We have no upper or lower funding limit as we like to encourage applicants to be realistic about what they need to achieve their project objectives. At opposite ends of the spectrum, we can see ourselves investing in projects lasting 6 months that require £2,500 to deliver, and those seeking in excess of £250,000 over a two-year duration. For projects over £100,000, your application will be strengthened if you can demonstrate that you have been successful in attracting part match-funding from other organisations.

The projects we invest in are UK-based; England, Wales and Northern Ireland  (excluding Scotland). 

We will fund the costs of staff directly involved in delivering a project e.g. project managers, trainers, web developers. Organisational running costs unconnected to the project cannot be covered.

We will consider funding requests to cover hardware, software or connectivity costs - but only if they are fundamental to successful project delivery. In this case, any hardware, software or connectivity costs should form only a small percentage of the overall investment, and your applications should provide transparent details on all such costs. Hardware or infrastructure procurement projects will not be considered.

We will consider funding requests to cover website build costs where they are fundamental to successful project delivery. Your application should provide transparent details on all such costs. Hardware or infrastructure procurement projects will not be considered. 

Yes. We appreciate that projects vary in length and will consider funding any length of project up to a maximum of two years.

The duration of our investment is agreed on a project-by-project basis. We place very high value on projects that can demonstrate that they have scale and a sustainability plan that allows them to maintain, or increase, momentum beyond the period of our support. We hope that all projects will continue to be successful in the years that follow our investment. Therefore we expect all organisations to identify how their project will scale and become sustainable, if appropriate, beyond the end of our investment period. We are unlikely to reinvest in a project that we have already supported.

As part of our decision-making process, we will look at whether other funders are already involved in your project, or have been approached. While match-funding is not a pre-requisite, if you are seeking funding of over £100,000, we recommend that you investigate other sources of revenue funding before submitting your application, as this will strengthen your proposal.

Yes, we will consider an application for a new project, even if you're in receipt of funding for an existing project, as long as it is completely unrelated and looking at a different learning challenge. Please bear in mind that you will need to complete the application process again and we make no guarantee that your application will be successful.

Typically, we do not provide repeat funding for the same project, as we believe in supporting sustainable initiatives. We expect all our projects to develop a sustainability plan during the period of our investment, so that they are able to secure their future.

Not necessarily. The level of investment awarded is sometimes different from that requested. This can be for a number of reasons (beside our own budget constraints). For example, you may have included items in your budget (e.g. hardware or organisational overheads) that we do not fund, we may think there are opportunities to deliver your project more cost effectively, or we may feel that you could seek match-funding for some of the costs. Where we feel the amount of investment needs to be reconsidered, one of our team will usually get in touch to discuss your application and review the alternative options

The Trust does not have a fixed policy about who will own the IPR on projects we wholly or partly fund.  This is because we expect to fund a wide range of projects developed by a range of organisations, where different approaches to IPR may well be needed. Our aim is to assist projects which are sustainable in the long term, and part of that will include consideration of where the IPR should reside.  We will make a decision on a case by case basis. Applicants that that are selected to go forward to Stage 2 will be asked for more details about their proposals for IPR. 

We will accept more than one application from an organisation, provided that the projects are different and discrete and they meet our priorities as identified in the 'Scaling Up' report. The applications need to be made by different people as one registered person can only submit one online application.

We invest in projects which most closely align to our area of adult and vocational learning using technology. In all cases projects must demonstrate how the technology can be used to improve adult and vocational learning. Our aim is make a real change in the real world, so our focus is less on research than projects with real deliverables to the target audience.

As a charity our focus is on adult and vocational learning using technology to provide scale and impact. We can only invest in projects run by a registered organisation. These may include: registered charities, community interest companies, social enterprises, not for profits, companies, community associations, FE colleges and public bodies. Note that we will NOT fund projects for or targeted at schools or universities as we feel they are already covered by other charities and funding bodies. Nor will we fund individuals.

