You might think that in order for someone to give you money for school you need to have the best results in school and at tests. This is the general opinion of what a scholarship means and it is partly right. Students do get financial help if they prove they are exceptional in a field, but the level of that mastery is oftentimes relative and there is another way, the bursary.

If you are worried about how you are going to pay for your tuition fee you are probably eligible for a bursary. This is a sum of money that is offered not merit-based, but means-tested. This means that you will need to prove that you parents earn a combined income that is under a set threshold and you will get the money you need for school without needing to repay it ever again. But this does not mean that you cannot also get a scholarship, you can get both. They do not exclude one another so the best way is to go for both as that way you will able to pay for your studies in full and still have some money for an occasional pizza.

Merit-based scholarships are awarded to people that are truly talented and who, otherwise, for the lack of money, may slip through the cracks and never get noticed. Very smart people don`t always come from the right socio-economic background and it is not their fault, they need to be helped and often are. Scholarships are a gain to everyone as everybody gains from talent that is not wasted and instead used for something good.

Some organizations measure merit in a more conventional way and offer the money based on the results to conventional tests while others offer them based on the exceptional talent or potential discovered in some fine arts. There are also plenty of contests that you can participate in in order to get a scholarship and you can apply with one of your works or take part in actual contests.

The bottom line is that you could go for both types of financial aids. You should apply for a bursary and at the same time see what scholarships are a right fit for you and how you can apply successfully for them. Trying in several places will mean success in at least one.

How much do you know about bursaries? Probably not that much as they are not so popular, but read on for some of the key facts.

Bursaries are loans intended to pay for your education and you don`t have to pay them back. The government rarely pays bursaries, most of them are paid by individual universities and colleges. You can get a bursary and still get other state support like loans for living costs and such. The amount a University pays for a bursary is very diverse. Some pay less while others will pay more than 5000 dollars per year. Bursaries are usually paid every year and you can get it every year if you are eligible.

What you need to understand is that the bursary is a means-tested loan that you don`t have to give back, but you can still apply for a scholarship which will be merit-based in order to supplement your income while you study.

The interesting thing is that all universities will give at least one bursary to students whose parents earn below a certain threshold. They have to, so even if bursaries are not as known as scholarships, they are out there and you can get them if you apply for them. The tricky thing is that not all universities have the same criteria of entitlement. Each university is free to choose its own so you might be accepted at one university and rejected at another one. This is a good thing to check before you go on with applying for different universities.

Some universities give a partial bursary for students whose parents earn below a threshold, but more than the lower limit that allows you to receive a bursary. There are also universities that offer bursaries to all students, but you still need to apply for one. In any case, you should always check if you are entitled to get a bursary or a scholarship. You usually just need to file some simple documents and you will get a rather quick response.

If you need a higher bursary seek out the universities that give the most substantial bursaries and apply there. You`ll be much more relaxed if you know you are getting financial help that you don`t need to repay.