RCN Foundation Professional Bursary Scheme

Are you about thinking of taking a course to improve your skills?

Grants of up to £1,600 are available to support your continuous professional development. Laptops and books are now considered eligible costs. Should your application be successful, a proof of purchase will be required prior to grant payment.

To apply, you must be undertaking a UK accredited course that starts between January 2027 and January 2028. Please do not apply if your course falls out of these dates.

To apply for the funding, you need to be either a:

• UK registered nurse
• UK registered midwife
• Healthcare support worker
• Direct entry nursing associate in the UK (not apprentice nursing associates)
• Maternity assistant
• Care worker 

Student nurses and nurse apprentices are not eligible to apply. 

Funding for addiction, substance misuse and mental health care

Thanks to additional funding from Camurus, there is increased funding available through this grant for nurses undertaking education in addiction, substance misuse and mental health care. We particularly encourage applications from nurses studying courses such as the University of Bath’s Addiction and Mental Health module, King’s College London’s Substance Use and Misuse programme or Glasgow Caledonian University’s Addictions: Policy and Practice course, as well as similar qualifications.

If your studies will help improve care and outcomes for people affected by complex mental health and addiction needs, we strongly encourage you to apply. 

Please note, Camurus has provided a grant to the RCN Foundation for the purpose of creating support the educational needs of nurses. They have no influence or involvement in the selection of the recipient chosen to receive funding from this education fund. 

Funding for nurses in East Lancashire

The Fort Foundation have made a generous donation to support the ongoing development of nursing staff in North East Lancashire. You must be a nurse at either the Royal Blackburn Teaching Hospital or Burnley General Teaching Hospital to be eligible for this specific funding.  

Additional information

A key focus area for the RCN Foundation is addressing health inequalities and we are interested to receive applications from geographical areas in the UK that have high levels of health inequalities.

For more information, please look at our updated FAQs section.

How to apply

To apply for the RCN Foundation Professional Bursary Scheme, click here.

Applications close at 5pm on 30 September.

Please note: once you start an application it will automatically save and you can return to complete it at any time. However, once you reach section 9 you will no longer be able to go back to your application so please make sure you complete all sections before progressing to section 9.

This education grant may close early if we receive a high volume of applications. All applications will be reviewed after the closing date.