BIA Progression Award for Academic Excellence Terms and Conditions

All offers of the BIA Progression Award for Academic Excellence are subject to the following terms and conditions. Students should familiarise themselves with these conditions before accepting the award.

All awards are made at the absolute discretion of the University of Birmingham. Further eligibility checks may be undertaken before or after an award is confirmed. Awards are made on the assumption that all information supplied to the University is complete, truthful and accurate. The University may withhold or withdraw an award where a student is found to have provided incorrect, misleading or incomplete information.

To be considered for the BIA Progression Award for Academic Excellence, students must meet all of the following criteria:

1.1. Birmingham International Academy study

Students must have commenced and successfully completed a Birmingham International Academy Foundation Pathway during the 2026/27 academic year.

1.2. Academic achievement

Students must achieve a final confirmed overall BIA grade of at least 90%.

The award is competitive and will be offered to the highest-performing eligible students. Achieving an overall grade of 90% or above does not automatically entitle a student to receive the award.

1.3. Progression to an undergraduate degree

Students must:

• successfully meet all requirements for progression from the Birmingham International Academy;
• meet all academic, English language and other conditions attached to their University offer;
• hold and accept an offer for an eligible full-time undergraduate degree;
• progress to Year 1 of that degree in September 2027; and
• study at the University of Birmingham’s Birmingham, UK campus.

The award is not available for entry into a Foundation Year, later year of an undergraduate degree, postgraduate programme, distance-learning programme or a programme delivered at the University’s Dubai campus.

1.4. International tuition-fee status

Students must be classified by the University as an overseas fee payer for tuition-fee purposes.

If a student’s tuition-fee classification changes and they are no longer required to pay the overseas tuition fee, the University reserves the right to withdraw the award.

1.5. Self-funding status

Only students who are self-funding their tuition fees are eligible.

Students receiving full or partial tuition-fee funding from a third-party organisation are not eligible. This includes, but is not limited to, sponsorship or scholarships provided by:

• governments or government ministries;
• companies or employers;
• banks;
• charities;
• external scholarship organisations; or
• other public or private sponsoring bodies.

Students must declare any external sponsorship or scholarship as soon as it is awarded. If the University becomes aware that a student is receiving third-party tuition-fee support, the award may be withdrawn, including where it has already been confirmed or applied to the student’s account.

1.6. Good standing

Students must have remained in good academic and disciplinary standing during their Birmingham International Academy studies.

The University reserves the right to withhold or withdraw the award where a student has been found responsible for serious academic or non-academic misconduct, or where other substantiated conduct concerns mean that the University considers an award inappropriate.

No separate scholarship application is required.

Eligible students will be considered automatically after the Birmingham International Academy has confirmed the final academic outcomes for the relevant academic year. This will include results confirmed following the main progression boards and any applicable resit progression boards.

Selection will be based primarily on each student’s final confirmed overall BIA academic result. Where students have the same overall result, the University may consider further academic information when determining the strongest-performing candidates.

Awards are limited and competitive. The University is not required to make an award to every student who achieves a grade of 90% or above.

Only successful students will be contacted. No award is confirmed until the student has received a formal Notification of Award from the University.

The University’s decisions concerning eligibility, academic ranking and the allocation of awards are final.

The value of the BIA Progression Award for Academic Excellence is £5,000.

The award will be applied as a discount against the tuition fee charged for the first year of the student’s undergraduate degree. No part of the award can be:

• paid directly to the student in cash;
• transferred to another person;
• used to meet accommodation, living, travel or visa costs; or
• applied against any charge other than the eligible tuition fee.

The award will only be applied after the student has completed Online Registration and is classified as normally registered on the eligible undergraduate programme.

Where the outstanding tuition-fee liability is lower than the value of the award, only the remaining tuition-fee liability will be covered. Any unused value will not be paid to the student, refunded or transferred for another purpose.

The award applies only to the first year of the undergraduate degree commencing in September 2027.

The award:

• is tenable for one academic year only;
• is not renewable for subsequent years of the degree;
• cannot be carried forward to a later academic year; and
• cannot be deferred.

A student who defers their undergraduate progression to year 1 from September 2027 will lose the award. They may be considered for any scholarships available in the year in which they subsequently begin their degree, but no equivalent or replacement award is guaranteed.

The BIA Progression Award for Academic Excellence may normally be held alongside another partial scholarship or tuition-fee discount funded by the University of Birmingham, provided that:

• the terms and conditions of both awards permit this;
• the student remains eligible for both awards; and
• the combined value does not exceed the student’s total tuition-fee liability.

Where the combined value exceeds the tuition-fee liability, the excess will not be paid in cash, refunded or transferred to another year or purpose.

The award cannot be held alongside full or partial tuition-fee sponsorship provided by a third-party organisation.

The University may withdraw the award if the student:

• does not complete Online Registration or enrol on the eligible programme by the required deadline;
• does not progress to year 1 of their undergraduate degree in September 2027;
• withdraws from the University;
• transfers to an ineligible programme or campus;
• ceases to meet any of the eligibility requirements;
• is subsequently identified as being in receipt of external tuition-fee sponsorship;
• is found to have supplied false, inaccurate, misleading or incomplete information;
• is required to withdraw following disciplinary, academic-progress or fitness-to-practise proceedings; or
• is found responsible for serious academic or non-academic misconduct.

Where an award has been applied incorrectly or where a student is subsequently found to have been ineligible, the University reserves the right to reverse the tuition-fee discount and recover any amount applied to the student’s account.

Students must inform the University promptly if they take or are required to take a Leave of Absence.

Where a short Leave of Absence allows the student to return and remain registered during the same academic year, the University may continue to honour the award.

Where the Leave of Absence requires the student to return in a later academic year, the award will normally be withdrawn and cannot be transferred or deferred to the student’s return year.

Any decision will be made in accordance with the University’s applicable regulations and general international scholarship terms and conditions.

These terms should be read alongside the University of Birmingham’s International Recruitment Scholarships general terms and conditions.

Where there is any conflict between the general terms and these specific terms, these specific BIA Progression Award for Academic Excellence Terms and Conditions will apply.

The University reserves the right to amend these terms and conditions where reasonably necessary. Students will be informed of any material change that affects an award already formally offered to them.