Undergraduate scholarships and funding
Scholarships and bursaries
We offer a wide range of scholarships and bursaries to make funding your studies
easier. Our main awards are listed below and you can
search our Scholarship Finder
to see what else you might be eligible for.
| Scholarship or bursary name |
Who it's for |
| Africa Scholarship Programme |
Students from African nations |
| Americas Regional Scholarship |
For undergraduates from the USA, Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador or Peru in their first year of study |
| Bahrain Regional Scholarship |
For undergraduates from Bahrain in their first year of study |
| Bulgarian Partnership Bursary |
Bulgarian resident students |
| Care Leaver's Bursary |
Students with UK care leaver status |
| Colchester Sixth Form Bursary |
Students applying for full-time study within specific departments and completing their studies at Colchester Sixth Form |
| Essex Global Partner Scholarship |
International students studying at one of our global channel partners |
| Essex Santander Access Bursary |
Students who are from a Schools Membership Plus School or college, or have participated in the Aspire Higher project |
| Hong Kong Regional Scholarship |
For undergraduate students from Hong Kong in their first year of study |
| Iran Regional Scholarship |
For undergraduates from Iran in their first year of study |
| Indian sub-continent Regional Scholarship |
For undergraduates from India, Bangladesh or Pakistan in their first year of study |
| Indonesian Regional Scholarship |
For undergraduates from Indonesia in their first year of study |
| International
Baccalaureate Excellence Scholarship |
Students with excellent International Baccalaureate results |
| International
Experience Bursary |
UK students from low income households |
| Jordan Regional Scholarship |
For undergraduates from Jordan in their first year of study |
| Lebanon Regional Scholarship |
For undergraduates from Lebanon in their first year of study |
| Mauritius Regional Scholarship |
For undergraduate students from Mauritius |
| Non-European Union Europe Regional Scholarship |
For Undergraduate students from specified European countries that are not members of the European Union, in their first year of study |
| Refugee Bursary |
Students with UK refugee status, or who are dependants of UK refugees |
| Romanian Partnership Bursary |
Romanian resident students |
| Schools Membership Plus (SMP) Bursary |
For undergraduate students from SMP schools and colleges |
| Sports scholarships and bursaries |
Students with outstanding sporting ability |
| Tinson Scholarship |
Students from the former Soviet Bloc in our School of Law |
| UKT Law Scholarship |
For international undergraduate students studying at one of our global channel partners |
| UKT Law Premium Scholarship |
For international undergraduate students studying at one of our global channel partners |
| VI6 Bursary |
Students who have taken part in VI6 from a partner school and make University of Essex their firm choice by 19 July 2020 |
Scholarships from other organisations
| Scholarship or bursary name |
Who it's for |
| WU Scholars (external site) |
Students holding an offer of an undergraduate place within science, technology, engineering, mathematics and business/entrepreneurship |
Other sources of funding
-
UK and EU students - students loans and benefits
-
International student funding sources
There are country-specific funding opportunities, please see our country
pages for more information.
If you're a US student you could be eligible to take out a US direct loan.
-
Charitable trusts and grants
Information about charities and trusts that offer awards and sponsorship to students and
their application procedures can be found in the Educational Grants Directory and The Grants
Register. Copies of these are available in our Albert Sloman Library,
as well as in most public libraries.
You can also try a grants search at Turn2us.
Use the keyword "higher education" and then narrow your search by filling in other information about yourself.
Many charities and trusts are only able to award a small number of grants each year, so
competition can be fierce. To be in with the best chance of receiving an award it is a
good idea to:
- research charities and trusts carefully as they may have eligibility requirements (eg based on your area of
residence, family background and subject area)
- apply as soon as possible (many give deadlines for applications)
-
East 15 Acting School - charitable trusts and grants
Funding for Acting and Drama courses can be limited and competition for grants is fierce, but it’s
worth looking at the sources of funding above as well as these, which are aimed specifically at students
in your field:
For ideas of how to secure additional funding take a look at Damian Gaskin’s booklet
‘How
to Raise £40,000 and train at Drama School’ (.pdf). (The author has asked you to bear in
mind that this was written in 1996, well before all the fundraising advances that the internet
and social media have given you and so needs to be read in that context. Please do not contact
the author himself for sponsorship!)
You can also take a look at Degrees
For Free which has some useful and interesting ideas for fundraising and money-saving.
(There is a book of the same name, but don’t feel compelled to buy it, the website is useful
in its own right!)
-
Students with children, carers and care leavers
We provide information for parents, carers and care leavers, including additional sources of
funding that you may be eligible for.
-
Hardship loans
We and the Students' Union both offer hardship loans if you are experiencing financial difficulty.