Inclusion bursary information

NHS England and Improvement is committed to delivering on the aspirations of the NHS People Plan to continue our efforts to make the culture of the NHS universally understanding, kind and inclusive. As part of ensuring that all staff feel a belonging within the NHS, a critical focus stated within the NHS People Plan is that of leadership diversity, working guarantee that the senior leadership within our organisation represents the diversity of the NHS as a whole.

In offering our leadership development programmes, we pay attention to inclusion in relation to both content and how our programmes are delivered. We must also ensure that access to our programmes reflects the richness and diversity of our workforce. To this end, we have an inclusion bursary scheme in place to support talented applicants who are from groups under-represented across leadership levels and whom, without the bursary, would otherwise miss out on opportunities to access the excellent quality professional leadership programmes. Specifically, the scheme is currently available to individuals of the following groups;

  • Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME)
  • People with disabilities
  • LGBT+

Guidance for bursary applicants

In addition to belonging to one or more of the above underrepresented groups, the inclusion bursary is only available to those applicants who have sought organisational and alternative methods of funding in the first instance.

This inclusion bursary application will be considered separately from the rest of your submitted programme application. We will not then take into account any information provided in your personal statement when considering your inclusion bursary statement. As such any information mentioned here that may also be relevant to your bursary application response can be repeated. You will not be penalised for any repetition between the two submissions. Allocation of bursary finding will be dependent on a successful programme application which will be reviewed separately by the relevant programme team, in conjunction with a successful bursary application.

The word limit for your bursary application is 500 words. Whilst there is no minimum requirement, it is advisable to make use of this allowance to the extent you feel possible or necessary to answer the question.

The inclusion bursary scheme is currently available for The Elizabeth Garrett Anderson and Nye Bevan programmes only. Please note that we have a fixed and limited number of bursaries available per intake. To apply for a bursary, please complete the bursary application form within the programme application.

Bursaries awarded will cover the full programme course-fee. You may also apply for a partial bursary where a proportion of the funding has been secured through your employing organisation but where this does not meet the full cost of the programme.

Applicants must submit their bursary application and as part of their programme application. The deadline for submitting your bursary application is the same as deadline given for applying to your chosen programme.

All bursary applications will be assessed internally and independent from your programme application. Please be aware that your bursary application will not be shared outside of the bursary assessment panel members and the relevant programme team. Your bursary application will not be shared outside of the organisation – this includes the applicant’s own employer, line manage and so on, in correspondence to our standard privacy policy.

For those applying for bursaries on the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson programme, successful applicants will be notified following the application closing dates and review of applications. Successful applicants for the Nye Bevan programme will be informed after the assessment centres.