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
The University of Exeter had more than £5 million worth of scholarships available for international fee paying students applying to study with us in 2024/25 and this support will continue for 2025/26. Full details of the schemes for September 2025 entry will be available here soon.
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 2025.
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.
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 residential field courses (excluding research/dissertation 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 numbers of applications, others may also be considered.
Applications for the first half of the academic year 2024/25 are now closed. There will be a new round of funding for trips leaving between February and June 2025 soon.
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 2024/254, you will receive £2,200 (Full-time) or £1,100 (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 | £2,200 (All years) |
|---|---|
| 25 October 2024 | £880 |
| 10 January 2025 | £880 |
| 25 April 2025 | £440 |
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 2024/25 academic year), you will receive £1,310 (Full-time) or £655 (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 | £1,310 (All years) |
|---|---|
| 25 October 2024 | £524 |
| 10 January 2025 | £524 |
| 25 April 2025 | £262 |
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 2024/25 academic year), you will receive £830 (Full-time) or £415 (Part-time Medical Sciences only) ATE bursary, per year, providing you continue to meet the eligibility criteria.
Payment of the ATE Bursary
| Payment date | £830 (All years) |
|---|---|
| 25 October 2024 | £332 |
| 10 January 2025 | £332 |
| 25 April 2025 | £166 |
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 and Estranged Students Bursary
This bursary offers financial support for undergraduate students who are either recognised as a care leaver or estranged from both parents/carers.
The £1000 bursary is payable for up to four years maximum in study length (which might include an integrated Masters up to year four), with the exception of Medicine where we will support students in all five years of study.
Eligibility
To be eligible for the care leaver/estranged student bursary you must:
- Be studying a full-time undergraduate course.
- Meet the University’s definition of being a care leaver or an estranged student (see the terms and conditions document below).
- Be assessed by the relevant UK student funding body as having independent/estranged student status or be in the process of applying for this status.
- Be a UK citizen or have been resident in the UK for at least three years
- Be studying for your first degree, PGCE or integrated undergraduate Masters degree (e.g., MSci or MEng)*
- Be 25 or under when commencing your course
- Be starting or continuing your studies in the 2024/2025 academic year
Bursary Terms and Conditions (PDF)
How will I receive the funding?
We will automatically assess your entitlement for an award after you have registered at the University. Your independent status will be notified to the University by your relevant UK funding body. The Exeter Cares team will verify this information prior to a payment being made.
Instalment payments of the bursary will not be backdated, and payment of the next instalment will only be made once your relevant UK funding body has confirmed your independent status.
If you are in need of financial support the Exeter Cares team will support you with a fast-track application to the Success for All fund.
When will I be paid?
Payments will be made in two instalments in December and June each year you progress in your studies, up to 4 years.
| Payment date | Amount |
|---|---|
| Friday 6 December 2024 | £500 |
| Friday 6 June 2025 | £500 |
Can the payment dates be moved?
The payment dates of December and June have been set to help with winter and summer costs and are in addition to the Access to Exeter termly payment dates of October, January and May.
If you have any questions regarding the bursary, please contact the Exeter Cares Team: Exeter-cares@exeter.ac.uk.
More information
Further information on the full support package available to Care leavers, Care-experienced and estranged students can be found on our Widening participation student support pages.
