Cambridge Bursary Scheme

The Cambridge Bursary provides free financial support of up to £3,500 a year for full-time undergraduate students, to help with your Cambridge fees or living costs. The payment is non-refundable, meaning you don’t need to pay it back. It doesn’t matter what you’re studying or which College you’re at. Higher amounts are available for medical students in their clinical years, independent students including care leavers, and students who were eligible for free school meals. Visit the What you could get page for more information.

Cambridge offers one of the most generous bursary support packages in the UK. Over £10 million a year is awarded to undergraduate students from low and middle income families through the Cambridge Bursary Scheme. We grant over 3,300 Cambridge Bursaries annually, which equates to one in three of our UK undergraduates, and almost half of those receive the maximum award.

The amount of bursary you receive is only based on your household income. Independent students, and clinical years medical and veterinary students receive an additional amount known as the enhanced bursary.

If you were eligible for free school meals funded by your local authority, you receive an extra £1000 a year – known as the Education Premium. Send your Cambridge College a letter from your school or college confirming you were eligible.

The Cambridge Bursary is in addition to:

• any other scholarships and awards you receive (though the value of these may be reduced to take into account funds received through the Cambridge Bursary and associated schemes)
• your maintenance loan, tuition fees or funding from the UK government.

Full Cambridge Bursary recipients are also automatically considered for additional donor-funded awards of £1,750 per year. For more information, please follow this link: Additional Bursaries for CBS students | Cambridge students