There are a number of organisations that we cannot fund. Please do not apply if you represent one of the following:

• a political party 
• lobbying groups
• schools or universities
• individuals (unless the individual runs a registered organisation)

We are not after courses targeted at schools or universities, as they have their own separate sources of funding. We have used the word ‘vocational’ to refer to practical skills leading to employment, aimed at learners 16+ and adult learners engaged in lifelong learning.

We are looking for projects that are scalable in the sense that technology allows access, use or replication on scale. For example, projects targeted as just one department or college will stand less chance than those targeted at a network of colleges or the sector as a whole. We are looking for digital tools, content and courses that reach large target audiences, whether they be learning professionals or learners.

We are looking for scale through technology. Rather than specific devices, we are after networks and mechanisms that have mass penetration. Technology in this sense can refer to networks (the web, cloud), software (e-learning, adaptive learning, simulation, e-books, video, audio, wikis, blogs, social networks etc) or hardware (desktops, tablets, mobile devices etc).

When a funding round opens, applicants will have a month to make their initial Stage 1 submission. Once the deadline has passed, we will consider submissions and  notify all applicants within 4-6 weeks of our decision. Selected applicants who are asked to go forward to Stage 2 will be given a month in which to develop further more detailed proposals. These will then go forward to the Trustees for consideration. At that stage we will let you know the date of our final decision.

The start and end dates for our funding rounds will be advertised on our website and via our newsletter - so please sign up to keep in touch. It usually takes about three months from when we receive your initial Stage 1 application form until a final decision is reached. Please take this into account when planning your project.

If you think you have a project that Ufi Charitable Trust would be interested in funding, then you can apply using our online application process. We have a two stage process for applications. Both stages need to be submitted online through this website. Stage 1 is a relatively short process, where you outline the main features and benefits of your project. We aim to review all Stage 1 forms, submitted online, within four weeks of receipt. The projects we feel align closely with our aims and objectives will be shortlisted and invited to complete the Stage 2 form - also online.

All application forms received are acknowledged by an automated email. We aim to respond by email to Stage 1 applications with an accept or decline decision within four weeks. If your Stage 1 application is accepted, we will invite you to submit a detailed and costed Stage 2 application. You will be notified of the outcome of your Stage 2 application, again via email, shortly after our Board of Trustees' Meeting. If you have any queries about the progress of your application, you can contact us on: 02030867974 or e-mail:enquiries@ufi.co.uk

As a lean charity we try to avoid meetings. Before your application is presented to our Board of Trustees for consideration, it will have been reviewed by our team. If there are aspects of your application that are unclear, or lacking in detail, we may suggest a meeting or phone call to discuss these. It is also more likely that we will contact you if you are applying for a sizeable investment.

Our Board of Trustees will consider all of the responses you have supplied in your application form and make an informed decision based on this. We encourage applicants to read the ‘Scaling up’ report available on this website and supporting information, as this can often help us answer specific questions about your project. We will also undertake various due diligence checks to establish the authenticity of your organisation and application, including references. If we need more information from you before making a decision on your request, we will ask you.

Due to the large number of applications anticipated each year, we don't have the resources to feedback on each of the unsuccessful projects.

We ask for registration numbers so we can do background checks on the organisations we may fund. If you don't have a registration number please input 99999 into the 'Registered number' field.  

We acknowledge that there is bound to be overlap and many projects will cover more than one of the areas we are interested in. This will be covered in more detail for projects that go forward to Stage 2. For purposes of Stage 1 applications, please pick the area that that forms the core of your project.

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You should send an email to  technical.support@ufi.co.uk  giving us your account name, the time and date of the issue, a description of the browser and its version number you are using to apply for funding and a description of the issue.

Yes, all applicants have to create an account on the system before they are allowed to apply for funding.   This account will be validated via email, as a result all applicants will need to have a valid email address that they can access as part of the application process. 

As you enter each page of your application it is saved.  You can log in at any time while the call for funding is open and edit or amend your application, prior to submission.