Scholarships and bursaries
Scholarships are payments made to support your education, awarded on the basis of merit, personal achievement and academic ability.
Bursaries are non-competitive payments intended to help students from disadvantaged backgrounds, or who are having difficulties funding their studies.
Scholarships
Undergraduate Global Excellence Scholarships have been created to support students wishing to develop their academic potential and contribute to our thriving community of students and staff from over 150 countries.
Global Excellence Scholarships recognise high academic achievement and assist scholars in accessing our exceptional teaching and learning, whilst taking advantage of all that university life offers to support their ambitions for the future.
The University of Exeter Sports Scholarship Scheme is one of the most prestigious in the UK, helping the best student athletes reach their full potential. The scheme provides a comprehensive support package and is tailored to suit the needs of each individual athlete. Many of our graduating scholars have progressed to a professional level in their chosen sport and represented their respective countries on the global stage.
Find out more about these scholarships on our sports website.
In addition to the Chapel Choir, the University also has close performing relations with Exeter Cathedral and three local churches, each offering their own scholarship schemes. The awards available are of various values, depending on weekly duties.
The University invites applications from candidates who also meet the specific requirements of the individual awards and have been offered an undergraduate place at the University (Exeter and Penryn campuses) through UCAS for degrees commencing in September 2024.
Find out more about these scholarships on our dedicated webpage.
The Sanctuary Scholarship scheme enables individuals seeking asylum and refugees who are not able to access student finance to study at the University of Exeter.
The University of Exeter mature students’ scholarship is open to applications from home undergraduate students starting their studies with us in 2024.
Successful applicants will receive £2000 in year 1, £1000 in year 2 in the form of a cash payment.
Visit the Mature Students webpage to find out more.
The University of Exeter and The Cowrie Scholarship Foundation (CSF) are offering a scholarship to support Black African and Caribbean heritage applicants from socio-economically under-represented backgrounds in the academic year 2024/5.
The scholarship will cover your home UK tuition fees and a maintenance stipend of up to £8,000 for each year of your course.
Applications for this scholarship are open until 22nd April 2024.
Travel scholarships
The Mrs Bessie Rook Memorial Scholarships are awarded to students who will be studying abroad in German and/or French speaking countries. For the 2022/23 academic year 6 scholarships are available, each worth £1,000.
A small number of travel bursaries are available to students of all degree programmes at the Penryn and Truro Campuses to help with the costs of field trips. In the first instance, preference will be given to students who were born and currently reside in Cornwall, and/or meet Widening Participation criteria. Depending on application numbers others may also be considered.
Applications for the academic year 2023/24 are now closed. There will be a new round of funding for the academic year 2024/25.
Bursaries
We provide additional funding to certain part time and full time Home or returning European Union students in the form of the Access to Exeter Bursary (ATE).
We will automatically assess your entitlement for an award based on your household income information provided by the relevant UK Funding Body. However, we can only do this if you, and your parent(s) or sponsor, do not opt out of consenting to share your financial details when you complete your Application for Student Finance.
Undergraduate students
To see what funding you could be eligible to receive, please check your household income below:
Household income of £16,000 and below
If you are starting your studies after September 2015 and have a household income* £16,000 or below, you are eligible for the ATE Bursary.
*For further details on how your household income is assessed, please visit the Direct Gov website.
For the duration of your undergraduate studies, from 2023/24, you will receive £2,100 (Full-time) or £1,050 (Part-time Medical Sciences only) ATE bursary, per year, providing you continue to meet the eligibility criteria.
Payment of the ATE Bursary
Payments are made in three instalments and will be made direct to the bank account you share with us, with each instalment weighted according to the number of weeks per term. The table below shows the dates of each instalment and the amount:
| Payment Date | £2,100 (All years) |
|---|---|
| 27 October 2023 | £840 |
| 12 January 2024 | £840 |
| 26 April 2024 | £420 |
Household income between £16,001-£25,000
If you are starting your studies after September 2015 and have a household income* of between £16,001-£25,000, you are eligible for an ATE Bursary.
*For further details on how your household income is assessed, please visit Direct Gov.
For the duration of your undergraduate studies, from 2023/24 you will receive £1,260 (Full-time) or £630 (Part-time Medical Sciences only) ATE bursary, per year, providing you continue to meet the eligibility criteria.
Payment of the ATE Bursary
Payments are made in three instalments and will be made direct to the bank account you share with us, with each instalment weighted according to the number of weeks per term. The table below shows the dates of each instalment and the amount:
| Payment Date | £1,260 (All years) |
|---|---|
| 27 October 2023 | £504 |
| 12 January 2024 | £504 |
| 26 April 2024 | £252 |
Household income between £25,001-£30,000
From September 2023, a new threshold bracket has been introduced. If you have a household income* of between £25,001-£30,000, you will be eligible for an ATE Bursary.
*For further details on how your household income is assessed, please visit Direct Gov.
For the duration of your undergraduate studies (from 2023/24 academic year), you will receive £800 (Full-time) or £400 (Part-time Medical Sciences only) ATE bursary, per year, providing you continue to meet the eligibility criteria.
Payment of the ATE Bursary
| Payment date | £800 (All years) |
|---|---|
| 27 October 2023 | £320 |
| 12 January 2024 | £320 |
| 26 April 2024 | £160 |
Terms and conditions
If you have a question regarding your bursary entitlement, please raise an enquiry with the Student Information Desk.
The full terms and conditions of Access to Exeter bursary, can be found within our Student Finance Regulations.
The University of Exeter offers financial support to students who have been in care in the form of a full fee waiver for UK undergraduates and PGCE students, and a Care Leavers’ Bursary.
For the purposes of these schemes, the University of Exeter define care leavers as young people (up to the age of 25) who have been looked after by the local authority for more than 13 weeks since they were 14, including some time at age 16 or 17.
Fee waiver
Care leavers starting undergraduate or PGCE courses at the University of Exeter will not have to pay tuition fees. If you have identified yourself as someone who has been in care in your UCAS application, the University of Exeter will contact you asking for further information. You will be asked to show that you meet the criteria described above and have home fee status.
Care Leavers’ Bursary
To be eligible you will need to meet the following criteria:
- You are a care leaver (see definition above)
- You must be under 25 when you start your course
- You must be in receipt of financial support from the university through the Exeter National Scholarship or Access to Exeter Bursary schemes
The bursary is intended to help with the cost of accommodation during the summer vacation period after your first and subsequent years of study (but not final year). The bursary amount is not fixed, but is decided by taking into account the additional cost of your accommodation needs.
To apply for this bursary, please contact the Students’ Guild Advice Service.
Further information on the full support package avaliable to Care leavers and Care experienced students can be found on our Widening participation student support pages.
