Overview

Our UK member education bursary is open to all medical trainees, nurses and allied health professional members, providing the opportunity to secure funding towards attendance at one of our education courses or conferences.

These bursaries are available exclusively to BSR members to help fund their attendance at any of our courses or conferences. Funding of up to £300 is available for face-to-face events and up to £200 for online events. The bursaries work as reimbursements so successful applicants can claim up to the above amounts for registration fees, travel and accommodation for their chosen event.

A full listing of courses and conferences can be found on the Events and Learning homepage.

Please make sure you read the application guidance and further information sections of the webpage before completing the application form.

Please note, we have a limited number of bursaries available for each course and conference across the year. For courses or conferences with high demand, we recommend getting your application in as early as possible as there is a cap on the amount of bursaries we can award per event.

Due to high demand, we have now closed off any further applications for bursaries towards Annual Conference 2024. 
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Apply for a UK member education bursary

Applications are open until 1 December 2024.

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Application guidance

Who can apply?

  • This bursary is open to trainee, health professional and nurse members

How to apply

To apply for a bursary you need to fill in the application form, which asks about:

  • your current work and some work history

  • the course or conference you'd like to attend

  • if other funding has been received for you to attend the course/conference

  • your suitability for the bursary (maximum 200 words)

  • how attending the course/conference will enhance your professional knowledge, impact your clinical practise and help you provide better patient care (maximum 300 words)

  • whether you've received a bursary from BSR before

  • how long you've been a BSR member

Applications are reviewed anonymously by a nominated panel of reviewers on a monthly basis. The application questions enable BSR and the reviewers to check your eligibility and suitability for the bursary, in line with our terms and conditions (see further information below).

Reviewers will also evaluate the response to the question on how attending the course/conference will enhance your professional knowledge, impact your clinical practise and help you provide better patient care. The response to this question should clearly demonstrate:

  • how attending the course/conference will enhance your professional knowledge
  • how your learning will be taken forward and applied to your clinical practice
  • an understanding of how this will help to improve patient care

Bursaries are awarded to the eligible applicants thought to benefit most based on their application answers and the above criteria.

Further information & terms


  • These bursaries are open to trainee, health professional and nurse members

  • As this application round covers all our courses and conferences for 2024, you may be applying for a bursary to support your funding before or after attending an event. Please note, some events may have an application deadline assigned to them which will be listed on this webpage.

  • Due to this, we recommend booking your place on the course/conference you wish to attend in advance, as you may be notified of the outcome of your application after registration has closed. You can still apply for a bursary for an event that you have already attended but this will be subject to availability.

  • As applications are reviewed on a monthly basis, if you apply for a bursary less than 6 weeks prior to your chosen event, we may not be able to confirm if you have been successful until after the event has taken place.

  • Applicants must already be members when booking and attending the event.

  • Recipients of free membership offers, such as the three month taster membership offer linked to Annual Conference, aren't eligible for this bursary.

  • If awarded a bursary, you will be reimbursed towards one course or conference in the current year. You are then ineligible for further bursaries in the same year. You may apply for a bursary in the next year, once applications are open, but it must be towards a different course or conference. E.g. in 2023 you receive a bursary towards attending Annual Conference 2023, you then can't receive a bursary towards attendance at Annual Conference 2024 but you could get a bursary towards the Core skills in rheumatology course in 2024. 

  • If awarded a bursary, you'll be given instructions on how to claim via our expenses system, EzzyBills. You must provide full VAT receipts when submitting your claim. 

  • Bursary claims are reimbursed up to 30 days after your claim has been received and approved. Please note, incorrect payment details or submitting incorrect receipts will lead to delays in payment.

  • Claims must be made within 3 months of the bursary being awarded; any claims received after this are not reimbursed. 

  • If you receive a bursary and do not attend the course/conference you have received reimbursement for, you may be required to return part or all of the funds to us. This will be reviewed on an individual case basis.

  • By accepting a bursary, recipients agree to provide feedback on how attendance at their chosen event helped enhance their skills and knowledge in rheumatology. 

If you have any questions or require further information, contact the education team.