You may be eligible for a bursary or scholarship when training to teach. These are tax-free amounts of money you receive to train in certain subjects. You do not need to pay them back.
Your bursary or scholarship will be paid in a minimum of 10 equal monthly instalments over the duration of your course by your teacher training provider.
Your teacher training provider will confirm the payment dates and amounts.
Figures are for courses starting in the 2023/24 academic year.
Postgraduate bursaries and scholarships
Postgraduate teaching bursaries and scholarships are only available for the subjects listed below. You cannot receive both a teaching bursary and a scholarship.
You must be eligible for student finance to receive a bursary or scholarship (unless you’re training to teach physics or languages).
You cannot receive a scholarship or bursary if your teacher training course is salaried.
| Subject | Bursary | Scholarship |
|---|---|---|
| Biology | £20,000 | |
| Chemistry | £27,000 | £29,000 |
| Computing | £27,000 | £29,000 |
| Design and technology | £20,000 | |
| English | £15,000 | |
| Geography | £25,000 | |
|
Languages (French, German and Spanish only) |
£25,000 | £27,000 |
|
Languages (all other languages, including ancient languages) |
£25,000 | |
| Maths | £27,000 | £29,000 |
| Physics | £27,000 | £29,000 |
Bursaries
You do not need to apply for a bursary. If you’re eligible, you’ll automatically receive it.
To be eligible for a bursary, you’ll need at least one of the following:
- a bachelor’s degree class 2:2 (honours) or higher
- a master’s degree
- a PhD
If your course combines 2 subjects (for example, English and history), at least 50% of your course content must be made up of the bursary subject to be eligible.
You’ll also need to meet the bursary scheme’s individual terms and conditions.
Find out more about your eligibility for teaching bursaries(opens in new window).
Scholarships
Eligibility
To be eligible for a scholarship, you’ll need at least one of the following:
- a bachelor’s degree class 2:1 (honours) or higher
- a master’s degree
- a PhD
In exceptional circumstances, if you achieved a 2:2 in your degree you may still be awarded a scholarship if you have significant relevant experience.
Benefits
Scholarships are provided by charitable organisations with a passion for their subject area.
They offer more than just financial benefits, including:
- subject specialist events and webinars
- online and face-to-face workshops
- mentoring and coaching
- a community of ex-scholars, teachers and subject leaders
- access to classroom resources
- networking events during your teacher training and beyond
How to apply
Scholarships are offered by independent institutions. They set their own eligibility criteria and you’ll need to apply through the relevant scholarship body:
- the Royal Society of Chemistry(opens in new window) (chemistry)
- BCS The Chartered Institute for IT(opens in new window) (computing)
- British Council(opens in new window) (languages – French, German and Spanish only)
- the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications(opens in new window) (maths)
- the Institute of Physics(opens in new window) (physics)
Each scholarship body will have its own deadline for applications. You can find these on their individual websites.
Undergraduate bursaries
You may be eligible for a bursary of £9,000(opens in new window) if you do a secondary maths or physics course that leads to qualified teacher status (QTS).
You may also be eligible if you do an opt-in QTS course in secondary computing, languages, mathematics or physics. This is where you start a standard undergraduate degree but then opt-in to initial teacher training to get QTS.
The amount you receive depends on the year that you start your QTS course. You do not get a bursary in every year of an undergraduate course. Depending on the type of course you do, you may get the bursary in your final year or final two years.
Undergraduate bursary if you’re former military personnel
You may be eligible for a £40,000 tax-free undergraduate bursary for veterans if you’re:
- training to teach secondary biology, physics, chemistry, computing, maths or languages
- doing an undergraduate degree leading to QTS in England
Find out more about how to get support training to teach if you’re a veteran.
