UKCP Bursary

The UKCP Bursary is a fund created to support UKCP student and trainee members in need of financial assistance. Our aim is not only to help individuals, but to strengthen the profession as a whole by supporting students and trainees from groups under-represented in our workforce, and by enabling those from all backgrounds to complete their studies and contribute to the future of psychotherapy and psychotherapeutic counselling.

Bursary eligibility and requirements

Our UKCP Bursary guidelines contain useful info and FAQs about the bursary process. You can also use the UKCP Bursary eligibility and UKCP membership eligibility flowcharts to help you determine whether you can apply.

To be eligible to apply for a UKCP Bursary, you must:

• be a registered UKCP student or trainee member and enrolled in a UKCP-accredited course. More information on how to join UKCP is available here
• ensure that your training organisation provides a statement of support. Instructions on how to collect and submit this online statement will be shared in the application confirmation email
• ensure that a professional reference is provided. This could be from a supervisor, academic tutor, clinical professional, mentor, previous employer or anyone who knows you in a professional capacity. Instructions on how to collect and submit a professional reference will be shared in the application confirmation email
• demonstrate a genuine commitment to the psychotherapy or psychotherapeutic counselling profession
• not be in a receipt of a different bursary for the same course in the same academic year.

As part of our aim to improve equality and diversity practice within the profession, we especially welcome applications from UKCP students and trainees who meet the criteria above and who:

• are in a need of financial support due to their personal circumstances (for example, being a single parent, low-income household, carer or similar)
• come from under-represented groups including people who have Black, Asian and minoritised ethnic backgrounds, a disability (as defined by the Equality Act 2010) or those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, non-binary and/or transgender.

The bursary award for 2026 is £750. This is a contribution towards training fees and is paid directly to the training organisation. Those who have completed all parts of their training are not eligible to apply.

How applications are assessed

All eligible applications will be anonymised by UKCP and shared with a specially appointed UKCP bursary panel which comprises of:

• a nominated UKCP trustee (panel chair)
• a nominated representative from the UKCP Professional Regulatory Committee of the Colleges and Faculties (PRCCF)
• a nominated representative of the UKCP Education, Training and Practice Committee (ETPC)
• a UKCP Honorary Fellow (nominated by the UKCP chair)
• a lay person who is not a UKCP member, not a practitioner, and not already on any UKCP committee or board (nominated by the UKCP Board of Trustees)
• a nominated representative from the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion – Belonging, Intersectionality, Inclusion, Diversity and Equity (EDI-BIIDE).

The panel will meet to assess the anonymous applications and decide which should receive a bursary.

All applicants will be notified by email of the outcome of their application.

If your application is successful, the award will be paid directly to your training organisation via bank transfer and will go towards the fee for your training. No payments will be made directly to applicants.

Donate to our bursary scheme 

Publication date: 3 August 2026.

Please note that information on this page is correct at the time of publication.