ACE HSC's Equity Scholarship Program

Scholarship

Helping our community

Welcome to our Equity Scholarship Program

These scholarships are intended to help those in our community overcome disadvantage and hardship. They are not academically focused. Each application will be handled personally and on a case by case basis by the ACE HSC team, with the utmost respect for student and family privacy.

Eligibility Criteria

ACE HSC’s Equity Scholarship Program aims to help students who have experienced significant educational hardship receive access to tutoring services to support their studies.

To apply for the program, you must be able to demonstrate that, as a result of circumstances beyond your control or choosing, your studies have been negatively affected for at least 6 months during years 10, 11 or 12 under one of the 6 criteria listed below.

ACE HSC will review all scholarship recipients receiving support on a termly basis and may make changes to the program without prior notice.

Financial Hardship

Financial hardship means that the cost of attending private tuition make it either impossible to obtain, or causes significant financial distress for your family. Financial hardship may be demonstrated by one of the following conditions:

  • Your family receives a means-tested benefit from Centrelink (e.g. Income Support Payments, Parenting Payment, Special Benefit)
  • Your family receives the full Family Tax Benefit (Part A)
  • Exceptional financial hardship (i.e. You are not eligible for Centrelink support but can demonstrate financial hardship)


Financial Hardship is defined under this program as persisting for a period of at least three months during years 10, 11, or 12.

Severe Family Disruption

Severe family disruption can place immense stress on a student and their family during your HSC and in these cases ACE HSC would like to help. Severe family disruption may be demonstrated by one of the following:

  • Death of an immediate family member/close friend
  • Life-threatening/ severe illness of an immediate family member
  • Student has Out of home care (OOHC) status
  • Exceptional Family Disruption – Severe disruption to a student’s family which is not captured in the above criteria (Assessed on a case by case basis)

Family Carer Responsibilities

Caring for a family member can place a significant added burden on students. You may be eligible for the ACE Equity scholarship if you experience any of the below criteria for a period of at least six months during years 10, 11 or 12:

  • Hold excessive responsibility for the care of children or other family members
  • Are required to work to support family or yourself

Personal illness or Disability

Severe illness and/or disability can significantly disrupt your schooling and education. With ACE’s online class options, we can often help in flexible ways that schools simply are not capable of. You may qualify for an ACE Equity Scholarship if you have experienced a long-term medical condition for a period of at least six months during years 10, 11, or 12.

This criteria excludes a series of minor illnesses, ongoing minor medical conditions stabilised by medication, conditions which affect examination performance only, or conditions requiring ongoing rehabilitation or treatment where the commitment is less than two hours per week.

Refugee Status

Being a refugee creates a major hurdle for families to access a high quality education. If you entered Australia as a refugee or on a Global Special Humanitarian Visa, or were granted a refugee, or a Global Special Humanitarian visa (subclass 202) after your arrival.

School Disadvantage

If you attend a school identified by UAC as experiencing educational disadvantage, we are interested in helping you out. Please contact us to discuss options for regional and remote access to ACE HSC’s online classes.

How to Apply

If you meet one or more of the eligibility criteria above, please complete the form below and you will shortly be contacted by a member of the ACE HSC team.

By submitting this application, you agree that:
  • All information provided is accurate and correct
  • You are capable of submitting documentation which supports your application (Centrelink correspondence, Medical reports, School reports, etc.)
  • You have not already submitted an application for an ACE Equity Scholarship in the current calendar year
  • ACE HSC issues all Scholarship benefits at its absolute discretion, and may review the criteria and eligibility of any Scholarship recipient as it sees fit