VET to Bachelor Equity Scholarships

The VET to Bachelor Pathway Equity Scholarship aims to support domestic students undertaking Higher Education courses by providing financial assistance to help overcome barriers to learning. This scholarship is particularly intended for students from disadvantaged or equity backgrounds.

Successful applicants will receive a financial contribution to help ease the burden of study-related expenses, supporting their continued participation and success in higher education.

We’ll be taking a break from 8 December 2025 to 19 January 2026. You’re welcome to submit your application during this time; however, you won’t receive an outcome until we resume in 2026.

Eligibility

To apply, you must:

• be an Australian citizen or permanent resident (domestic student)
• have recently completed (within past 5 years) a VET qualification and be enrolling into a bachelor degree at Melbourne Polytechnic in 2026 or 2027.

Applicants must meet at least one of the following equity criteria:

• From a low socio-economic background
• From an inner regional, outer regional, remote or very remote area
• First in family to access higher education
• Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander background
• Living with disability
• Gender diverse
• From a non-English speaking background or with limited English proficiency

Scholarship Structure

Total Value: $5,000, paid as a direct EFT to the successful applicant in two equal instalments of $2,500 each:

• Instalment 1 – payable after the first five weeks of study in the first semester of your Bachelor course
• Instalment 2 – upon successful completion of a minimum of 8 subjects (96 credit points), excluding Credit Transfers/RPL

Number of Scholarships Available

• 2026 – 16 scholarships
• 2027 – 16 scholarships

Selection Criteria

Applications are reviewed by a selection panel and assessed based on:

• your background and personal circumstances/barriers to study
• your need for financial assistance.

You’ll be asked to respond to the following questions:

1. Have you experienced any barriers to learning? If so, please describe them.
2. What impact would receiving this scholarship have on your ability to succeed in your future studies?
3. How does the bachelor course you are enrolling in align with your future career goals?

You can find further tips for a strong scholarship application here.

How to apply

1. Click the 'Apply Now' button above
2. Log in to Good Grants using SAML (Melbourne Polytechnic student login)
3. Select the VET to Bachelor Pathway Equity Scholarship and complete the online application
4. You can submit supporting documentation with your application. This is strongly advised to increase your chances; however, it is not required

Contact ChrissyKanakis@melbournepolytechnic.edu.au for more information.