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.
I am ordinarily a resident in:
| Scholarship / bursary name | Valid year of entry | Who it's for |
| EU Scholarship | 2024-2025, 2025-2026 | Students from the EU who are classified as international fee paying students |
| Essex Pathways Bursary | 2024-2025 | The University is offering a bursary of up to £1,500 for students who achieve a 1st or 2.1 degree in year 0 and progress to year 1 at the University of Essex |
| Essex Preparation Programme Bursary | 2024-2025, 2025-2026 | Students progressing into higher education following the global pandemic who complete the pre-arrival study skills course |
| Ian James Evans Scholarship | 2024-2025 | Essex Law School is offering one scholarship to an undergraduate student studying an LLB course and who is deaf, blind or a wheelchair user, to cover Home (UK) tuition fees (or an equivalent discount for international students). |
| International Baccalaureate Excellence Scholarship | 2024-2025, 2025-2026 | Students with excellent International Baccalaureate results |
| International Experience Bursary | 2024-2025 | UK students from low income households |
| Sports scholarships and bursaries | 2024-2025 | Students with outstanding sporting ability |
| Scholarship / bursary name | Valid year of entry | Who it's for |
| Essex Futures Bursary | 2024-2025 | UK Students with a household income of £35,000 or under (as assessed by Student Finance England), who are starting a three-year undergraduate course in 2024-2025 |
| TCTO Referral Bursary | 2024-2025 | Current University of Essex students or alumni of the FdA Therapeutic Communication and Therapeutic Organisations course, who refer an individual (prospective student) to the same course for 2024-2025 |
| Schools Membership Staff TCTO Fee Discount | 2024-2025 | A discount offered to members of staff at our Schools Membership institutions who wish to undertake the FdA Therapeutic Communications and Therapeutic Organisations course, based either at our Colchester Campus or online |
| Schools Membership Bursary | 2024-2025 | £1000 cash bursary to support students from School membership schools and colleges progressing into higher education |
| Essex Preparation Programme Bursary | 2024-2025 | Students progressing into higher education following the global pandemic who complete the pre-arrival study skills course |
| Ian James Evans Scholarship | 2024-2025 | Essex Law School is offering one scholarship to an undergraduate student studying an LLB course and who is deaf, blind or a wheelchair user, to cover Home (UK) tuition fees (or an equivalent discount for international students) |
| International Baccalaureate Excellence Scholarship | 2024-2025 | Students with excellent International Baccalaureate results |
| International Experience Bursary | 2024-2025 | UK students from low income households |
| Sports scholarships and bursaries | 2024-2025 | Students with outstanding sporting ability |
Please see below a list of organisations who have previously provided scholarships / bursaries to Essex students. You will need to check the webpages of each organisation to check if scholarships / bursaries are offered for the current academic year.
| Scholarship / bursary name | Who it's for |
| WU Scholars | Students holding an offer of an undergraduate place within science, technology, engineering, mathematics and business/entrepreneurship |
| NHS Learning Support Fund | Funding support to healthcare students |
| Santander Universities Brighter Futures Grant | University of Essex students |
Schwab & Westheimer Trust Scholarships
For students who are asylum seekers
If you’re a UK student (or qualify for ‘home’ funding) then you may be eligible to apply for a loan.
The UK Government offers eligible students tuition fee loans and maintenance loans to help pay for tuition fees and contribute towards living costs. If you are eligible and choose to take out a loan to cover the full cost of your tuition fees, you won't have to pay any tuition fees upfront and you don't currently have to start repaying the loan until you have finished your course and are earning over the income threshold.
If you have any previous years of higher education study, or you are repeating a year of study, your funding may be affected by repeat funding rules. Previous years of study include periods of self-funded study, or any study undertaken abroad. If you think that this may apply to you please see the attached guidance on repeat study (.pdf) and compelling personal reasons (CPR) (.pdf).
A ‘home fees’ assessment by the University does not guarantee Government funding for fees or living costs. The Student Loans Company will conduct its own eligibility assessment. If you have been assessed as eligible for home fees based on an application to the EU Settlement Scheme, your entitlement to Student Loans Company funding for fees or living costs may be affected in future years if your status changes. Once registered at the University, all students, regardless of funding source and fee status, are liable for their fees. Further information can be found in the University’s Tuition Fees and Liability Policy and on our fee status page.
If you are from Northern Ireland and are thinking of studying with us, you may eligible for funding from Student Finance Northern Ireland. They offer a tuition fee loan to cover your course fees in full and a Maintenance loan for living costs.
If you are from Scotland and are thinking of studying with us, you may eligible for funding from Student Awards Agency Scotland. They offer a tuition fee loan to cover your course fees in full and a Maintenance loan for living costs.
If you are from Wales and are thinking of studying with us, you may eligible for funding from Student Finance Wales. They offer a tuition fee loan to cover your course fees in full and a Maintenance loan for living costs.
If your household income (which is the income of your parent/s if you are aged under 25 and not classed as an independent student) is below £62,347 per year, you may be entitled to a higher maintenance loan from Student Finance England (SFE).
SFE assess applications for maintenance loans based on household income. Therefore, students who do not provide their household income information are awarded only the minimum maintenance loan by SFE, which is currently £4,767 for new students.
By providing your household income information to SFE, your maintenance loan application can be fully assessed and you will be awarded the correct amount of maintenance loan. This is up to £10,227 for new students on standard-length 39 week courses, and up to £12,647 for students studying long courses such as Nursing.
If your household income has decreased by at least 15% since the relevant tax year, you can apply for a current year income assessment instead of relying on the previous year’s details. You can check on the Government's website if you’re eligible and how to apply.
To check how much maintenance loan you might be entitled to, based on your household income, visit the Save The Student webpage for a handy guide.
To provide your household income to SFE, please complete and submit this online form to SFE. SFE will then means-test your application. If you are entitled to a higher maintenance loan, SFE will make arrangements to increase your instalments in line with this.
We offer a wide range of discounts, bursaries and scholarships to make funding your studies easier, including our Undergraduate EU Scholarship worth £5000. There are also additional scholarships and funding sources available for some countries, please check the webpage for your country for further information.
There are country-specific funding opportunities, please see our country pages for more information.
If you're from the United States, you may be eligible for a federal direct loan from the US Department of Education.
There are a range of scholarships and funding opportunities available to give you a helping hand if you choose to study abroad. Find out what's available to you.
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:
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!)
We provide information for parents, carers and care leavers, including additional sources of funding that you may be eligible for.
We and the Students' Union offer financial support if you are experiencing difficulty with your finances in the form of a bursaries, grants or loans depending on your situation. Have a look on our Financial Support page for more information.