PRIME MINISTER'S SCHOLARSHIPS

The purpose of the Prime Minister’s Athlete Scholarship is to provide scholarships to athletes, enabling them to pursue educational opportunities while maintaining their active participation in high-performance sport. These scholarships aim to broaden the skillsets and educational backgrounds of athletes, preparing them for diverse career paths by enhancing their non-sport development and encourage sustainability of the athlete talent pool.  

The Athlete scholarship support can include:  

• Financial contribution to study (course) costs and additional study fees  
  • Athlete Scholarship: Maximum $10,000 per application/applicant per year 
  • Athlete Gold Scholarship: Maximum $10,000 per application/applicant per year 
• Financial contribution to Study Support Allowance (SSA) 
  • Athlete Scholarship: Maximum $2,500 per semester 
  • Athlete Gold Scholarship: Maximum $500 per semester 

Athlete Scholarship 

• Be a New Zealand citizen.
• Be a high-performance athlete:
  • Be identified by HPSNZ as a Tailored Athlete Performance Support (TAPS) athlete, or
  • New Zealand Senior international representative athlete in an Invested or Non-Invested Sport
• The proposed study must fit within the athlete’s Individual Performance Plan (IPP) for the next 12-month period, with study requirements that do not restrict the athlete’s ability to commit to their agreed national training and competition plans.
• Submit a complete application.
• Be endorsed by their NSO and HPSNZ (sought by PMS team and based on guideline requirements and athlete performance) leading up to and during the scholarship.

Previous applicants:  

• Have met all recipient requirements whilst studying under the scholarship in the previous 12 months. 

Athlete Gold Scholarship 

The Prime Minister’s Athlete Gold Scholarship is available to eligible recipients (athletes) after they transition-out or retire from all international competition, or Team sport athletes transition out or retire from New Zealand international representative “Teams in Black”. 

• Athletes may be eligible for a Prime Minister’s Athlete Gold Scholarship based on their performance results at pinnacle events as agreed annually between NSOs and HPSNZ as set out in the Prime Minister’s Athlete Guidelines (2025-28) Schedule 1.  

• Athlete Gold Scholarships can be accrued to a maximum of 3 scholarship years, and all accrued scholarships expire 5 years after retirement.  

• Recipients must start their course of study within 24 months (2 years) of transitioning-out or retiring from international competition. 

Please contact the PM Scholarships team on [email protected], or alternatively contact your HPSNZ Performance Life Coach

HPSNZ is offering up to 10 paid internships each year for athletes through the Prime Minister’s Scholarship Athlete Internship to support athlete wellbeing, and preparation for life after sport.

Athletes from HPSNZ supported sports can apply for this paid internship opportunity.

Step 1: Contact your Performance Life coach or Personal Development Manager to see if this opportunity is right for you and for support with your application. See FAQs for more information.

Step 2: Apply now through the link (see below) by 12pm 31st October.

After you have filled out the online application form, supporting documents must be emailed to [email protected]

Apply here: HPSNZ Athlete Internship

Your Performance Life Coach, PDM or Internship Lead Hannah McLean [email protected]

This section is currently being updated. Please come back on 30 January 2026 for the latest information.

Please contact the PM Scholarships team on [email protected], or alternatively contact your HPSNZ HP Coach Consultant (if applicable).

This section is currently being updated. Please come back on 30 January 2026 for the latest information.

Please contact the PM Scholarships team on [email protected], or alternatively contact your HPSNZ Performance Team Leader.

This section is currently being updated. Please come back on 30 January 2026 for the latest information.

Please contact the PM Scholarships team on [email protected]