The process

The start and end dates for our funding rounds will be advertised on our website. These will also be announced in our newsletter, so please sign up to stay in touch. When the fund is open, all applications are made online. Applying online is simple – after registering and creating an account you can save and come back to your application at any time while the funding round is open.

Stage 1 is a simple short form outlining the details of your organisation, project and required investment. We will usually allow about a month for Stage 1 applications to be made. Once the Stage 1 period has closed, the Trustees will evaluate applications and choose the ones which best meet our criteria. This evaluation period generally takes about a month - six weeks. Selected applicants will then be invited to proceed to Stage 2, a more detailed application explaining the project's goals, beneficiaries, costs and communications. We will generally allow about a month for the Stage 2 application to be submitted.

Not everyone who proceeds to Stage 2 will be awarded funding. The Trustees will evaluate submissions and will consider how well projects meet our priorities, as listed in the ‘Scaling Up’ report. We will also do background checks on the organisations who apply.

Once awarded funding, projects will be monitored on an on-going basis and organisations will be asked to report on how they are meeting their stated goals.

 

Scaling up report

Our ‘Scaling Up’ report describes the general problems the Trust aims to address by means of the projects we fund. The report was delivered in 2012 and investigates opportunities for and barriers to the application of digital technology to adult learning. The report has specific recommendations, stated in Chapter 3, that act as a guide to the three priority areas we're interested in funding:

• Increasing the capability of those involved in running the vocational learning system
• Exploiting networks to bring together learners, learning content and learning professionals
• Harnessing computers to support individualised and differentiated learning

We welcome applications that make a robust and imaginative contribution to these areas. Please read the report carefully and check that your project meets our criteria. To find out more please read the report.

 

FAQs

Please review our FAQs which should answer most of your questions. If you have a question which is not included please email info@ufi.co.uk. FAQs will be updated to cover common questions as they arise.

 

Further background information

You can find out more by looking at the reports on our Learn pages.