Performance Sports scholarships and bursaries
We are looking for scholars competing in our focus sports, other team sports and individual athletes to contribute to our performance sport programme.
Sports Scholarships at Essex
Perform. Compete. Succeed.
At the University of Essex, we support ambitious student-athletes who want to excel in both sport and study. Our Sports Scholarships provide financial support and access to a high-performance environment designed to help you reach your full potential.
Whether you compete in one of our performance programmes or as an individual athlete, we invite you to apply.
What you'll receive as an Essex sports scholar
At Essex, a scholarship is more than financial support. It’s a full performance package designed to help you thrive in sport and study.
| Benefit | What you receive |
| Financial support | Scholarship funding or bursaries |
| Strength and conditioning | Personalised gym programmes programmed by our full-time qualified strength and conditioning coaches |
| Performance support | Access to Physiotherapy, injury management, sports massage & rehabilitation programmes |
| Kit and equipment | Official Essex performance kit |
| Facility access | Gold gym membership and priority access to training facilities |
| Academic flexibility | Support balancing sport and study |
| Performance environment | Compete in BUCS and national or professional leagues: |
Our aim is simple: to give you the environment, expertise, and support to thrive.
Scholarship types and awards
| Scholarship type | Award | Eligibility |
| Tier 1 – Tuition Fee Discount* |
Tuition fee discount up to 100% | Postgraduate and undergraduate international and domestic students** |
| Tier 2 – Cash Bursary | Cash bursary (of varying amounts) | Undergraduate students only |
| Tier 3 – Performance Package |
Access to the above performance package benefits, with a value of up to £1,500 | All student types |
*Available for top-performing athletes; requires commitment to the programme. Some exceptional athletes in receipt of a Tier 1 scholarship may also receive additional financial support.
**In case of UK undergraduate students, this would be a fee discount for all years of study (but the University reserves the right to remove them from the scholarship programme as per the terms and conditions in the athlete contract, i.e., not meeting the standard expected, no longer participating).
Who can apply
We welcome applications from talented student-athletes competing at regional, national, or international level.
Scholarships are available across all of our performance programmes, as well as for high-performing individual athletes.
If you are committed, ambitious, and ready to contribute to Essex performance sport, we want to hear from you.
Our Performance Sports
We offer scholarships across our priority performance programmes:
Basketball
Volleyball
Individual Athletes and other sports
Why choose Essex?
- A leading university for performance sport
- Professional coaching and structured development pathways
- Integrated strength & conditioning and sport science support
- Strong BUCS competition goals
- A supportive athlete community that values both sporting and academic success
At Essex, you don’t have to choose between your degree and your sport. You can pursue both at a high level.
How to apply
Applying is simple:
- Apply to study at Essex – undergraduate or postgraduate
- Submit your sports scholarship application
Our team will review your application and contact shortlisted candidates.
Terms and conditions
Sports Scholarships are subject to eligibility criteria and performance expectations. Full terms and conditions outline:
- Scholarship requirements
- Performance commitments
- Academic expectations
- Code of conduct
Please review the full terms and conditions (.docx) before submitting your application.
If you're a current student looking for information about an award you received, see our terms and conditions for previous years.
Due to structured placement requirements, high demand, or the intensive nature of certain programmes, some courses are not suitable for scholarship support. In these cases, programmes have mandatory schedules, placements, or workload expectations that can make it difficult for students to fully engage with scholarship commitments such as training and competition. As a result, students enrolled on these courses will not normally be eligible for fee waivers or bursaries, except in very limited and exceptional circumstances.
