Additional grant information

Who can apply for a grant? 

Candidates must be nominated, via a standard online application form, by their music or drama teacher/tutor or other appropriate person/professional who is familiar with their background and why they experience barriers to accessing our qualifications. Candidates cannot be put forward by someone they are related to and they cannot put themselves forward for a grant.  

Who can the grant be applied for? 

The Access Fund grant is open to: 

• an individual candidate 
• a group of candidates working towards the same exam 
• a group of individual candidates who are all working towards different exams but are being nominated by the same applicant. 

Please note: if you are applying for a group of individuals, their application will be reviewed, and either accepted or declined, as a group. If you would like your candidates to be considered on their individual circumstances (as opposed to collectively), you will need to submit multiple applications. 

We will only accept a maximum of 10 application forms from any one applicant per round. If you have a strong reason for wanting to submit more than this, please get in contact with the Access Fund Manager (accessfund@trinitycollege.co.uk) before the submission deadline. 

The Access Fund grant is only open to candidates based in the UK and Ireland. 

Who can’t the grant be applied for? 

The Access Fund grant cannot be used for: 

• candidates based outside the UK and Ireland 
• candidates who are not experiencing barriers to accessing our music and drama qualifications 

Grants cannot be awarded retrospectively and will not be released for activities that have already happened. 

How much money can you apply for? 

You can apply for a maximum of £1,500 per group or £300 per candidate (or equivalent in Euros for applicants from the Republic of Ireland). A candidate cannot be awarded a grant of more than £300 in any calendar year. 

An Access Fund grant is valid for 12 months and any money not used within this time should be returned to us to be reallocated to future rounds. Extensions to the 12-month time-frame will be considered on a case-by-case basis and only in exceptional circumstances. Once your candidates have sat their exams and you have their results, you must submit a grant report no later than 12 months after receiving your grant.  

What can the grant money be spent on? 

The grant can be spent on any of the following: 

• Exam fees 
• Contributions towards the cost of lessons 
• Contributions towards costs of musical instrument hire/purchase where appropriate 
• Other relevant equipment/materials needed (replacement strings, reeds, drumsticks, music stand, etc) 
• Equipment hire, where appropriate 
• Sheet music 
• An accompanist 
• Buying books/play scripts 
• Exam venue hire (for private centres only) 
• Travel to exam venue 

If there is something else that does not appear on this list which your candidate/s need the grant money for, please detail this in your application. 

What can’t the grant money be spent on? 

The grant cannot be spent on the following: 

• Core costs, eg overheads 
• Refreshments (apart from in exceptional cases) 
• Advertising 
• Equipment that is not deemed essential or valuable to the exam that’s being taken 
• Purchase of equipment where renting/hiring is a more cost-effective option 
• Training/CPD for teachers 
• Exams that have already taken place 
• Activities that are not clearly linked to a candidate working towards a Trinity College London music or drama qualification 
• Exams that are taking place within 8 weeks of the application deadline* 

*This is because it can take a minimum of 8 weeks for the grant to reach your bank account. Therefore, we are unable to fund activities due to start less than 8 weeks from the application deadline as we cannot guarantee the funds would reach you in time.