your second choice?

If other, please provide details:

What degree have you applied to study?

Have you received an offer for this course?

If your offer is conditional, please confirm your offer requirements

Additional University Application

University Applied To

If other, please provide details:

What degree have you applied to study?

Have you received an offer for this course?

If your offer is conditional, please confirm your offer requirements

Add another application

Referees

Please provide contact details for one referee who can inform us about your character and confirm that you are likely to complete your university course. This should be someone from your current or most recent education, such as school or college. If you are not currently in education, or it has been some time since you were in education, please provide a reference from your current employer or similar.

You should check with your referees before submitting this form that they are happy to be contacted directly by the ICAS Foundation to provide a reference for you.

First Name

Last Name

Where do they work?

Work Address: Street

Your home address is the address that will be used for correspondence about your application.

Work Address: City / Town

Work Address: County

Work Address: Post Code

In what capacity does this person know you?

Additional Information

We encourage applications from students who have experience of care, have caring responsibilities, are estranged from their families or who have previously applied for asylum in the UK.

If you answer yes to any of the questions below, please provide further details in the relevant question of the 'About You' section.

Have you been in care? (i.e., with foster carers under local authority care, in a residential children’s home, being looked after at home under a supervision order, living with friends or relatives in kinship care)

Information for students with experience of care

If you answered yes, we recommend reviewing the UCAS guidance for care experienced students.

Do you have any caring or parenting responsibilities?

Information for parents and carers

If you have answered yes, we recommend reviewing the UCAS guidance for students with caring responsibilities or students with parenting responsibilities.

Would you consider yourself estranged from your parents (i.e. you are not in contact with and supported by your parents)?

Information for estranged students

If you have answered yes, we recommend reviewing the UCAS guidance for students without parental support.

Do you have official refugee status or limited leave to remain, or are you seeking asylum?

Further Information

If you are a refugee, asylum seeker or have limited leave to remain in the UK, we recommend reviewing the UCAS guidance for refugees. asylum seekers or students with limited leave to remain.

How did you hear about the ICAS Foundation? (Please select your main source of information only.)

If other, please give details:

The following questions are used to help us understand more about you and your background. They are standard questions recommended by the UK's Social Mobility Commission.

What was the occupation of your main household earner when you were aged about 14?

Which type of school did you attend for the most time between the ages of 11 and 16?

Are you currently receiving free school meals, or have you been in receipt of free school meals during your secondary education?

Did either of your parents attend university by the time you were 18?

Funding

Please answer all these questions as far as possible.

We encourage students to apply for their SAAS bursary and any other available support as soon as it is possible for them to do so.

Is your annual total parental, guardian or household income less than £34,000?

Further Information

Successful applicants will be asked to provide evidence that their household income is under £34,000. You can still submit your application by answering No to this question, but in the final text-based question, you should tell us about any exceptional circumstances we may need to take into account.

Have you applied to / do you intend to apply to SAAS, Student Finance England, Student Finance Wales or Student Finance Northern Ireland for financial support during your studies? (We will require a copy of your finance provider’s confirmation in due course)

Please select which government agency you have applied to / intend to apply to.

SAAS Funding Applied For

Tuition FeesBursarySLC Student Loan

SFE / SFW / SFNI Funding Applied For

Tuition Fee LoanMaintenance Loan

If you have applied for any other SAAS or Student Finance England / Wales / Northern Ireland support, please give details below.

Have you applied / do you intend to apply for funding from any other source to support your studies / personal development? (e.g., in-kind support such as accommodation fees covered)

If yes, please give details of the organisation you have applied to, the potential level / type of support and the dates you would receive the support if successful.

About You

Please answer the questions below as fully as possible, as these are a key part of how we assess your application. Ideally, we are looking for you to include at least 200 words in your answer to each of the questions below.

Please ensure that you have read our website guidance on how to answer these questions, and watched the 'Make Your Application Stand Out' video, before you complete these questions.

If you decide to use AI for help with writing your application, read our guidance first. You will want to ensure that, whether or not you use AI to help you find the right words, your own voice, experiences and reflections always come through in your application.

Tell us about yourself. (This could include where you live, who you live with and if they attend school / have a job, why you have decided to apply to your first choice university and course and what career you want to go into after university.)

Answers must be at least 200 words.

How would you benefit from the ICAS Foundation’s support? (You should include information on all the benefits offered by the ICAS Foundation and how these will help you achieve your career ambitions.)

Answers must be at least 200 words.

What skills have you developed that you believe are important for accountants? (You could tell us about any part-time / volunteer experience you have, any skills you’ve developed in your personal life e.g. as a young carer, any community activities you’ve undertaken such as sports or clubs, or participation in any university / career insight programme.)

Answers must be at least 200 words.

Please let us know any other details that you think would be helpful for us to know when assessing your application. (We consider all applications in context, so we would encourage you to provide as much detail as possible about your circumstances.)

Answers must be at least 200 words.

Submitting Your Application

The ICAS Foundation is a Registered Scottish Charity SC034836.

By submitting your application, you confirm that, to the best of your knowledge, all information you have given is accurate and that you will inform the ICAS Foundation immediately of any change in your circumstances. You also agree to supply any additional information we require to process your ICAS Foundation application.

Before submitting your application to us, please ensure you have checked the ICAS Foundation Application Guidelines and completed all of the fields on the application form. Incomplete applications which have not completed all required fields will not be submitted.

You can email any available supporting documents (such as your prelim results) to the ICAS Foundation at enquiries@icasfoundation.org.uk.

We will notify you of the outcome of your application within 6 weeks of the closing date.

The ICAS Foundation is fully committed to handling personal information in accordance with data protection legislation and best data protection practices. Our Privacy Policy explains our approach to the personal information we handle in carrying out our activities as a registered charity. You can find this on our website at: Privacy and Data Protection | ICAS Foundation

If you are unable to submit your application using this form, or have any difficulties in submitting your form, please inform the ICAS Foundation by emailing enquiries@icasfoundation.org.uk.

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