Financial support
“Outstandingly talented”London Evening Standard
The Academy distributes significant amounts of funding each year to support undergraduate and postgraduate students from the UK, the EU and internationally. We award bursaries to support students in financial need, and award scholarships to students based on merit following students’ live auditions. The Academy also distributes funding to support students who find themselves in circumstances of extreme financial hardship.
We rely on the generosity of individuals and charitable organisations to provide financial support for our students and work tirelessly to increase the sums we are able to award from our Scholarships Fund each year. If you would like to support students at the Academy, we welcome your donations.
UK and EU (home-fee status) BMus students can get tuition fee loans to cover the tuition costs; these are funded by the UK government and are administered through the Student Loan Company. UK students can also apply for maintenance awards to assist with living costs. See the Student Finance pages for details of the application process.
Entrance Scholarships are awarded on the basis of merit following your live audition, and other loans and grants are available to UK students attending the BMus Programme. Scholarship disbursement for UK and EU BMus students is done through the Student Loan Company payment mechanism, after you have made a loan application. See the Student Finance pages for details of how to do this.
Also, under the terms of our agreement with OFFA, the Academy offers means-tested bursaries or fee waivers to home-fee undergraduates. These are automatically awarded after you have submitted your student loan application through the Student Finance pages and are calculated on the basis of your household income.
UK students who experience difficulties with living costs while they are on their study programme may also apply for assistance from the Academy’s ‘Access to Learning’ funds through the office of the Deputy Principal.
The Academy may be able to assist postgraduate and international students towards the costs of their fees. The Academy is able to make substantial provision in scholarship and bursary support to students on the basis of both merit and need.
Entrance Scholarships are awarded on the basis of merit, all candidates who attend a live audition during our advertised audition sessions (see Application Dates) are eligible to be considered for scholarship support, except those applying for Musical Theatre, Conducting (orchestral), or MPhil/PhD.
Bursaries are awarded through a procedure in which eligible students are asked to complete a Financial Assistance form outlining their financial situation. Funds vary from year to year but the Academy always tries to make available as much money as it can. New international-fee and postgraduate students (except Musical Theatre, Conducting (orchestral), or MPhil/PhD) who have auditioned successfully in London and are eligible for this assistance receive a Financial Assistance form with their offer letter. Those already enrolled at the Academy receive the form via their student pigeonhole.
Hardship funds. In cases of extreme financial hardship that may arise during the course of the academic year, the Academy has limited funds available. Applications for this funding must be directed to the office of the Deputy Principal after you have enrolled.
Certain supporters (including individuals, trusts, foundations and companies) should not be approached directly for financial assistance towards the costs of studying at the Academy: Other funding sources has details, plus also any other funders you see listed in Academy programmes or donor boards. Students who approach these sponsors directly are unlikely to be successful and will be referred back to the Academy. The Academy’s own development department works actively to help raise funds for scholarships and, therefore, individual approaches to these supporters are likely to undermine these efforts.
You should begin your search for financial support as early as possible. We recommend that international students contact the British Council and all students can consult the Musicians Benevolent Fund website where there is a useful Funding Wizard.
The MBF’s Young Artist Awards are now allocated after direct nomination from the student’s conservatoire (the Academy does this through the bursary procedure).
Arts and Humanities Research Council awards, Scholarships Guide for Commonwealth Postgraduate Students and further suggestions for postgraduate funding.
