Higher education funding for Scottish resident students
Funding opportunities for higher education Scottish students is different depending on if you will be studying an undergraduate or postgraduate course.
Undergraduate students
Eligible undergraduate students do not pay tuition fees for higher education courses but you will need to apply for this funding through SAAS.
Funding for full time courses
Students who normally live in Scotland and are studying a course at SCQF level 7 and above must apply to the Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) for their fees and/or a bursary, tuition fees are not automatically paid to SRUC. You can also choose to take out a student loan for living costs. You need to apply for the funding on the SAAS website for each year of your course.
Go to SAAS
Funding for part time courses
Students living in Scotland and undertaking a part time course may be eligible for tuition fee support from SAAS. To receive funding, you need to study an eligible course, meet our residence criteria, earn an average gross income (before tax and National Insurance) of £25,000 a year or less, including bonuses and overtime, and have left full time compulsory education, such as high school.
Go to SAAS
Postgraduate students
If you are a Scottish postgraduate student you may be eligible to apply to SAAS for a tuition fee loan. The SAAS website is the best place to start your investigation into this potential source of funding.
You may also want to look into your eligibility for Postgraduate Masters Loans and Professional and Career Development Loans available through the UK Government.
Some of our postgraduate courses are awarded by The University of Edinburgh or the University of Glasgow so be sure to check their funding pages to see if you're eligible for funding through them.
Finally, specific funding opportunities available for your chosen course of study at SRUC may also be found within our course catalogue.
Postgraduate funding with the University of Edinburgh
Find out more about postgraduate funding with The University of Edinburgh.
Explore more
Postgraduate funding with The University of Glasgow
Find out more about postgraduate funding with The University of Glasgow.
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NFU Mutual Centenary Award
Students studying a Masters or PhD course in agriculture may be eligible to apply to the NFU Mutual Centenary Award.
Learn more
Additional funding
Whether you're studying an undergraduate or postgraduate course, you may also be eligible for these funding support programmes:
Discretionary Fund
The purpose of the Discretionary Fund is to assist students who endure financial difficulties while attending college. It is used mostly to assist students who have their own accommodation and require assistance in paying their housing costs and associated expenses.
Childcare funding
Childcare funds are designed to provide financial assistance to students whose entry to, or continuation of, their chosen course at SRUC may be inhibited by the cost of childcare.
Travel expenses
All young people and children aged 5-21 years are entitled to free bus travel.
Care experienced students
Students who have been in care at any time may be eligible for a Care-experienced Bursary. The term 'care-experienced' refers to anyone who has experienced a certain form of care in their life (sometimes known as having been ‘looked after’).
Student bursaries
We offer a variety of additional funding opportunities to encourage and support engaged students, passionate about their subject area, to maximise their potential and study at SRUC.
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IT Equipment
If you don't have access to a laptop but you need one for your course, SRUC will provide you with one.
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SRUC alumni discount
SRUC offers a 15% discount on tuition fees to SRUC alumni on its taught postgraduate programmes.
Learn more
Change to student loans for second degree students
In previous years students who were returning to complete a second degree and who had already used their repeat year funding wouldn't be eligible for tuition fee or bursary support, however all students still had access to their student loan from SLC. From academic year 25/26, SAAS have now confirmed this won’t be the case for students returning who have already used their repeat year funding. These students will not be eligible for tuition fee/bursary support or able to access a student loan. Note that continuing students studying a second degree will not be impacted provided they progress and don’t change course. For further enquiries contact Katie Cringan at katie.cringan@sruc.ac.uk.
If you still have questions or need more help
Download our guide to higher education bursaries and funding
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Visit Student Information Scotland
For more help with student finance, further education funding and other aspects of student life
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Course catalogue
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Training courses
SRUC's training service offers a wide range of training and skills development courses to meet the needs of the land-based workforce across Scotland and the rest of the UK.
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Subject areas
We're Scotland’s national provider of college and university level education in the land-based sector.
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Virtual Experience
We've created a Virtual Experience platform for students where you can find great videos and examples of what it’s like to study our courses, along with campus and facility tours.
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Fees & funding
The area of student finance can be a complicated and ever-changing one. But don't worry, funding, including bursaries and loans to help with tuition fees, living, and travel costs, is available to help you complete your studies.
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Student Life
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