Bursaries
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Please ntoe we are not currently accepting applications for bursaries for any of our degree programmes. You can apply for bursaries for our unaccredited short courses via this link. If you have been awarded a bursary in the past and need to contact someone about it please email admissions@dartington.org with any enquiries you may have.
See also: Scholarships >
our bursary schemes
DARTINGTON LEARNING BURSARIES
For each intake onto our MA programmes, Dartington Trust has a limited pool of bursary funding under the Dartington Learning Bursary Fund, which any prospective student in need may apply for. We allocate bursaries to cover up to £5,000 of the cost of tuition fees*, based on bursary applications made before the preferred early application deadline for a course. While £5,000 is our maximum bursary award, an award of this amount is only offered in exceptional circumstances, with most bursaries falling more typically within the range of £500 and £3,000.
These bursaries are open to any full- or part-time student (UK or international, postgrad or undergrad) applying for a Master’s place at Schumacher College or Dartington Arts School.
*Please note that we are unable to offer bursaries covering the full cost of tuition fees.
BSc Regenerative Food and Farming bursaries
We will be supporting the first cohort of full time students in this new programme by offering 25 bursaries of £3,000 to cover the difference between the Student Loan and the tuition fee for their first year.
The scheme is open to all full-time applicants applying from England who are eligible to apply for support from Student Loans Company England and are starting their studies in September 2023. This scheme will work on a first come first serve basis and will be automatically offered to the first 25 applications via UCAS.
International students may still apply to the general bursary pot as above.
If you are not eligible for the above, undergraduates can also apply for a Dartington Learning Bursary using the form below.
See also: Scholarships >
in their words
Find out how our scholarships and bursaries have helped previous students…
yuki's story
For ‘Yuki’* from Hong Kong, the additional support of a partial bursary from Schumacher College has enabled her to study outside of a city that is dealing with a number of political challenges.
The 31 year-old feels it has become increasingly difficult for Hongkongers to live freely in Hong Kong as China tightens its grip in the city.
She says independent media outlets have been shut down, activists have been locked up in prison, and with the pandemic, it has meant any sort of protest has become impossible.
“While some have fled Hong Kong, there are people who are still trying to do what they can; teachers are trying to teach, farmers are trying to farm, but things have become increasingly challenging with an ever changing ‘red line’.”
Yuki has been working on sustainability at the university in Hong Kong, involved in projects such as plastic reduction and the promotion of urban farming – evaluating the physical and mental benefits as well as the environmental benefits.
She has noticed a growing interest amongst people to discover where food comes from, in part due to people being at home as a result of lockdowns, giving them a chance to grow food at home and consider a more sustainable lifestyle.
A course in permaculture and visits to eco villages sparked an interest in practical design solutions to address global crises, which led her to the MSc Regenerative Food, Farming and Enterprise at Schumacher College.
“While I will always call Hong Kong my home, I’m hoping to set up another ‘base’ in the UK and I am very grateful that my journey sets off at Schumacher College,” she says.
“It’s a great community and very unlike the learning experience that I’ve had in the past – it’s very liberating and empowering.
“It is a different way of seeing what could make a better world.”
*Names have been changed for the purpose of this case study
felipe's story
Felipe Collazo, from Argentina was given a scholarship to come to Schumacher College in Devon, England, to study Ecological Design Thinking on the 20/21 programme.
He said he really enjoyed the degree and his time spent at Dartington, but he always knew he wanted to return to his home country.
“I really wanted to come to Argentina to do my dissertation. It was hard to think of these tools we had had learned (at College) being applied here (in Argentina) – but I want to live here and I want to make a change here. That was my motivation.”
He chose to base his dissertation on the El Potrero Nature Reserve and working farm in Gualeguaychu, in the Entre Rios province of Argentina – a large area totalling 30,000 hectares. There are a number of projects already based there around education and conservation and working with the local community.
With very few staff based at the reserve, Felipe was aware of the challenges of starting initiatives with limited capacity to see them through after he had left. But one of the most valuable things he learnt while studying on the programme was the importance of working collaboratively – not imposing ideas on others.
“At Schumacher College, one entire module was about design and place and this has to do with connecting. There are things that you cannot see or touch but they are the place and the culture as well as your perception of the place.
“After connecting with that place then you can try to suggest or facilitate something, but you need to always have in mind ‘I am a stranger here’.”
Felipe said he realised some of his ideas and ways of working were very new to some people who might be hesitant about change.
In addition he faced cultural challenges, which were not just about nationality but about the cultures of organisations, and places of work.
“I think, in this place, someone who was not Argentinian wouldn’t work. If you start from the beginning to get to know this culture here then you have to understand the Argentinian culture first and then understand the culture of this farm and the city,” he added.
Staff at the reserve were so happy with his work they asked him to stay on a few months longer to progress some of his ideas. You can see more about his progress on facebook, ReservaElProtero.