Am I eligible for Social Work Bursary funding?

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To be eligible you must not already be a registered social worker. Your course must lead to a first registration in that profession.

The other things that decide if you’re eligible for funding are:

course eligibility
residency criteria
whether you get support from your employer while you study
if you get other financial support

Course Eligibility

You must be studying on a university based social work course approved by either:

You will not be eligible for funding if you’re studying either:

an open university course
a joint discipline course

If you’re on a joint discipline course, such as Social Work and Nursing, you must check what other funding arrangements may be available with your university or college.

You could check if your course may be eligible for the Learning Support Funding (LSF).

Previous course in social work

You will not be eligible if you already hold a higher education social work qualification.

For other previous qualifications you may be considered for a bursary, but entitlement to funding is not guaranteed. This is decided on a case by case basis.

You must make an application and provide evidence for us to consider your entitlement.

You must also complete an application if you've changed courses from undergraduate to postgraduate, or postgraduate to undergraduate.

Accreditation of Prior Learning (APL) students

If you're joining a recognised social work course from year 2 and are allowed to skip the first year due to APL, you can apply from year 2 of your course.

Any funding is subject to you meeting the eligibility requirements, as well as being allocated a capped bursary place for that academic year by your university or college.

Residency Criteria

On the first day of the first academic year of the course you must:

be ordinarily resident in England
have been ordinarily resident in the UK, Channel Islands or Isle of Man throughout the 3 year period before the first day of the first academic year that date, apart from temporary absences
have settled status in the UK

Ordinary residence is defined as a person who is habitually, normally, and lawfully resident in a country by choice for a settled purpose.

Settled status means being ordinarily resident in the UK without being subject to any restriction on the period for which a person may remain in the UK.

Settled status could have been granted at any time before the first day of your course.

You must make an application and provide evidence for us to consider your entitlement.

Support from employer while you study

You will not be eligible if a social care employer is giving you:

any paid time off to attend your studies
payment of all or part of your tuition fees
payment from a practice learning provider for undertaking placement duties for them

Students are not eligible if they are receiving funding for their social work course from any other public sector body. This does not include:

student loan funding from Student Finance England
their academic authority’s own hardship funds
bursaries paid to care leavers or similar

If you’re receiving a retainer from an employer or potential employer:

it must be offered as an incentive to engage in employment with the retainer provider once the recipient qualifies as a social worker
it must not be support towards your social work training
it must not be funded by the Department for Education (DfE)

Other financial support

If you receive a career development loan, this does not affect your application for a Social Work Bursary. If you apply and are entitled to a bursary, you must let your loan provider know.

We cannot give any further guidance about eligibility, other than the information provided on the website. This is confirmed when you've applied and provided full supporting evidence.