All Bursaries In South Africa – An Application Guide

Bursaries in South Africa: A bursary is an amount of money given out to students. This is based on their academic performance or the urgency to support them financially. Bursaries are from educational institutions or any funding authority to a set of individuals or a group of people. Bursaries are synonymous with scholarships.

Do You Have To Pay Bursaries In South Africa Back?

Bursaries are often not paid back. It is for students to be able to further their education. However, a beneficiary may have to sign a contract to work with the benefactor to pay them back. This is often with companies.

Whereas Bursary is everything above, a loan depends on the interest rates—loans are for applicants based on their financial predicament and expected to pay back.

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On the other hand, scholarships are awards that are dished out to students based on their superb academic performance.

What Is The Purpose Of Bursaries In South Africa?

The primary purpose of a bursary is to provide money to students who need it financially to support themselves while they are still in school. It is given to students to enable them to go to school.

What Are The Benefits of A Bursary?

  • Bursaries are not loans. This means that you don’t have to pay back.
  • Bursaries, in more ways than one, can help you complete school since they will take care of some of the financial burdens you have to bear
  • Bursaries can make your schooling a lot easier since some of them will make provision for your books and accommodation and even give personal allowances.
  • Some of the companies that offer bursaries have internship programs for students.

What Are The Disadvantages of Bursaries?

  • It is sometimes challenging to land bursaries since they are many people equally applying for the same thing as you.
  • If you happen to perform poorly in your academics, there are chances that you will lose your Bursary or financial support.
  • Some of the bursaries are limited to cover your study expenses only. This means that all other costs will be on you.

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Who Qualifies For A Bursary?

For someone to qualify for a bursary, they need to meet some requirements. Applicants must note that the condition varies from one Bursary to the next. This means that the bursary requirement for A will be different from bursary B.

  • An applicant for a bursary must be a South African national
  • The applicant must either have completed their matric or is writing their matric.
  • The applicant ought to have an outstanding academic record. This can be in either their matric results or their tertiary education.
  • The applicant should either be studying at a recognized university in South Africa or may have applied to one.
  • Bursaries most often fund full-time students, so applicants must make sure they are full-time students.
  • If you are applying for a bursary, you must make sure to provide proof that you are indeed in a financial crisis.

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How To Apply For A Bursary

Before applying for a bursary, an applicant needs to have all of these handy;

  • A South African identification document if a South African or a permanent resident document if applying as an international applicant
  • All academic records, which include Matric results and tertiary academic results, if applicable
  • A proof of tertiary application or registration
  • A letter that explains why you should be considered for a bursary
  • A proof of income that indicates that you are indeed in need of a bursary
  • Proof of permanent residence, that is, if you are not South African

Steps To Apply For Bursary

The application process is straightforward. To apply, do the following;

  • Be sure that you have met all bursary requirements.
  • Make sure that you have all documents, including supporting documents, ready.
  • Once you know all of these and the field of study you are applying to, fill out the forms and submit them.

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Where Can I Get A Bursaries In South Africa?

All interested people looking to apply for a Bursary in South Africa can visit this link to make their selection

List Of Bursaries In South Africa

There are numerous bursaries in South Africa. Below is a list of some of the bursaries you can apply to.

  • Alfresco Engineering Bursary 2022, New
  • Nedbank External Bursary 2023 – 2024, New
  • MEXT Scholarship 2023, New
  • ACT Nyoloha Scholarship 2022, New
  • AIMS Rwanda Postdoctoral Fellowship in Discrete Mathematics and Probability 2022, New
  • SAMSTIP Teacher Internship Bursaries 2023, New
  • Setshaba Research Centre Bursary 2022 – 2023, New
  • Tastic Bursary South Africa 2022, New
  • South African National Space Agency (SANSA) Bursary 2022, New
  • Minds Scholarship Programme for Leadership Development 2022, New
  • Academy of Digital Arts Fast Track Advertising Bursary 2022, New
  • Queen Elizabeth Commonwealth Scholarships 2022, New
  • Standard Bank Bursary 2022 – 2023, New
  • Africa Elite Scholarship Programme in Taiwan 2022, New
  • TETA Scholarship at WMU 2022, New

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What Are Bursary Categories?

Here is a list of fields of studies you can apply for bursaries;

  • Accounting Bursaries
  • Arts Bursaries
  • Commerce Bursaries
  • Computer Science and IT Bursaries
  • Construction and Built Environment Bursaries
  • Education Bursaries
  • Engineering Bursaries
  • General Bursaries
  • Government Bursaries
  • Law Bursaries
  • Medical Bursaries
  • Science Bursaries
  • MBA and Postgraduate Bursaries

Which Companies Offer Bursaries in South Africa

Here is a list of companies in South Africa that offer bursaries.

  • Allan Gray Orbis Fellowship Bursary
  • Shoprite Bursary
  • Columbus Stainless bursary
  • IFA (Independent Field Advertiser) bursary
  • GrandWest bursary
  • South African Veterinary Foundation (SAVF) bursary
  •  Exxaro bursary
  • Pharmaceutical Society of South Africa/ FPE bursary
  • Tegkor/ Nelson Mandela University bursary

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What Is The Best Bursary In South Africa

If you are looking for the best bursaries in South Africa to apply to, check out this list.

  • A2A Kopano Inc. Bursary
  • Auditor-General of South Africa (AGSA) Bursary
  • BDO South Africa Incorporated Bursary
  • Deloitte Bursary
  • Ernest Oppenheimer Memorial Trust Bursary
  • EY Bursary
  • FASSET Bursary
  • Institute of Management Accounting and Strategy (IMAS) Bursary

How Do I Tell If A Bursary Is A Scam?

Note that no bursary will ask you to pay money for a bursary applicant submission; hence that is the first sign that the Bursary may be a scam. Again, if a bursary asks that you send application forms to a free email address like Yahoo, Gmail, or Hotmail, it could be a scam also, as bursaries will ask you to send them to their company email.

Once again all bursaries in South Africa do not request payment before application.

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