Scholarships & Funding

We all know tuition fees can be expensive, but there several ways to help ease the cost. There are lots of ways to save money by accessing free sources of funding and making use of the tuition fee discounts offered by the University, covered below.

Scholarships, Bursaries & Grants

Making use of these awards can provide a big contribution to your budget. These sources of funding are awarded to students based on a range of criteria; course-specific, means-tested, academic achievement or open to all.

What are they?

Scholarships, bursaries and grants are terms often used interchangeably, and they all refer to a source of money for your studies that you do not need to pay back. They mean slightly different things but the terms are often not used correctly, the most important thing is to focus on the eligibility criteria of each scholarship, bursary or grant.

It is important to check the criteria for all so that you don't miss out on potential funding.

What's available?

Scholarships, bursaries and grants are offered by the University, as well as the UK Government and external organisations. For some funds, you will be automatically considered when you register to Brunel, whilst others you will need to apply for yourself before the given deadline. Take a look at what is available!

University Scholarships

The University offers over 600 scholarships to students including Home, EU and International students. They have lots of partnerships which offer various amounts of funding to students from different backgrounds and studying different courses.

You can filter by the level of study, location and course.

Here are a few examples of scholarships offered by the University:

Sport Scholarship for any student demonstrating sporting achievement in a priority sport; with £3000 reward each academic year
Medical School International Scholarship for top-ranked, international students; with 15% fee reduction for each academic year

To see what's available, take a look here Scholarships & Bursaries.

Government Funding

If you're on a course which contributes to public-sector work such as healthcare or teaching, the UK Government and NHS offer some financial support.

The NHS Learning Support Fund is available for undergraduate and postgraduate students on healthcare courses.
- Examples include physiotherapy, occupational therapy, nursing and radiography, as well as many more
The NHS Bursary is available for Home students studying Medicine. As of 2024/25, students can apply and receive:
- A non-means tested bursary of £1000
- A means-tested bursary of £3191
- A contribution towards your tuition fees of up to £9250
There are Teacher Training Bursaries & Scholarship are available for postgraduate students.
- Bursaries are available for students training to be teachers in most subjects, exlcuding primary education. Students do not need to apply for the bursary as they will be automatically considered and granted if eligible. The amount available varies depending on the subject, for example:
  - £10,000 bursary for those studying to teach Art & Design
  - £28,000 bursary for those studying to teach Maths
- Scholarships are only available for students training to be teachers in some STEM subjects and Languages. The award varies between £27,000 - £30,000

External Organisations

There are also other organisations and charities you can use to find scholarships and grants that you may be eligible for.

Blackbullion's Scholarships Hub helps you find lots of scholarships and grant funding across the UK. Search through their hub to access sources of funding beyond the University.
The Turn2Us Grant Search helps you finds any grant funding you may be eligible for

Discounts

The University also offers discounts on your tuition fees if you are paying for them. If you are having your fees paid by a third party, either partially or in full, then you are usually not eligible for this discount. It is available for undergraduate or postgraduate students, as well as a postgraduate research programmes, online, distance learning or PGCE programmes.

You may be eligbile if you are self-funding and you:

Are a Brunel graduate applying for further study at the University - 15% discount
Pay your tuition fees in full before registration - 2% discount

Or if you:

Have a direct family connection at the University - 10% discount. Family connections include:
- A current student enrolled at the University
- A student registering in the same entry year as their family member;
- A graduate or alumni
- A current member of staff

If you are eligible, then you will receive a discount on the fee that remains after any scholarship or bursary fee waivers have been applied.

The Scholarships page has more information about the criteria and how to apply.