If you are a current member of staff at the University of Cambridge, and are planning to start a postgraduate course at the University related to your employment on or after October 2025, you may be eligible for a Bursary to cover some of the fees for your course. (Staff members planning to start their postgraduate course prior to that date should refer to the Staff Fee Scheme guidance for details of the staff fee scheme in operation until the end of the 2024-25 academic year.)
Three different types of Bursaries are available under the Staff Bursary Scheme. The eligibility criteria for all three bursaries is given below.
Staff Training Bursary - for current staff wishing to undertake postgraduate study
The Bursary is available to University staff who fulfil the following criteria:
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Be a candidate for a research course covered by the Code of Practice for Research Students (i.e. PhD, MSc, MLitt, CPGS, EdD, those MPhils examined by thesis and oral only). Course information can be found in the University's Statutes & Ordinances, Chapter I. Students undertaking the MD course are not eligible for the bursary.
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Have a contract of at least 40% full time employment with the University of Cambridge from the first day of the research course (this does not include employment in one of the University Partner Institutions, nor ESOL, nor CUPA, nor Colleges). The course is considered to start on the first day of term, which is 1 October for Michaelmas Term, 5 January for Lent Term, and 10/17 April for Easter Term.
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Your course of study must commence after you have passed your probation.
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Have your Head of Department's support for the Bursary. If the employing department is different from the admitting department, the agreement of both Heads must be obtained.
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Be able to demonstrate that your research will overlap almost entirely with your paid employment (for full-time courses) or contribute directly to it (for part-time courses).
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Your employment contract must end on or after your expected course end date.
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Sign an undertaking that you understand and agree that if the employment contract comes to an end, the Bursary will also end. You will then be required to pay the normal termly fee for any remaining term(s) of study, i.e. the Home or the Overseas fee, according to your fee status.
The list of eligible courses will be reviewed annually by the PRC Fees and Funding Sub-committee in consultation with the Postgraduate Committee.
Staff Postgraduate Bursary - for staff employed on grants who are undertaking postgraduate study
This Bursary is available to all University staff meeting the following criteria:
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Undertaking a course of postgraduate study at the University and are employed by the University on one of the grant schemes listed below:
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Marie Sklodowska-Curie Early Career Researchers/ITNs
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Wellcome (outside of the Clinical Research Training Fellow Bursary described below)
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ERC
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UKRI (non-doctoral training only)
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Other funders (including charities) whose grant conditions specifically prohibit student costs
Staff employed on one of the following funding routes are not eligible for a Staff Postgraduate Bursary:
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Grants that permit student costs at the Home fee rate only
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Industry funds
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Departmental funds
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The advert for your post made it clear that this was a staff vacancy at the University of Cambridge that allowed for the post holder also undertaking a postgraduate course at the University. For example, an advertisement for a Research Assistant with the possibility of undertaking PhD study.
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You applied for your role via the University’s normal recruitment process (Recruitment Administration system (RAS) / Web Recruitment)
When submitting a Postgraduate Bursary application, departments will need to include a copy of the vacancy advertisement and excerpt from the grant conditions confirming that student costs cannot be charged to the grant.
Clinical Research Training Fellow Bursary
This Bursary is available to University staff meeting the following criteria:
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Medical or non-medical healthcare professionals who are taking a fixed time out of their employment or training in the NHS or equivalent body, in order to undertake a PhD.
The source of funding for the individual’s Fellowship does not matter – eligible Fellowships include, but are not restricted to, Wellcome PhD Fellowships for Health Professionals, and CRUK Cambridge Centre Clinical Research Fellowships.
Please note that the following individuals are not eligible for this Bursary:
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Medical students intercalating a PhD into their medical degree
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Healthcare professionals normally living outside the UK or Ireland wishing to undertake a PhD, who do not hold a national training number (or equivalent) and are not committed to a long-term career in the NHS/health services in the UK or Ireland.
Departments submitting a Clinical Research Training Fellow Bursary application will need to include a letter from the appropriate body (NHS Deanery, NHS employer, health services employer) confirming that the individual has been approved to take time out of their training or employment in order to undertake study.
The following information applies to all Bursary holders covered by the Staff Bursary Scheme
Bursary Rate
All Staff Bursary Scheme recipients pay one-third of the Home fee (part- or full-time depending on your chosen mode of study), irrespective of whether you are classified as Home or Overseas for fee status purposes. The remainder of your tuition fee will be covered by the Bursary, the value of which is equivalent to the difference between one-third of the Home fee, and your normal termly fee for the course.
Application procedure for applicants and current students
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Ensure an application for admission to postgraduate study has been completed in the normal way, via the course directory and the Applicant Portal
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Complete the Staff Bursary Scheme Application Form and send it to your departmental postgraduate administrator.
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Your Head of Department will complete their section of the form, which should then be returned to the Fee Policy Manager in the Student Funding and Fee Policy Team or uploaded under Applicant Self Service on CamSIS. This should be accompanied by the supporting documents listed under the eligibility criteria for your bursary, as applicable. (This is at the discretion of the department.)
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Your application will then be reviewed, which includes an employment verification check. Consequently there may be a delay between a Staff Bursary application being submitted and the Staff Bursary appearing on your student record, as an application will not be approved until you have received your University employment contract or contract extension letter.
Please note:
If you are already part-way through your course prior to Michaelmas Term 2025 and have been employed by the University since the outset, you may be eligible for a refund of the difference between the previous reduced staff fee and the full tuition fee for any term(s) completed during the period Lent Term 2024 and Easter Term 2025. You will continue to receive the staff fee for any eligible term(s) of study from Michaelmas Term 2025 onwards (see 'Existing Staff Fee Scheme Members' below). Students who have completed their course by the end of Easter Term 2025 are not eligible for a refund.
Students in receipt of a staff bursary need to inform their College Finance Office (or equivalent) of any change in their University employment status during their course, to help ensure that their College charges them the correct fee for the term(s) in question.
Changes to eligibility
The Student Funding and Fee Policy Team will process your application once the appropriate paperwork has been uploaded through Applicant Self Service on CamSIS. You or your department must advise the Student Funding and Fee Policy Team of any changes to your employment or degree course that may affect your Bursary eligibility by emailing the Fee Policy Manager at feestatusandpolicy@admin.cam.ac.uk.
Any student in receipt of the Staff Bursary whose University contract is extended must ensure that their department notify the Fee Policy Manager to ensure that they continue to receive the Bursary whilst remaining employed by the University.
Please note that you will still be expected to pay the normal termly fee for any remaining term(s) of study for your course if/once your Bursary has ended. In such cases, the termly rate for any remaining term(s) will be either the Home or Overseas fee for the term, according to your fee status.
This fee liability applies even if there is a delay in the Student Funding and Fee Policy Team receiving or processing your department’s instruction to stop your Bursary.
Further information on the reduced staff fee can be found in the University Composition Fee section of the University's Statutes & Ordinances, Chapter I.
Annual Audit
An internal Staff Bursary Scheme audit will take place each year to ensure that Staff Bursaries are only awarded to eligible staff.
Existing Staff Fee Scheme members
Staff members in receipt of the University 'staff fee' at the start of Michaelmas Term 2025 will continue to receive the staff fee until the end of their course, provided they continue to meet the criteria for that scheme.