Funding your course - contents

General information & advice

Getting funding for postgraduate study or to subsidise living costs for your current course involves some research. Whilst this web page is written mainly for funding for postgraduate study, some of the sources (especially funding from charities and trusts) could be useful for finding funding for living costs during your current degree.

When thinking about postgraduate study, you should contact the providers of courses for which you are considering applying to ask them how their current students are funding themselves. Some students might be able to secure a studentship, scholarship or bursary. You might finance yourself with money from a variety of sources such as a loan, a grant from a trust or charity, employer sponsorship, personal savings and a parental loan or contribution. You could also consider part time study.

Whatever you decide, start looking as soon as possible, as deadlines vary.

Use the University's Student Funding Office website for information on a range of sources of funding.

The Graduate Prospects Funding for Further Study web page has a database enabling you to search for postgraduate funding; funding opportunities from UK higher education institutions; details of the Research Council bursaries; information about charities, foundations and trusts; public funding bodies information; employer-funded postgraduate study and a postgraduate funding vidcast. There is also an annually updated booklet 'Postgraduate Funding Guide' which is available for reference use in the Careers Service (there may be limited copies free to take away). You can also order it online from Graduate Prospects.

TARGETcourses provides a postgraduate funding database that offers students a clear view of the funding opportunities available to them.

Studentships & bursaries

The UK Research Councils are the main sources of funding for postgraduate study. They cover arts and humanities, the sciences, engineering, medicine, economics and social studies. Competition in the arts and humanities is particularly fierce, with the Arts & Humanities Research Council funding only a quarter of applicants.

The Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC) has a section on its website about funding opportunities. This is a good starting point for any prospective student seeking AHRC funding for postgraduate study or research funding. It covers aspects of different funding options, eligibility and application closing dates. There are also links to the AHRC Research Funding Guide and specific advice for postgraduates and researchers.

Some course providers give a small number of awards from their own funds. You could search some of the following sources for funding from course providers:

Funding databases and directories including charities and grant-making trusts

There are a large number of trusts and charities that have small but not insignificant amounts to give.

The University of Bristol Careers Service has subscribed to the Alternative Guide to Postgraduate Funding coverAlternative Guide to Postgraduate Funding 2012-13, which all current Bristol students and registered recent Bristol graduates can access as a PDF file.

The guide, published by GradFunding, details how to find and apply to alternative sources of funding - especially charities - which make awards to current and prospective graduate students. Charities are an underrated funding resource, and often make awards to students of any subject and any nationality.

Funding for international postgraduate study and international students

Employer funding/sponsorship

Some employers will fund your studies, before or whilst you are working for them. Some do not even require that you commit to working for them after your course but will make you a job offer. The majority of sponsoring companies are in the engineering, IT, construction and manufacturing sectors, with a smaller number in finance or commerce. Relatively few (such as the armed forces) offer sponsorship throughout a degree course from the first year onwards. Sponsorship is more commonly awarded for the final year or so to students who have impressed the employer while on a vacation or longer placement.

Possibilities for employer funding/sponsorship include:

Loans

Best known are Professional & Career Development Loans. They're offered for a wide range of courses that will help your career, lasting up to two years.

For advice on career development loans you can contact the Student Funding Office . It may also be able to advise you on other sources of funding including hardship funds.

Funding internships, work experience, volunteering and travel

Several of the resources mentioned on this page may be useful to you if you are looking to fund things other than study. For further information, please see this Careers Service blog post about funding internships/work experience, volunteering and travel (written September 2012).

The University of Bristol Internship Scheme could be a source of funding for an internship and there is also an Overseas Internship Competition.

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