Funding for personal and professional development

• You must be registered on the Plus Programme.
• The membership fee for the club or society must be over £15.
• The membership fee must be for one year only. If your club or society does not offer one-year membership, you can use it for a longer membership.

It can take up to four weeks for applications to be processed. Email the LUU Student Activities team at activities@leeds.ac.uk if you have any questions.

• You must be registered on the Plus Programme.
• Costs must have been incurred during the same academic year.
• You must have been a member of the relevant society when you paid for the associated costs.
• Only personal costs related to society activity are eligible.
• You must have acceptable proof of purchase for anything you claim reimbursement on.

• Equipment: Activewear, uniform/kit, tennis racket, scripts etc.
• Regular classes/sessions.
• Ticketed events: Society core activity or Christmas/Summer balls only (purchased through Engage, FIXR or Eventbrite). 
• Domestic trips away: trips outside of the Leeds area. 
• International trips away.
• Merchandise: Official society hoodies, t-shirts, bags, etc.
• Competitions/matches.
• Gradings.
• Insurance/membership of a professional body.
• Travel: Private and public transport.

Providers, coaches, or instructors must sign and date receipts if not purchased through Engage.

 It can take up to four weeks for applications to be processed. Email the LUU Student Activities team at activities@leeds.ac.uk if you have any questions.

You must be registered on the Plus Programme.

The fund, of up to £500, can help towards the cost of:

• Travel and accommodation costs for interviews, internships or other opportunities.
• Attendance fees for courses, conferences or residential training events.
• Smart clothing.
• Activities run by Get Out, Get Active. 
• Application costs for further study.
• Equipment (not laptops, computers or books).
• Some overseas opportunities.
• Other expenses.

Find out more about professional opportunities.

Read the Opportunities Fund guidance.

Complete the Opportunities Fund online application form.

It can take up to 21 days for applications to be processed. Email the Plus Programme at theplusprogramme@leeds.ac.uk if you have any questions.

Look at volunteering opportunities with Leeds Volunteering or internships with the Leeds Internship Programme if you’re not sure which extracurricular activities are right for you.

I have wanted to become a doctor and pursue a career in medicine for as long as I can remember.

Due to personal circumstances I was not able to secure a place at medical school right after my A-level studies, and instead I undertook my current degree programme – BSc Human Physiology.

Throughout my time at the University of Leeds, I have gained a wide range of experiences including volunteering at St James Hospital as a patient support volunteer where I provided companionship to patients, completed work experience at the LGI, worked as a mentor in a local secondary school, and was involved in several university societies.

I applied for medical school in 2018 and was lucky enough to receive interview invitations from several medical schools. The cost to travel to my interviews at Brighton and Belfast were quite expensive and so I applied to the Opportunities Fund. The funding allowed me to travel to my interviews without having to worry about how expensive the travel was. I was successful in two  interviews and will now be undertaking a five-year medical degree from September, something which I thought I would not be successful in securing. 

I applied for the Opportunities Fund after hearing about it through a Plus Programme newsletter.

At the time, I was applying for placements for my third year. I had offers for placements from FTSE 100 companies and I was thoroughly excited about the opportunities available to me, however I was worried about how I was going to pay for attending the assessment centres.

Most of my assessment centres were located in London which meant catching a train from Leeds, an overnight stay in some instances and tube fares to get around. Whilst some companies offered help towards travel expenses, it nowhere near covered what I would have spent and many companies did not offer compensation at all. As I still didn’t know which placement I wanted, I was relying on visiting the assessment centres to give me an insight into the company and help inform my final decision.

I got offers for numerous Assessment Centres which I whittled down to my top ten and eventually top five. Realistically, I could only afford to attend one but I applied for the Opportunities Fund and this meant I could attend all five. Money has been a worry for me throughout University and to have the opportunity to not consider it was a great relief.

