Bursaries in the UK for College Students: A Complete Guide (2025)

A bursary is essentially free money for your education. Unlike student loans that you’ll be paying back for years, bursaries don’t need to be repaid. Ever.

Think of them as grants designed to help students who need financial support to stay in education. Most bursaries are awarded based on financial need—your household income, whether you’re in care, or if you’re receiving certain benefits. But some are tied to specific courses, career paths, or even where you live.

The confusing part? Bursaries come from all different places. The government offers some. Your college or university might have its own. Charities and trusts give them out. Professional organisations in fields like nursing or teaching provide them. There’s no single application that covers everything, which is why so many students miss out on money they’re actually eligible for.

Here’s what you need to understand upfront: bursaries aren’t as widely available as student loans. Not everyone qualifies. But if you do qualify, they can make a massive difference—covering everything from travel costs and textbooks to accommodation and course materials.

The Main Types of Bursaries Available

Let’s break down what’s actually out there for UK students.

The 16-19 Bursary Fund is specifically for college students in further education. If you’re between 16 and 19 and studying at a sixth form, college, or doing a vocational course, this is probably your main option. It covers day-to-day costs that might otherwise keep you from attending—bus fares, books, equipment, even meals in some cases.

University Bursaries are offered by individual universities to their undergraduate students. Almost every university has some kind of bursary scheme, though the amounts and eligibility vary wildly. Some give you a few hundred pounds a year. Others, like Oxford’s Crankstart Scholarship, can provide several thousand pounds annually if your household income is low enough.

Charity and Trust Bursaries come from independent organisations—sometimes huge national charities, sometimes tiny local trusts you’ve never heard of. These can be incredibly specific. Some are only for students in certain regions, or studying certain subjects, or from particular backgrounds. They’re harder to find, but there are thousands of them across the UK.

Institution-specific bursaries are whatever your particular college or university decides to offer beyond the standard schemes. Maybe they have extra funding for care leavers. Maybe they support students from local areas. You won’t know unless you ask.

Professional Sector Bursaries target students entering specific careers. The Social Work Bursary is a big one. There are teaching bursaries, nursing bursaries, and schemes in other fields where there are workforce shortages. These often come with conditions—like you might need to work in that field for a certain number of years after qualifying.

How the 16-19 Bursary Fund Actually Works

If you’re in college or sixth form, this is probably your most realistic funding option. But the system is more complicated than it looks at first glance.

There are two main types of support under this fund, and they work completely differently.

The Vulnerable Student Bursary

This is for students in specific circumstances. You can get up to £1,200 a year if you’re in care, you’ve recently left care, you’re receiving Universal Credit or Income Support in your own name, or you’re receiving Disability Living Allowance and either Employment Support Allowance or Universal Credit. This isn’t a “maybe” situation—if you meet these criteria, you’re entitled to this money.

The catch? It’s not automatic. You still need to apply through your college or school. And the money doesn’t just land in your bank account as a lump sum. Most institutions pay it in instalments throughout the year, and some will only give it to you as you actually need things. So you might get a payment for your bus pass at the start of term, another payment when you need course materials, and so on.

The Discretionary Bursary

This is where things get murky. This is for students who don’t meet the vulnerable student criteria but still have financial need. Your college decides who gets it and how much, based on their own assessment process and the funding they have available.

Here’s the reality: discretionary bursaries are competitive. Your college has a limited pot of money, and they’re trying to spread it among everyone who needs help. Some students might get £500 for the year. Others might get £50 for a specific piece of equipment. It varies massively between institutions and even between students at the same college.

What can these bursaries actually cover? Most colleges focus on specific costs: travel to and from college, course materials and textbooks, equipment for your course (like art supplies or tech equipment), specialist clothing (chef whites, sports kit, work placement attire), trips and visits related to your studies, and sometimes meals if you’re at college all day.

What they typically won’t cover: general living expenses unrelated to your studies, social activities, or things you’d need anyway, whether you were in college or not.

The Residential Support Scheme

This is a smaller program for students who need to live away from home to study their chosen course. This isn’t for people who just want to move out—it’s for situations where your course genuinely isn’t available locally. Think specialised vocational qualifications that are only taught at specific colleges. The funding can go up to £4,745 a year for students in this situation.

Why Bursaries Matter More Than People Realise

It’s easy to think “a few hundred pounds won’t make much difference.” But for students who are already stretched thin, bursaries can be the difference between staying in education and dropping out.

I’ve spoken to college students who were genuinely considering quitting because they couldn’t afford the £80 monthly bus pass to get to campus. That bursary covering their travel meant they could actually continue their course. Others have used bursary money to buy a laptop when their old one died—without it, they couldn’t complete assignments or access online resources.

