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Law Bursaries
LLB and postgraduate law bursaries and scholarships for South African students.
2 opportunities listed
Oppenheimer Memorial Trust Scholarship
Oppenheimer Memorial Trust
Postgraduate scholarships for South African students studying locally or abroad, awarded on academic merit and need.
Ruth First Scholarship
University of the Witwatersrand
Postgraduate scholarship support administered through Wits for students in humanities and social sciences.
How law funding works in South Africa
Law funding in South Africa is smaller and more competitive than in commerce or engineering because firms recruit mainly at the articles stage rather than at first-year level. Most support comes from law firms, university merit awards, legal trusts and public-interest organisations, and many awards target postgraduate study or the final years of the LLB.
Most firm-linked funding starts in the final years
Corporate law firms usually offer bursaries alongside vacation-work programmes and articles offers, aimed at penultimate and final-year students. If you are in first year, build a strong academic record and apply for university merit awards in the meantime.
Public-interest funding rewards demonstrated commitment
Legal aid, human rights and constitutional-law funders look for evidence of community or clinic work. Legal clinic hours, moot court participation and volunteer work carry real weight in these applications.
Confirm what happens after graduation
A law bursary may come with an articles commitment at the funding firm. That can be an advantage, but check the length of service, the location and whether an articles place is guaranteed or merely offered.
Questions students ask about law funding
- Are LLM and postgraduate law studies funded?
- Yes, more often than the LLB. Postgraduate law funding usually comes from universities, research foundations and trusts, and normally requires a research proposal and academic references.