Higher Education Academy bursaries

Bursaries of up to £350 per individual application will be available to support innovative, original research about the Houses of Parliament.

Dissertations should examine an aspect of the institution of Parliament; the procedures, processes, business, members, administration or the Estate.

What are the bursaries for?

The bursaries, funded by the HEA, are being made available to cover travel and subsistence expenses for a one-day visit to the Houses of Parliament, where students will be able to conduct research within the Parliamentary Estate.

Parliament’s Outreach Service will assist successful applicants to arrange activities during this visit, such as a tour of Parliament, meetings with relevant Parliamentary staff and viewing of Parliamentary business.

Eligibility for HEA funded bursary

Applications are welcomed from Masters-level students from any discipline.

The bursary is available only available to students at higher education providers based in UK Parliamentary constituencies.

Applicants will be asked to provide Parliament’s Outreach Service with a copy of their final dissertation once it has been submitted.

Application assessment criteria

Applications will be judged on the following criteria:

• Clarity of dissertation proposal.
• Relevance to the study of Parliament.
• Potential impact of the visit to Westminster on the final dissertation.

Guidance on assessment criteria for HEA bursary applications ( PDF 382 KB)

HEA bursary amounts

The bursary amounts awarded to successful applicants are set out in the table below.

The bursary amounts are determined by the distance from Westminster of the student’s higher education institution or main place of study, according to four area bands. Areas within the bands are organised by Parliamentary constituency.

The four bands are London, Band A, Band B and Band C - Band C being those constituencies furthest away from London.

To find out the constituency in which a higher education institution is located, applicants can use Parliament’s Find Your MP service.

To find out the band in which each constituency is located, applicants should refer to the Transport subsidy bands listed by constituency ( PDF 197 KB). 

Breakdown of allowances within the bursary

The bursary amount has been set to cover the cost of a standard class return journey to London using public transport including train, coach, airplane or Underground.

Public transport ticket allowances have been based on the costs of booking at least two weeks prior to the visit date to ensure the best fares.

If students are expected to travel over four hours to reach London, the cost of one night’s accommodation and an overnight subsistence allowance is also included.

Successful applicants will be responsible for booking their own travel and accommodation.

Each successful applicant will receive the set bursary amount before the date of their visit to Parliament. This will be transferred to the successful applicant’s bank account.

How to apply

Students should submit a completed application form which has been approved by their Head of Department or dissertation supervisor. If a research proposal is still subject to confirmation, applications may still be submitted on the understanding that the details, although not the core subject, of the research may change.

Application form: Post Graduate HEA funded bursary for Parliament dissertation ( DOC 92 KB)

If successful, the person who has approved the application will be contacted to confirm the validity of the dissertation proposal.

Closing date for applications

The deadline for completed application forms has been extended to midday on Friday 3 May 2013.

Further information

For further information, please email bursaries@parliament.uk or call Parliament’s Outreach Service on 020 7219 1650.

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