TalentAid

Eligibility

All applications are subject to the following eligibility criteria:

Masonic Connection:

• The TalentAid candidate must be the child, step-child or grandchild of a Freemason. (Please be aware that if the Freemason’s membership is not active there is a set period of time after the membership ended in which an application can be submitted. Please contact us for further information before submitting an application).

Household & Finances:

• The candidate must be aged 25 or under and in full-time education as of 1^st September 2025.
• A financial assessment of the family’s household income.
• Candidates must apply for all other sources of available funding such as grants, scholarships and sponsorship.

Costs:

• Costs requested must be essential to the development of the candidate’s talent.
• The MCF will only consider costs that are required for the forthcoming academic year (2025/26). Any costs outside of this timeframe cannot be considered.
• Assistance with school fees for music or dance students can only be considered if they are attending a Music and Dance Scheme (MDS) accredited establishment AND are on a course eligible for funding from this scheme. Please see the list of eligible schools here.
• Assistance with course fees for performing arts students can only be considered if they are studying a Level 5 or Level 6 Diploma in Professional Acting, Dance or Musical Theatre that is eligible for a Dance and Drama Award (DaDA). Please see the list of eligible establishments here.
• We are only able to consider assistance with school fees for other disciplines if the candidate attends a choir school or a sports college based on their exceptional talent. Choristers must also have applied for funding from the Choir Schools’ Association when submitting an application. Please visit their website for further information.
• In certain instances we can consider support for undergraduate degrees if the Student Finance Tuition Fee Loan does not cover the full cost of the tuition fees. Please contact us for further information before submitting an application.
• In certain instances we can consider support for candidates studying overseas at a prestigious establishment when they have been awarded a significant scholarship. These applications are considered on a case-by-case basis. We are unfortunately unable to help in cases where there is an equivalent course in the UK that is eligible for Student Finance England/Wales funding. Please contact us for further information before submitting an application.

Talent:

• Candidates must intend to pursue their talent as a career.
• The candidate must be able to demonstrate exceptional talent by passing recognised examinations, gaining entry to highly competitive schemes or by performing at regional and national levels.
• Grants are not available to fund a hobby.
• Grants are not available so that an academically gifted child can attend a better school.

Please note, TalentAid grants are affordability tested; therefore a household contribution may be required should your household have income or capital over a certain level.

Application process and deadline

All TalentAid applications for each upcoming academic year will be considered the preceding July and you will be notified of the outcome of your application in August.

For those seeking support for the 2024/25 academic year: The TalentAid scheme has closed for this academic year so we are not accepting any further applications.

For those seeking support for the 2025/26 academic year: Applications are now being accepted.

There are three parts to the application:

1. Application Form
2. Supporting Statement
3. Tutor/Coach Reference Form

The Tutor/Coach Reference form and Supporting Statement must be completed for an application to be considered. These forms are used to help us identify the very best candidates. We will not accept alternative documents in place of any of the three TalentAid forms.

The Tutor/Coach Reference form will be emailed direct to the nominated tutor/coach once your Application Form is received.

If we do not receive all three parts of the application, together with supporting financial documents, your application will not be progressed.

The deadline for completed applications (comprising Application Form, Supporting Statement and supporting documents) is 9am Monday 31 March 2025. Any application received after this date will not be considered.

In order to submit your application, please email talentaid@mcf.org.uk to request an RMail encrypted link. We aim to provide this to you within 1 working day.

Please note that all forms & supporting documents should be clearly labelled and provided as a PDF, Microsoft Word document, JPG, and/or PNG files. Unfortunately we are unable to accept applications sent via other file sharing services such as DropBox/WeTransfer/etc.

You will receive an acknowledgement email once your application has been received.

Further information

If you have any questions about the TalentAid scheme, please get in touch

0800 035 60 90

talentaid@mcf.org.uk