Find out about the funding available for social work students and how to apply.
The Social Work Bursary:
- can help with study and living costs
- is a grant not a loan
- gets paid into your bank account at the start of each term, if you are eligible
- is only available to students who meet the course and residency criteria
- is subject to capping, so the number of students who can receive a bursary is limited
- must be applied for each academic year
Social Work Bursary guidance
Your guide to Social Work Bursaries 2023-24 (PDF: 632KB)
Guidance for the 2024 to 2025 academic year coming soon.
Before you apply
Read through the guidance booklet for the year you’re applying for.
When to apply
If your academic year starts from 1 September to 31 December 2024, the application window will open from 1 March 2024. You must submit your application by 31 October 2024.
If your academic year starts from 1 January 2025 onwards, the application window will open from 1 November 2024. You must submit your application by 23 February 2025.
If your academic year starts from 1 March 2025 onwards, the application window will open from 1 November 2024. You must submit your application by 22 March 2025.
Applications received after the relevant date will not be accepted.
How to apply
New students
If you’re a new social work student, you should apply for the Social Work Bursary for the 2024 to 2025 academic year at the earliest opportunity. We encourage you to submit your application to us by 31 July to guarantee payment for September 2024.
Continuing students
If you're on an undergraduate course, you will be sent an email inviting you to apply from March 2024 onwards.
If you're on a postgraduate course, invites will be sent out from April 2024 onwards.
Only submit your application once you have received an invite.
You should also make sure you have all of the relevant supporting documentation available to upload to your MyFunding account before you submit your application.
Continuing Social Work Bursary students can access their existing MyFunding account:
Log in to your MyFunding account
Uploading a document to your MyFunding account
The selected file must be:
- a JPG, BMP, PNG, TIF or PDF
- an original version which displays the document in full
- clear and in focus
- in colour
- unaltered by computer software
- at least 50KB and no more than 8MB
If the document does not meet this criteria your application will be rejected.