I was offered sevreral placements and the choice of placement was entirely my own. Also, being able to attend several assessment centres gradually built my confidence as I became used to different activities, interviews and expectations – a great experience for my future employability. I now look forward to starting my twelve-month industrial placement and I am grateful for the support given by the Plus Programme team and the Opportunities Fund.

Through the Opportunities Fund, I was able to apply for travel expenses for return tickets to attend the Bright Network’s Women in TEC Conference in London. The conference included panel discussions of women in TEC, sharing their experiences in panel discussions about working in a male-dominated industry. I was able to access this unique opportunity and discover my interest in learning about coding. I have since gone onto research into discovery modules about coding and technology for next year, and I aim to apply for these in May. If I did not attend this event, I would not have considered how technology could be implemented into not just my initial dissertation idea, but also how learning to code can be beneficial towards applying for future jobs and adding to my CV/skills.

The event was brilliant, as I was able to be part of panel discussions and have a better insight in how successful women in their field have gone onto achieve senior executive roles within their companies. This has inspired me to see where I can gain teamwork and leadership experience during my time at university.

Also, since attending the event, I have become more confident in approaching different employers to ask about their career journey. The funding allowed me to network with different companies across the UK working in these industries, and to be part of a cohort of 150 other female university students across the country. This included seeing what graduate jobs are available in different companies.

My funding paid for return train tickets to London from Leeds, including a day ticket to use on the underground tube system. This travel expense was booked by the Plus Programme which relieved extra pressure during the booking process. The application process was simple and I felt supported by the Plus Programme staff if I had any concerns or questions.

Overall, the experience has boosted my confidence, and has made me even more aware of other opportunities I may be able to apply for in the future to benefit my career and time at the University of Leeds. 

I applied for the Opportunity Fund for financial support to attend the Drexel-Leeds Global Classroom course in Amsterdam in March 2018, which I had applied for and been awarded a place on.

The course included leadership theory and practice and team roles and dynamics, viewed from a global perspective with reflection and goal setting. It also included a hands-on consulting-based project collaboration with social enterprises in the Netherlands hosted by The Knowmads Business School. 

My participation in this course has heightened my cultural intelligence, enhanced my global business awareness and allowed me to establish a more extensive international professional network. Through networking and conversing with international business leaders, academics, and students, I have been able to gain invaluable insights into the apparent cultural differences and how this influences business. I have explored how others would tackle the current problems businesses face and the differing opinions on the most efficient solution, strengthening my problem-solving skills for future study.

I had to personally fund the flights and transport to Amsterdam, breakfast, and spending money. I wouldn’t have been able to afford the flights and transportation without the Opportunity Fund. This eased the financial burden of the costs of the trip and saved me from the stress of trying to locate the funding to attend the course, which I am extremely grateful for. I would otherwise have had to sign up for extra shifts with my job to try and raise funding for the course, which would have affected my studies and preparations for my exams.

Thanks to the Plus Programme Opportunity Fund, I was able to make the most of my first summer at University by completing a summer school programme in South Korea.

The tuition fee for the host university – Korea University in Seoul – was already subsidised, but the other costs associated with such a programme would otherwise have been too difficult to cover for a low income family such as mine.

Luckily, I was able to receive support from the Opportunities Fund which paid for my accommodation at the host University’s dormitories which made the trip affordable. I was able to experience the local culture more, helping me to gain a better insight into the country that I was visiting. It was close to where classes took place, giving me more time to explore the city and saving me the costs of commuting. Also, it was safe, and a guaranteed place to stay when I arrived in the country.

The summer school consisted of courses taught by lecturers from around the world along with cultural activities that allowed us to become immersed in local life. 

Understanding and experiencing different cultures is important for developing an open mind, and seeing different ways of living enables new ideas to form more easily. Living in a foreign environment requires the skill to adapt, among many others such as orientation, planning and decision making. The Plus Programme's Opportunities Fund helped me to take advantage of this incredible opportunity.