For care leavers especially, bursaries can be transformative. You’re navigating education without the family safety net most students take for granted. No parent to lend you £50 when you need new textbooks. No family car to borrow when you need to get to a work placement. Bursaries fill some of those gaps.

And unlike student loans—which are hovering over you throughout your career—bursaries are just… yours. No repayment. No interest accumulating. Furthermore, there are no calculations about whether your future salary will trigger repayments.

University Bursaries: What’s Actually Available

Once you hit university level, the bursary landscape changes completely. Every university has its own approach, and the amounts vary dramatically.

Oxford University

This offers the Crankstart Scholarship for UK students from lower-income households. If your household income is around £32,500 or less, you can get substantial non-repayable support. We’re talking thousands of pounds per year, not just a token amount. For the lowest-income students, it can cover a significant chunk of living costs.

Newcastle University

This has Opportunity Scholarships worth up to £2,000 per year for undergraduates from lower-income backgrounds. They assess your household income when you apply for student finance, and if you’re eligible, they notify you. You don’t need to submit a separate lengthy application—though you do need to accept the scholarship once offered.

University of Lincoln

This runs the Blackburn Bursary specifically for care leavers under 25. This is on top of whatever other support you’re getting. It recognises that care leavers face unique challenges in higher education and need additional financial backing.

University of Surrey

This has a whole range of bursaries covering different situations—income-based support, bursaries for specific subjects, and funding for students from underrepresented groups. Their scholarships and bursaries page lists dozens of different schemes. The key is checking which ones you actually qualify for, because you might be eligible for multiple sources.

University of Sunderland

This focuses on students from underrepresented backgrounds or those facing financial hardship. They assess applications individually, which means there’s more flexibility than rigid income cutoffs, but it also means you need to make a convincing case about your circumstances.

University of Cumbria

This offers the Cumbria Bursary for first-year UK undergraduates with household income below £25,000. It’s worth up to £1,000 for the year. Not huge, but combined with other support, it helps.

The pattern you’ll notice: most universities target their bursaries at lower-income students, care leavers, and students from groups that traditionally have lower university participation rates. The exact income thresholds vary, but they’re usually assessing household income from your student finance application.

Here’s what students don’t always realise: these bursaries often stack with other funding. You can get a university bursary plus a maintenance loan, plus potentially a charity bursary. They’re not mutually exclusive. The university bursary doesn’t reduce your student loan entitlement.

Charity, Trust and Professional Bursaries (The Hidden Ones)

This is where things get interesting, because there are literally thousands of small bursaries from charities and trusts that most students never hear about.

The Whitgift Foundation has been giving out education bursaries for centuries. They support students in specific circumstances, often with local connections to particular areas.

The Arkwright Scholarship (technically a scholarship, but functionally similar) supports A-level students interested in engineering. You get financial support plus mentoring and enrichment opportunities. It’s competitive, but if you’re genuinely interested in engineering, it’s worth applying.

Social Work Bursaries are substantial—the government provides these for students training to be social workers. They recognise that social work placements are demanding and often unpaid, so students need financial support to complete their training. These bursaries can be worth several thousand pounds per year.

The challenge with charity and trust bursaries is finding them. There’s no central database that lists everything. But some resources help:

Turn2us is a charity that runs a grants search tool. You enter your circumstances—your age, location, what you’re studying, your background—and it shows you grants and bursaries you might be eligible for. Some of the trusts they list are tiny—maybe they only give out three bursaries a year—but if you’re one of those three, that could be £1,000-2,000 coming your way.

The Scholarship Hub (part of Blackbullion) aggregates bursaries and scholarships from multiple sources. You create a profile, and it matches you with opportunities. Not every listing will be current or relevant, but it’s a decent starting point.

The thing about these smaller bursaries: the application pools are often small. Big national schemes get thousands of applications. A local trust might get thirty. Your odds are better than you think.

How to Actually Apply (The Practical Steps)

Let’s walk through the actual process, because this is where students get stuck.

Step 1: Start with Your Institution

If you’re in college or sixth form, go to student services and ask about the 16-19 Bursary Fund. They’ll have an application form—usually online, sometimes paper. You’ll need to provide proof of your circumstances: benefit letters if you’re receiving them, evidence of being in care or a care leaver, and proof of household income.

Most colleges have a bursary office or a designated person who handles these applications. Book an appointment. Bring your documents. Ask them to walk you through the form. They want you to get this money—they’re not trying to make it difficult.

For university bursaries, check your university’s website under “Fees and Funding” or “Scholarships and Bursaries.” Some universities assess you automatically based on your student finance application. Others require a separate application. Don’t assume—check.

