Funding opportunities

In order to qualify for the Travel Green Grant, students must:

• Travel by bus, ferry or train to your European short term programme as the destination (between 01 August 2023 – 15 July 2024)
• Find alternative in country travel when travelling outside of Europe on a short term programme and when in the host country instead of travelling by plane (between 01 August 2023 – 15 July 2024)
• You will need to pay for your travel beforehand. Any travel grants are to be considered as a reimbursement
• Submit all evidence within the deadline below. Late submissions will not be considered.

If there are more applicants than available grants, randomised selection will be used to choose successful candidates.

• Submit the travel expenses form and email to essexabroad@essex.ac.uk with evidence of your travel.
• Students must also submit your Certificate of Attendance at the same time.
• Deadline for short term programmes is 15 July 2024.
• Summer programme students will be notified of their result by 31 July 2024.
• For travelling sustainable travel information from the University of Essex, please visit our dedicated sustainability webpages.

• You must be a current fully registered student here at the University of Essex.  You must still be registered during the time of the programme that you are requested funding for.
• The programme that you are requesting funding for must have a minimum duration of 28 days.
• Programmes must be completed by 31 August 2024. The programme must be approved by your academic department or Essex Abroad.
• Programmes must take place in person, and you must travel to the host country.
• You must not be a national of the country that you are visiting
• If you are successful in your application, you will be asked to sign a grant agreement whereby you will formally accept your grant and acknowledge the obligations associated with its acceptance.
• If you are awarded Turing Scheme funding, you will familiarise yourself with the Turing Scheme privacy policy.

All students are welcome to apply for Turing Scheme summer abroad funding, but priority will be based on the below:

• Students who meet the widening participation criteria as outlined below
• Students who have not previously completed a period abroad at the University of Essex.
• Personal statement
• In cases where the above does not allow us to make a decision, your first year mark and attendance record may be taken into consideration (if you are a first-year student - we will ask what year mark you are on track for).
• In order to release the funding in a timely manner, deadlines will be set for you to apply for funding.  Deadlines have been set and outlined below but will be extended if needed (e.g. not all funding is allocated by the final deadline).

The University of Essex and the Turing Scheme are committed to supporting all students to access international experiences and as such students from a disadvantaged background are eligible to additional costs related to their cost of living and travel costs.

Students from the following groups will be prioritised for funding and supported by the enhanced grant rate.

1. Students with an annual household income of £25,000 or less (as assessed and verified by Student Finance England or other UK student funding provider).
2. Students receiving Universal Credit or income-related benefits because they are financially supporting themselves or financially supporting themselves and someone who is dependent on them and living with them, such as a child or partner.
3. Care leavers and students who are care-experienced. This refers to anyone who has been or is currently in care or from a looked after background at any stage of their life, no matter how short, including adopted children who were previously looked after or those who access the Care Experienced Bursary in Scotland.
4. Students who have caring responsibilities. A carer is anyone who has a commitment to providing unpaid care to a family member or friend who could not cope without their support.
5. Estranged students - those who are irreconcilably estranged from their parent(s). To be considered irreconcilably estranged, the student won’t have had any written or verbal contact with either parent – usually for 12 months or more - and this is unlikely to change.
6. Refugees and asylum seekers.

Please note as part of the group 2 - 6 above you will be asked to provide official proof of your circumstances.

2023-2024 Standard grant rates

2023-2024 Enhanced grant rates

Students who meet the widening participation criteria above will be eligible for an enhanced grant rate based on destination.

Additional funding for students who meet the widening participation criteria

Students from this group may also receive the following:

• Travel grants of up to £1360, depending on distance between home and destination
• Additional travel expenses can also be claimed, including costs of visas, passports, and health insurance

(students will need to provide receipts against the above costs in order to be reimbursed).

*For details of countries in each group please see the Turing scheme website

Applications for summer 2024 are not yet open.

There will be rolling application deadlines between December 2023 and March 2024. At each deadline all applications will be considered.

If you have any questions during your application, then please contact us. Specific deadline dates will be announced in October 2023.

• Your travel must usually take place between 1 May and 30 September
• You must be a registered student on the date of travel to be eligible.
• Each summer, one of each grant is available.

We are waiting for confirmation of these grants for summer 2024 and the current information is for reference only.

Please contact us for further help or information.

Please note, you are welcome to apply for as many of the grants on this page as you like, we will always guide you towards the most suitable funding for your circumstances and in some cases you may be awarded from more than one funding stream.

• Be ordinarily resident in the UK and assessed as “Home Fee Status”. Overseas and EU students are not eligible.
• Be participating in an overseas experience for a minimum of four weeks and a maximum of 12 weeks (28-84 days).
• Registered on a full-time undergraduate degree at our University (students completing their final year of their undergraduate degree will not be eligible).
• Passed all of your 1st year modules.
• Have an annual household income of less than £42,611 (as assessed and verified by Student Finance England or other UK student funding provider).
• Completed and submitted the application form by the deadline.
• Given consent to the sharing of financial details supplied by Student Finance England or other UK funding provider.
• Provide a letter of acceptance confirming your international activity.
• The destination country does not have an FCO travel warning in place.
• Applicants have completed the risk assessment for the placement (this document is part of the application process and will be supplied to you).
• Submit a certificate of attendance, signed and stamped by the host institution/organisation after you've completed your time away.

Applications closed on 27 March 2023 and our team are currently reviewing the applications. We will be in touch with all applicants, regardless of the outcome, by 15 April 2023.

If you have any questions or issues with the form, please contact us eagrants@essex.ac.uk

Usually, priority will be given to students who:

• have not participated in a programme abroad during their degree (i.e students currently not on a year abroad degree)
• are not recipients of a scholarship, bursary or grant from the programme provider or from a University Department to support the activity
• are not expected to be fundraising in order to participate in an activity