Scholarships for first-year students

The University offers a number of entrance scholarships which can help pay for university study or residential accommodation expenses.

Entrance scholarships are available for full-time, first-year (100-level papers) undergraduate study at Otago.

You can apply for all Entrance Scholarships through one application on eVision. We will use your responses, results and information from your referees and your school to determine which scholarships you are eligible for. Your application will be considered for any scholarships open on the date you apply. Opening and closing dates for scholarships vary, with many closing on 15 August. Applications must be received before 11:59pm on the closing date indicated in order to be considered.

Entrance scholarships

Undergraduate entrance scholarships

Eligibility for International students

Only international students who have completed Year 12 and/or Year 13 at a New Zealand secondary school or the University of Otago Pathway | Te Huarahi programme (or an equivalent foundation course at another New Zealand tertiary institution) are eligible to apply for all undergraduate Entrance Scholarships.

If you are an Australian citizen or permanent resident studying in New Zealand you may apply for an undergraduate Entrance Scholarship providing you meet the eligibility criteria.

If you are a NZ citizen or NZ residence class visa holder and you haven't completed your year 12 and 13 in New Zealand but have completed it overseas, you can still apply.

FAQs Eligibility

Applying for an Entrance Scholarship

To submit an application for an undergraduate entrance scholarship, you need to have started the process of applying for a programme of study at the University of Otago using eVision.

Enrolling at Otago

You need to have:

1. Created an account in eVision (including selecting an undergraduate programme of study - you can change your programme selection later if you need to).
2. Completed the first three steps of your University Application (Personal details, Contact details and Educational background). You don't need to select a major or papers at this stage.

At this point, in eVision, you can navigate to the My Scholarships and Awards tab and select the Apply for an Undergraduate Entrance Scholarship link, or you can go to My Scholarships and Awards on the main page and select Apply Now. Follow the prompts to complete your application.

If the “Apply Now” button is not available in eVision

If you have followed the steps above for applying for an Entrance Scholarship but the Apply for an Undergraduate Entrance Scholarship button is not available, please check the following eligibility details:

Applications open on 1 July 2022, therefore the 'Apply now' button will not appear until this date.

Have you selected an eligible programme of study? Entrance scholarships are available for full-time, first-year (100-level papers) 2023 undergraduate study at Otago. This means the following programmes are not eligible so will not allow access to the online application:

• 2022 undergraduate programmes (you will need to cancel your 2022 programme application and apply for a 2023 programme)
• All Honours (e.g. Bachelor of Commerce with Honours), Certificate, Diploma, Masters, Phd programmes (these are not undergraduate)
• Health-Science Undergraduate Professional Programmes (HSUPP) which require Health-Science First Year - Dentistry, Medical Laboratory Science, Medicine, Pharmacy, Physiotherapy. (You need to cancel the special programme application and apply for the Health Sciences First Year instead, then you will be able to apply for entrance scholarships.)
• Students who have already studied more than 0.4 EFTS at any University or tertiary institution at degree-level or higher (one 18-point paper = roughly equivalent to 0.15 EFTS) – This does not apply if the University papers studied were undertaken whilst still enrolled in secondary school. However, students will not be offered the “Apply Now” option in eVision if they have indicated in their application that their occupation status as of 1 October 2022 was a university student. (If you have indicated this in error, you will need to go back and correct this information in eVision by re-entering the My Application menu item or in Programmes and Papers, click on your programme and select Course Enrolment. If you are already Course Declared, you will need to contact AskOtago to get this changed for you.)

If you are one of the students below, you will not automatically have access to apply through eVision, but may still be eligible:

• Students who completed a paper at the University of Otago while at high school
• International students who have completed, or are in the process of completing, a Pathway │ Te Huarahi or Foundation Year programme

If you are one of these students, you should email entrance.scholarships@otago.ac.nz with your Otago student ID number in your email for assistance.

Contact the Entrance Scholarships team to find out more about entrance scholarships:

Freephone 0800 80 80 98 (within New Zealand)
Tel +64 3 479 7000
Email entrance.scholarships@otago.ac.nz

Further information

Apply for an Entrance Scholarship

University of Otago Entrance Scholarships FAQs