Step 2: Gather Your Evidence Early

You’ll need documentation. What specifically depends on the bursary, but common requirements include:

Proof of household income (P60s, tax returns, benefit letters)
Bank statements showing your financial situation
Letters from social services if you’re in care or a care leaver
Proof of address
Student ID or acceptance letter
Course details and fee information

Get this stuff together before the deadline. Scrambling for documents at the last minute is how people miss out.

Step 3: Use Funding Databases

Spend a few hours on Turn2us and The Scholarship Hub. Create profiles. Fill them out completely—the more details you provide, the better the matches. Save any opportunities that look relevant, and check their individual websites for application details and deadlines.

Don’t skip opportunities because they seem small. A £250 bursary might not sound life-changing, but it pays for textbooks. Or a month of travel. Or groceries for several weeks. Apply for everything you’re genuinely eligible for.

Step 4: Watch the Deadlines

Bursary deadlines are all over the place. Some align with UCAS deadlines. Additionally, some are in the summer before you start. Some are after you’ve already started your course. Make a spreadsheet or use a calendar to track every deadline for every bursary you’re applying to.

Set reminders a week before each deadline. Don’t wait until the last day—you might need to chase someone for a reference or track down additional documentation.

Step 5: Make Your Case

For discretionary bursaries where you need to explain your circumstances, be honest and specific. Don’t write “I need help with costs.” Write “I need to travel 18 miles each way to college, which costs £72 per month for a bus pass. I also need to purchase art supplies for my course, estimated at £150 per year. My family income is below £20,000 and we cannot afford these costs.”

Numbers matter. Specifics matter. They’re trying to assess genuine need, so show them what you actually need and why.

Step 6: Follow Up

After you apply, follow up. Check your email (including spam). If you haven’t heard back within the timeframe they mentioned, contact the bursary office and ask about your application status.

If you’re awarded a bursary, confirm receipt in writing and ask about payment schedules. When will you receive it? Is it a lump sum or instalments? Do you need to do anything to trigger payments?

Common Mistakes That Cost Students Money

Let me tell you what trips people up, because these mistakes are completely avoidable.

Missing Deadlines

This is the big one. Students find out about bursaries after the deadline has passed. Or they mean to apply but forget. Or they wait until the last day and can’t get all their documents together in time.

The solution: as soon as you accept a place at college or university, immediately research bursary deadlines. Put them in your calendar. Set multiple reminders. Treat bursary applications like they’re coursework deadlines—because they basically are, except the grade is cash in your pocket.

Incomplete Applications

You apply but forget to attach supporting documents. Or you skip optional questions that actually strengthen your case. Or your supporting statement is two sentences when they were clearly expecting a paragraph explaining your circumstances.

Incomplete applications often just get rejected. They’re not going to chase you for missing information when they have 200 other applications to process. Check and double-check before you submit.

Not Declaring All Circumstances

Some students don’t mention they’re care leavers because they don’t think it’s relevant. Or they don’t mention a disability because the bursary description doesn’t specifically say it’s for disabled students. Or they understate their financial hardship because they don’t want to seem desperate.

Here’s the thing: bursary assessors are often looking at multiple criteria. Mentioning all your circumstances—even if they seem peripheral—gives them a fuller picture and might make you eligible for additional support or priority consideration.

Assuming You Won’t Qualify

Students see “household income below £25,000” and think “we earn slightly more, so there’s no point applying.” But many bursaries have flexibility, especially discretionary ones. Others assess circumstances beyond just income—maybe your family has high essential costs due to caring responsibilities or debt.

Apply anyway. The worst they can say is no. And you might be surprised.

Not Checking Every Year

You didn’t qualify for a bursary in your first year, so you assume you won’t qualify in your second year. But maybe your household income dropped. Maybe new bursaries were introduced. Maybe the eligibility criteria changed.

Check every year. Don’t assume anything carries over or stays the same.

Forgetting to Combine Funding Sources

Students get a small college bursary and think, “That’s it, that’s my financial support.” They don’t realise they could also be eligible for a charity bursary, a subject-specific bursary, and additional university hardship funds.

Bursaries stack. Apply for all of them. Your college bursary doesn’t disqualify you from other sources unless explicitly stated.

Real Scenarios: How Bursaries Actually Help

Let me give you some concrete examples of how this works in practice.

Scenario 1: Maya, College Student from a Low-Income Family

Maya is 17, studying A-levels at sixth form. Her family receives Universal Credit. She qualifies for free school meals.

She applies for the 16-19 Bursary Fund and receives the vulnerable student bursary of £1,200 for the year. Her college pays this in instalments: £300 at the start of each term.

