Foundations, alumni clubs, and departmental awards still lose candidates to portals that require an account before a single sentence is typed. Use an HTML scholarship form for a static awards page so US FAFSA-adjacent applicants and UK bursary seekers can submit a statement and a transcript link in one sitting.
Notifications should go to the administrator, not a rotating student intern inbox.
The textarea will not enforce them; your copy should.
Applicants who fail the residency or GPA rule should see that before they write 800 words.
Remove the snippet or disable the form so late files are not an argument.
A scholarship application is a funding request judged against published criteria: merit, need, subject, or community service. US awards often want a resume of activities plus an unofficial transcript link. UK bursaries and hardship funds more often want a personal statement, household context, and sometimes a student-finance screenshot handled in a later secure step.
This form is the front door for small awards that will never justify a Slate or ApplyYourself licence. Committees get rows they can score in a spreadsheet instead of a shared mailbox full of mismatched attachments.
If every applicant answers a different set of emailed questions, ranking becomes theatre. Standardise the first screen.
Never ask for bank account numbers, National Insurance, or Social Security on the public scholarship form. Offer letters and payment details belong in finance’s existing process.
Department chairs default to email. That is why deadlines slip and files go missing.
Criteria, eligibility, and the form share one URL. Applicants are not hunting a separate portal login.
Right for institutional admissions. Wrong for a £2,000 alumni bursary or a $1,500 departmental prize.
Blocks parents helping first-generation US students and mature UK applicants who do not have the school Google account yet.
Still required by some trusts. Offer HTML as default and PDF as archive.
Alumni associations often ship a one-page site per campaign year. Put the form before the deadline rather than waiting on central IT.
Export CSV for the committee. State in the privacy notice how long statements are kept; US FERPA-adjacent practice and UK GDPR both care about student essays sitting in inboxes forever.
Start with a URL to the registrar PDF or a campus portal. Add a file input on the form when your plan supports uploads.
No. Admissions systems handle courses and references. This is for named funds and bursaries.
Say scholarship and resume on US pages; bursary, hardship fund, and CV are more familiar on UK pages. Keep one HTML structure.
Give them a separate form or accept emailed references. Do not put referee logins on this applicant form.