All Saints Educational Trust was formed from the sale proceeds of two former teacher training colleges in what is now north London: St Katharine's College at Tottenham (founded 1878) and Berridge House at Hampstead (founded 1893). These united in 1964 to form the College of All Saints, Tottenham, which closed on merger with Middlesex Polytechnic in 1978.
The Trust is broadly based on the object of the College of All Saints, which had been to train teachers within a Christian foundation. Whilst St Katharine's College had been concerned mainly with general teaching, Berridge House had been established primarily to train teachers of Domestic Science (now known as Home Economics). The Trust seeks to carry on the work of the predecessor Colleges by awarding scholarships to current or potential students who intend to teach, or to develop an existing career as a teacher, and by making corporate grants to build up the teaching profession.
Within the framework set by the Trust's governing document, its Trustee (the College of All Saints Foundation) enjoys discretion as to how it applies Trust income in making grants and awarding scholarships. The criteria applied may change from time to time, but at present the main purposes of the awards the Foundation makes are:
| To increase the numbers of qualified Religious Education and Home Economics teachers, and of primary teachers with a specialist focus in these areas; |
| To improve the skills and qualifications of experienced Religious Education and Home Economics teachers at all levels of education; and |
| To support specifically Religious Education and Home Economics teaching, and teaching in related areas, including the promotion of community public health and nutrition and of religious literacy, both at home and overseas. |
For a detailed statement of the current criteria for grants and scholarships see Are you eligible to apply? Only a rough summary is given on this page; but the key criteria for scholarships to individual applicants are that:
| The applicant must be seeking an award (for example, a degree) from a United Kingdom higher education institution. |
| The applicant must need the Trust's help: scholarships are not awarded where study could be funded from personal means or available public funding. |
| The applicant must be proposing to study a relevant subject, in pursuit of one of the Trust's above stated goals. |
| The contribution likely to be made to society as a result of Trust funding is important. |
The Foundation believes it is possible for people who live outside the United Kingdom to study at home for first degrees and to obtain their own countries' initial teaching qualification (if any). It is, however, happy to support students from overseas who wish to progress further. Accordingly:
| Overseas applicants must have held a first degree or equivalent qualification for two years before they apply to the Trust. |
Examples of purposes for which the Trust does not usually fund individuals are:
| Undergraduate courses in subjects other than education |
| Courses in social work or youth work |
| Training of ministers for a church or religious organisation. |
Please refer to the Award Criteria for more detail, and to the Corporate Awards page for further information on corporate grants.
The Trustees require that applicants will have explored all sources of university,
Local Authority or Central Government funding - including loans - for
which they may be eligible before making any application to the All Saints Educational
Trust.
Whatever the background circumstances, the Trustees expect to see
indications of initiative and of self-help, and a sense of purpose from
applicants. The Trustees try to give the benefit of the Trust's financial
support to those whom they believe will pass on to others the benefits of new
skills and qualifications acquired during their training or study supported by
ASET.