She uses the first payment to buy textbooks and a scientific calculator (£120), gets a termly bus pass (£80), and buys a second-hand laptop for coursework (£100). The remaining money covers ongoing travel costs throughout the term.

Without this bursary, Maya would likely have dropped out. Her family couldn’t afford the transport costs, and she was missing classes because she couldn’t always get to college.

Scenario 2: James, Care Leaver at University

James is 20 and studying at the University of Lincoln. He’s a care leaver, so he qualifies for several funding sources simultaneously:

Full maintenance loan (maximum amount for his circumstances)
University of Lincoln Blackburn Bursary (care leavers): £1,000/year
Local council leaving care grant: £2,000 first year
Accommodation bursary from the university: £500

His total support package is substantial. The bursaries on top of his maintenance loan mean he can actually afford accommodation, food, and course materials without taking on additional part-time work that would interfere with his studies.

Scenario 3: Aisha, a Mature Student Training as a Social Worker

Aisha is 32, training to be a social worker at the University of Sunderland. She has two children.

She receives the Social Work Bursary, which provides several thousand pounds for the year, specifically for social work students. This recognises that her course includes demanding unpaid placements where she can’t work part-time.

She also applies for and receives a university hardship grant (£800) to cover childcare costs during placement weeks, and a small trust bursary (£300) for mature students in her region.

Combined, these funding sources make it financially viable for her to complete her training. Without them, she’d have had to drop out—she simply couldn’t afford to work less while on placements.

What to Do If You’re Rejected

Sometimes you apply and don’t get the bursary. That’s not the end of the road.

First, find out why. Contact the bursary office and ask for feedback. Was your household income just above the threshold? Was your application incomplete? Did they run out of funding? Understanding why helps you figure out your next move.

If you were rejected because of incomplete information, ask if you can resubmit with additional documentation. Some institutions allow this, especially for discretionary bursaries where there’s assessment flexibility.

If you were just above an income threshold, check if there are other bursaries with different criteria. Maybe you don’t qualify for the main university bursary, but there’s a smaller subject-specific one you’d be eligible for.

Look into hardship funds. Most universities have emergency or hardship funds for students facing financial difficulties. These aren’t advertised as prominently as bursaries, but they exist. You usually need to demonstrate urgent financial need, and often, there’s a requirement to have explored other funding sources first.

Consider appealing if your circumstances have changed since you applied. If your household income dropped significantly, a parent lost their job, or you’re facing unexpected costs, you can often request a reassessment.

Don’t give up after one rejection. There are multiple funding sources. Keep looking and keep applying.

Hidden Costs Bursaries Can Cover (That Students Forget About)

When you’re applying for bursaries, think beyond just tuition and textbooks. There are loads of course-related costs that are completely legitimate to claim for:

Travel for placements or field trips. If your course requires you to travel to work experience placements, those costs count. Keep receipts.

Professional clothing or equipment. Nursing students need specific uniforms. Hospitality students need chef whites and safety shoes. Drama students need movement clothes. These are course requirements, so they’re bursary-eligible.

Software and technology. If your course requires specific software (Adobe Creative Suite for design students, statistical software for researchers), that’s a legitimate cost. Some institutions will provide this, but if they don’t, you can claim it.

Printing and materials. Architecture students, art students, anyone submitting physical portfolios—your printing and material costs add up fast. Track them.

DBS checks and professional registrations. Some courses require enhanced DBS checks or professional body registration fees. These are course costs.

Accommodation deposits. If you need to live away from home to study, that initial deposit and advance rent can be covered by some bursaries or hardship funds.

Keep records of everything. Receipts, invoices, confirmation emails. If you’re applying for discretionary support, evidence of actual costs makes your application much stronger.

Conclusion

Bursaries can genuinely change whether you’re able to stay in education. They’re not pocket money or nice-to-haves—for many students, they’re essential.

The system is frustratingly complicated. There’s no single application for everything. You have to actively search for opportunities. Deadlines are scattered throughout the year. Documentation requirements vary wildly.

But here’s what you need to do: start early, apply widely, and be thorough with your applications. Don’t assume you won’t qualify. Also, don’t skip opportunities because they seem small. Don’t wait for someone to tell you about funding—go find it yourself.

Use the resources available: Turn2us, The Scholarship Hub, and your institution’s student services. Talk to bursary advisers—they want to help you access this money.

And remember: bursaries stack. You’re not limited to one source. A college bursary, plus a charity grant, plus a university bursary is totally possible. Each one covers different costs or adds to your total support.

The money is out there. Thousands of students receive bursaries every year. Make sure you’re one of them.