This funding opportunity, jointly launched with the Widening Participation Department in 2015/16, is aimed at increasing the number of widening participation students who can and do access the mobility opportunities available to them at King's.
Since its introduction, the Broadening Horizons Award has supported hundreds of students to complete term-time study and work placements, summer exchange and elective experiences all over the world. The award has three rounds which are open throughout the year depending on when you will complete your activity. Applicants must be home-fee-paying undergraduate students who meet at least one of the eligibility criteria and who are completing an eligible activity. You can find eligibility criteria below.
Details on the application for the 2023/2024 academic year will be advertised soon. The timeline for applications for the next academic year will be similar to that of 2022/2023.
Who can apply?
We welcome applications from home-fee-paying undergraduate students completing an eligible activity who:
What is an ‘eligible’ activity?
Students completing any of the following types of activities can apply for a Broadening Horizons Award, providing they also meet the eligibility criteria above to apply:
- Term-time study abroad (including a Semester or Full Year abroad)
- Term-time work placement abroad* (such as International Management or Modern Languages internships abroad)
- Global Summer Exchange**
- Other short-term activity abroad such as an elective, field trip, or internship
The activity does not have to form part of your King’s degree (such as a term-time activity). Students applying for a BHA for extracurricular and/or external activities (such as an elective or internship) must provide confirmation of acceptance on their programme.
*Students who apply for a BHA for paid work placements can still apply, but may be less likely to receive an award, or may receive a lower award.
**Students who apply for a BHA for a Global Summer Exchange, who have also applied for a Global Summer Award, may receive a lower award. Students will likely need to accept their Summer Exchange offer prior to receiving the outcome of their BHA application.
If you are unsure if your activity is eligible, please contact studyabroad@kcl.ac.uk.
Can I apply retrospectively?
Yes, we do accept retrospective applications. However, students will need to apply for the BHA as soon as possible after their activity. For example, if you are studying abroad in Semester 1 but didn’t apply in Round 1, you would need to apply in Round 2, applications received for Semester 1 activities in Round 3 will not be accepted.
How much will I receive?
We are not able to guarantee funding to all applicants. This means that even if you meet one or more of the criteria to apply for the award, you are not guaranteed to receive funding. Students usually receive awards in the region of £250 to £900. Award amounts are subject to change year on year and will depend on which and how many primary and secondary criteria you meet, level of financial need, destination, length of stay, and the overall number of applications received by the Global Mobility Office in each round. In some cases, we will take into account the quality of students’ qualitative responses.
We will also consider other mobility funding (such as Turing, Erasmus+ and other King’s mobility funding) that you receive, as well as any other departmental or external scholarships (such as Edith Baer’s for Modern Language students) that you will receive towards your activity. Students who are completing a paid work placement, for a semester, year, or a shorter period may also receive a lower award.
When will I receive an answer?
Applications are reviewed after each deadline and students can expect to hear back regarding the outcome of their application within six to eight weeks of the respective deadline. Following receiving an outcome, students may be required to provide additional documentation and evidence in order to confirm their award. We will then request the payment of the award to Student Funding. This should be done within one month but in busy periods may be longer.
Students should be aware that they are not guaranteed, and in fact are unlikely, to receive the funding prior to the start of their activity.
Alternative format
Students that require advice on or support with their application are advised to contact the Global Mobility Officer (Increasing Opportunities) via email at studyabroad@kcl.ac.uk.
How to apply
Details on the application for the 2022/2023 academic year can be found below. Details on the application for the 2023/2024 academic year will be available soon.
Please note that (with the exception of students applying for a BHA award to support a Global Summer Exchange), students should have a confirmed place on their chosen Study Abroad programme before applying to the Broadening Horizons Award. You may be required to show confirmation of your programme in order to receive any award.
If you do not participate in your activity for any reason, you will be required to return any funding you have received.
The 2022/2023 Broadening Horizons Award is for international activities taking place between 1 September 2022 and 31 August 2023. As in previous years, there will be three application rounds that will open and close throughout the year. When you apply depends on when your activity will take place:
Upcoming Rounds:
Now Open - Round 3 for students who are:
- Completing a Global Summer Exchange or;
- Completing another activity, such as an elective, between 29/04/2023 and 31/08/2023
The application for Round 3 opens on Monday 19 December 2022 and closes at 11:59pm (UK time) on Sunday 2 April 2023. Students can apply HERE to Round 3 of the BHA.
Closed - Round 2 for students who are:
- Completing a study or work placement for Semester 2;
- Completing another activity, such as an elective, between 16/01/2023 and 28/04/2023
The application for Round 2 opens at 10am (UK time) on Monday 22 August 2022 and closes on 11:59pm (UK time) on Sunday 4 December 2022. If you missed this deadline, you may apply retrospectively in Round 3 for Semester 2 activities - applications submitted in Round 3 for Semester 1 and Full Year will not be accepted.
Closed - Round 1 for students who are:
- Completing a study or work placement for Semester 1 or the Full Academic Year or;
- Completing another activity, such as an elective, between 01/09/2022 and 15/01/2023
The deadline for Round 1 applications is: 11:59pm (UK time) on Sunday 21 August 2022. If you missed this deadline, you may apply retrospectively in Round 2 - applications submitted in Round 3 for Semester 1 and Full Year will not be accepted.
A note on the application rounds:
Students should apply in the round that best fits their study abroad placement details. If you are studying abroad in over the summer, please wait until the appropriate round (Round 3) to apply. Any applications received in Round 2 for activities that are not for Semester 2, or are not retrospective applications for Semester 1/Full Year, will not be considered.
Students who completed a Global Summer Exchange in Summer 2022 may apply retrospectively for funding in Round 1 only.
If you are not sure when you should apply, please email studyabroad@kcl.ac.uk.
This award is intended only for the participants of the Global Summer Exchange programme. The idea is for students to share media (videography, music) from their time abroad, to promote further mobility. There is no additional eligibility criteria, however we particularly encourage applications from students from under-represented backgrounds who will be participating in the exchange.
How to apply:
The application will be linked onto this page between 31/03/2022 -20/04/2022. We will not accept late applications.
Students will submit a 'pitch' of their ideas of how they can contribute media while abroad. This could include, but is not limited to:
- Videography
- Photography
- Blog post
- Podcast
- Music
- Instagram Takeover (stories & grid)
- Other [this must deemed appropriate for promotion by the Global Mobility Office]
For videography/photography, students will ideally to provide a portfolio (which could be something as simple as an Instagram/YouTube page) to indicate the standard they will be able to supply in return for the funds. For written work, students will need to provide an ideal theme that they'd like to talk about and this would be assessed in terms of how it would benefit further mobility.
Funds are likely to be in the region of GBP £300, but this is dependent on the location visited as well as the content delivered, and applications received.
The application can be accessed online here. For any issues relating to the application, or to require assistance to complete it, please contact the Global Mobility Office (studyabroad@kcl.ac.uk).