We’ve looked at many applications over the past few years. The ones that tend to do well usually:

• have a strong community project proposal which is well researched and thought out
• come from applicants in serious financial difficulty
• come from students who have done well at school
• are from young people who have not yet enrolled in a course

Sometimes we have found ourselves offering hints and guidance to students about community work.

One odd thing that we see a lot is that girls tend to make better applications than boys. We don’t know why this is. Also, of all the projects that have been proposed to us so far, not one involved sport. Anyone?

Some factors that may not help an application:

• you have already started university
• you are studying medicine or a course that takes more than four years
• your family is able to pay for brothers and sisters to go to university

Ahdaf does not provide financial support for students who have already gained a degree.

Here is the application form. Please complete it with as much information as possible and e-mail it to us. Do not leave any questions unanswered. Incomplete forms will be rejected. When you download the form, please re-name it using your own name and ensure that your name on the form is in both Arabic and English.