How to Find Bursaries for Your Field of Study
Written by the SA Bursary Hub Editorial Team · Published on · 5 min read
A practical method for finding funding that matches your course: how field names are used by funders, where to look, and how to check that your qualification actually qualifies.
Funders think in disciplines, not faculties
A funder rarely writes "we fund science". They write the disciplines they recruit into: electrical engineering, chemical analysis, foundation-phase teaching, clinical nursing, auditing. When you search, use the discipline word that appears on your registration or admission letter, then also try the broader faculty word. On this site the category pages group related discipline names together, so a search for computer science also surfaces informatics and data science listings.
Check the qualification, not only the subject
Two students can both be studying "accounting" while only one qualifies: some funders fund only a specific accredited degree route, or only certain institutions. Before spending time on an application, compare three things against the listing and the funder's official page: the exact qualification name, the institution, and the study level.
- Qualification name as it appears on your registration document
- Whether the funder names accredited institutions or professional bodies
- The study level funded: matric, certificate, diploma, undergraduate or postgraduate
Where to look beyond a directory
Your institution's financial aid office keeps records of donor bursaries that are never advertised widely, and departmental noticeboards often carry discipline-specific awards. Professional bodies in your field, and the SETA linked to your industry, publish learnership and bursary calls on their own sites. Use those sources alongside a directory rather than instead of one.
Turn a shortlist into applications
Once you have five or six opportunities that genuinely fit, sort them by closing date and prepare the shared documents once. Our field categories and faculty guides give you a starting shortlist, and each listing links to the funder's official application page where the final criteria live.
SA Bursary Hub editorial team
This guide is written from the South African application process and reviewed before publication. It is general guidance, not funder policy. How we verify information.