Social Work Bursary

The bursary amount for September 2025 entry is not yet known. Applicants for 2024/25 entry who met the eligibility criteria and are allocated a capped place by BU, received £4,862.50 a year, which included the Placement Travel Allowance (PTA) of £862.50 for a full-time course.

Placement Travel Allowance (PTA)

The social work bursary includes a contribution towards your placement travel costs of £862.50 per academic year for full time students. If your placement provider also contributes towards your travel costs, this will not affect your bursary entitlement.

Universities in receipt of a capping allocation decide who receives a bursary based on capping criteria set by the Department of Health and Social Care. At Bournemouth University, we based this on academic merit.

For the BA, your place on the shortlist will be based on your academic achievement in the first year of the course. We list students based on their average mark for the year.

By a deadline in early August, we are required to provide a list of new students based on this criteria to NHS bursaries. We provide as complete a list as possible, including those who fall below the capped number. The list remains fluid at this stage as some students are not eligible, do not apply or withdraw their place. Applicants outside of the capped number therefore may move up the list.

Please note that late enrolment will affect these updates and may affect the timeframe by which you receive a decision on your bursary application and any subsequent payments. Once allocated a bursary place, you will keep this place for the duration of your course unless you withdraw or defer from your studies.

If you have applied and are eligible for a bursary but are not within the capped number, you may still receive a fixed placement travel allowance.

To make an application you will need to create an account on the MyFunding system.

Before you complete your application, please make sure you have read and understood the eligibility criteria in this guidance.

If you would like further details about the bursary, eligibility and making an application, contact the Social Work Bursaries helpdesk*.

*Please note, if contacting the helpdesk, it can take several days for lists we send to be processed by NHS Bursaries and before it appears as ‘received’ on their system.

You should apply for your bursary at the earliest opportunity. You are encouraged to submit your application by 31 July to guarantee payment for September.

If you do not receive this bursary, you may be entitled to apply for a Placement Travel Allowance, which will contribute towards the travel costs associated with your placement. The allowance for 2024/25 is £862.50 per academic year.

If you are awarded the bursary, this allowance is included within the Social Work bursary for undergraduate students.

You might be eligible for a Sport or Music Scholarship. You can find out more about these awards on our undergraduate scholarships page.

There is also allowance for dependants:

• Adults Dependants Allowance (ADA): This is payable if you have an adult who is wholly or mainly financially dependent on you. This may include your spouse, partner or civil partner but not your child or your spouse/civil partner/partner’s child. This allowance is assessed using your adult dependant’s income, if they have any, during the academic year.

More information about the allowances on the Social Work Bursary guidance.

Read more about other financial support available at BU.