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Bracken Scholarship

Applications for the 2026/27 academic year are now open.

The University of Liverpool is pleased to offer the Bracken Scholarship, made possible by the generosity of Mike Bracken. This scholarship will support two students from the Liverpool City Region to pursue postgraduate education in Data Science.

The award

The scholarship will be open to two students in the 2026/27 academic year and is worth £5,000. Students must be studying a postgraduate course at the University of Liverpool. Those on data science or coding courses may be given priority.

We are looking for students who are aspiring to careers using data and digital skills within the public sector, or within public missions, including health, renewable energy or climate change. The scholarship aims to support students into careers which benefit the public good. 

Applicants must be ordinarily resident in the UK and be commencing postgraduate study for the first time, in the academic year 2025/26.

If you are awarded the scholarship, you’ll also have the opportunity to be mentored by Mike Bracken and will be provided with employability support throughout your studies.

Eligibility criteria

Please check your eligibility before making an application for this scholarship. Awards may be withdrawn if we later become aware that successful students have not met the eligibility criteria or have provided false information.

Applicants must satisfy all of the following to be considered for this scholarship:

  1. Permanently reside in the Liverpool City Region. This is defined as a student who attended secondary school and college in the Liverpool City Region (defined as the boroughs of Liverpool, Knowsley, Wirral, St. Helens, Runcorn and Sefton) and have applied for your undergraduate student finance from a postcode in the Liverpool City Region
  2. Have accepted an offer of a place at the University of Liverpool for a postgraduate course, to commence study in the 2026/27 academic year
  3. This must be your first postgraduate degree, and you must not already hold an equivalent qualification
  4. You must have made an application to Student Finance England for a Postgraduate Master’s Loan
  5. You must have been assessed for fee status as a 'Home' student, or expect to be assessed as a 'Home' student.
  6. You must have been considered a student from a widening participation background during your undergraduate degree. Please see below for information on what qualifies as a widening participation background.

Widening participation background

For the purposes of the Bracken Scholarship, we'll define a widening participation student as a student who met at least one of the below criteria during their undergraduate degree:

  • Participated in a University supported access scheme. At the University of Liverpool this would have included the Liverpool Scholars scheme, Pathways to Law, Pathways to Banking and Finance, Pathways to Engineering or Realising Opportunities. Different universities offer different schemes. If you're unsure if you meet this criteria, please contact wpscholarships@liverpool.ac.uk
  • Have been in receipt of or entitled to discretionary payments, 16-19 bursary, pupil premium, or free school meals while as school or college
  • Have received a contextual offer from the University where you studied your undergraduate degree
  • Fall into one of the following student groups: Care experienced, estranged, young adult carer, refugee, asylum seeker
  • Have received widening participation bursaries or grants for students from low income backgrounds, eg The Liverpool Bursary
  • Come from a home where neither parent attended university in the UK or abroad.

If you have any questions about your eligibility, please contact us on wpscholarships@liverpool.ac.uk to discuss.

The application process

Personal statement

To help us to get to know you, we will ask you for a personal statement of 4000 characters answering the following questions:

  • Why would the scholarship be beneficial to your studies? How would you use the scholarship to enhance your studies?
  • What are your academic and career goals, and how would the scholarship help you to achieve these goals?
  • How will your education and career provide future benefit to the Liverpool City Region?
  • What achievements, academically or personally, are you most proud of?

Submitting your application

Applications are open now via our online application form.

The deadline to submit your application is 5pm on the 9 July 2026.

Decisions

A panel of representatives from the University of Liverpool will assess applications and compile a shortlist of the strongest applications which will be reviewed by Mike Bracken.

Applicants will be notified of the outcome of their application in August 2026.

Enquiries

If you have questions about the award please contact: wpscholarships@liverpool.ac.uk.