UNISON College Bursary Scheme

To help members to further their education, UNISON offers grants towards course or exam fees for members studying at their own expense.

You can apply for one of these grants via the form linked at the foot of this page, but you must read all of the information shared below, including relevant links, prior to doing so.

The process for applying is outlined below:

Bursary scheme application steps explained. 1) Grant. Select the correct grant type for your course 2) Eligibility. Check you are eligible by reading the criteria - see guidance below. 3) Information. Ensure you have all the information needed prior to applying, as you cannot save the form mid-application.

Grant Types

Learning Grant

Award of up to approximately one third of course fees is available to a maximum of £400.

Includes any course for personal or professional development up to and including undergraduate level that doesn’t fall under either Open University or TULS courses.

This excludes any courses that fall under the following definitions:

Courses leading to qualifications linked to licence to practice.
Training or programmes of study intended to meet the employer’s statutory and/or legal responsibilities (e.g. health & safety).

Open University Grant

For Open University modules worth 30 or 60 credits (up to undergraduate level):

30 credit modules: up to £300.
60 credit modules: up to £600.

Trade Union & Labour Studies and Women’s Studies (TULS) Grant

For programmes of study specifically related to Trade Union & Labour Studies and Women’s Studies:

A grant of up to £600 for members studying for a certificate, diploma or BA in Trade Union and Labour Movement or Women’s Studies courses (up to undergraduate level).
Up to one third of fees for a union representative studying for a master’s degree in Trade Union and Labour Studies or Women’s Studies. Note that this grant is issued on a one-off basis for a single programme of study and cannot be claimed over successive years.

Grant Guidance

You must read all of the grant guidance prior to applying for any of the grants.

Grant guidance is available here.

The process

Application is via an online form supported by emailed electronic evidence documents.

The application form doesn’t allow for saving your work and returning to it so it’s important that you read the summary of the form at the end of this page and make sure you have everything ready before you begin.

Once you are ready you can complete and submit the form. The timeline below outlines what to expect once your form is received:

Grant application process graph

Please note that we cannot process your application until we have received your completed application form, proof of your registration and of payment of course fees, and your BACS details.

¹ If you haven’t heard from us within 20 working days of submitting an application please get in touch on l.organising@unison.co.uk to make sure it has been received

Evidence

When completing the application form you will be prompted to send evidence of your enrolment and payment of fees.

Click here for more details on what evidence is required for each grant type.

What you need to have ready before applying

As mentioned above, the application form doesn’t allow for saving your work and returning to it so it’s helpful to have all the information you need ready to input before you follow the link below.

The form asks for details of:

Personal details:

Your name, UNISON membership number; contact details, job title & employer; working hours and the highest level of previous qualification you have obtained.

Details of your course:

The course name, provider and duration of the whole course. If the course lasts more than a year you will also need to tell us which year you are applying for.
You will also need to tell us the start and end date of either the course or the year/module you are currently applying for, as well as the fee paid for this part. For OU courses we will also need to know the number of credits the module is worth.

Finally, we will ask you for a brief statement on why you would like to study this particular course. This doesn’t need to be longer than a paragraph or so, and can be briefer, it’s just to give us an idea of why you’re interested in studying.

Submit your application

If you have:

✅ Decided which grant is right for you.

✅ Read the grant guidance.

✅ Checked the evidence required for your grant type.

Then you are ready to submit your application. Please click here to apply.