Guidance

Turing Scheme: guidance for higher education providers

Updated 22 March 2024

Provider eligibility

Higher education (HE) providers can apply for Turing Scheme funding.

To be eligible to apply, higher education providers must be:

• regulated and operate in the UK or British overseas territories
• responsible for delivering higher education to the student taking part in a placement
• registered with or recognised by:
  • the Office for Students – England
  • the Scottish Funding Council – Scotland
  • the Higher Education Funding Council Wales – Wales
  • the Department for the Economy – Northern Ireland

You cannot apply as a consortium, or use Turing Scheme funds towards the activities of Confucius Institutes. 

HE providers in British overseas territories should email turing.scheme2024-25@education.gov.uk to confirm eligibility before applying.

Using the services of external organisations

Higher education providers can pay for the services of third party organisations using organisational support funding to help administer Turing Scheme placements.

These organisations may not be eligible to apply to the scheme themselves.

You should include details of these relationships in your application.

Who can go on placements

To take part in a higher education placement, students must be either:

• studying on a recognised UK higher education qualification or British overseas territory equivalent (up to and including doctorate level) with the HE provider that sends them
• a recent graduate with a recognised UK higher education qualification or British overseas territory equivalent (up to and including doctorate level) from the HE provider that sends them

Students do not need to be UK nationals.

Students are not eligible if they are either:

• located overseas and studying UK or British overseas territory qualifications remotely
• permanently studying at overseas campuses of UK or British overseas territory providers

There is no maximum age limit to participate in the scheme.

Recent graduates must complete their placement within 12 months of completing their qualification with the HE provider. They do not need to be selected for Turing Scheme funding before they graduate.

We do not fund staff accompanying higher education students on placements.

Recruiting students from underrepresented groups

You must show how you will recruit and support participants from underrepresented groups.

Underrepresented groups for the scheme include: 

• ethnic minorities, including white minorities
• people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), including people with additional learning needs (ALN) in Wales and people with additional support needs (ASN) in Scotland
• mature students who are over 21 when starting their undergraduate studies, or over 25 when starting their postgraduate studies
• people who are part of the first generation in their family to attend university
• part-time students

Part-time students include those recorded as studying:

• part-time
• full-time on courses lasting less than 24 weeks
• on block release
• during the evenings only

Placements

Students can take work, study or volunteering placements that help them to develop skills and improve their education and career prospects.

They must take place during an academic year, between 1 September and 31 August.

Placements in destinations with different academic periods or term dates may begin outside these dates, but most of the placement must be within the date range.

We will only provide funding for the part of the placement taking place during the academic year.

Length of placements

Students can study, do work experience or volunteer for between 28 days and 12 months.

Recent graduates can do work experience or volunteer for between 28 days and 12 months.

Where students can go

HE providers in the UK can send students to public or private organisations outside the UK which are active in education, training or the labour market.

From the 2024 to 2025 academic year, this includes overseas campuses of your own institution.

Organisations can be:

• HE providers
• small, medium or large enterprises, including social enterprises
• local, regional or national public bodies
• social partners or other representatives of working life, including chambers of commerce, craft, professional associations, trade unions and research institutes
• foundations
• schools, institutes or educational centres at any stage, from primary to upper secondary education, including vocational and adult education
• non-profit organisations, associations and non-government organisations
• bodies providing career guidance, professional counselling or information services

Providers in British overseas territories can send students to equivalent organisations outside of their overseas territory.

Placements can take place in any destination, but you must follow official foreign travel advice.

Funding 

Turing Scheme funding is a contribution towards the costs of international educational placements. In most cases, it is provided on a per-student basis.

You should not use Turing Scheme funding towards any costs that are already covered by another source of funding.

Contribution to living costs

We will provide funding to help with daily living costs for each student.

The amount each student can receive depends on the group the destination is in.

Groups are based on an assessment of the general cost of living in those destinations:

• group 1 – higher cost of living
• group 2 – lower cost of living

Information on the destinations in each group is available in the list of destinations and grant rates.

There are different rates depending on the length of the placement. Students who complete a placement lasting more than 57 days will receive the 57 to 365 days rate for the whole placement, including the first 28 to 56 days.

Placements for students from non-disadvantaged backgrounds

The funding we will provide is:

Placement duration	Group 1	Group 2
28 to 56 days	£19 per day	£17 per day
57 to 365 days	£14 per day	£12 per day

Placements for students from disadvantaged backgrounds

The funding we will provide is:

Placement duration	Group 1	Group 2
28 to 56 days	£23 per day	£21 per day
57 to 365 days	£18 per day	£16 per day

Extra funding for students from disadvantaged backgrounds

Students from disadvantaged backgrounds can receive extra funding. You will need to set out the disadvantaged groups that you intend to recruit and support in your application.

We generally define these students as people who meet any of the following criteria:

• someone with an annual household income of £25,000 or less
• someone who receives Universal Credit or income-related benefits because they are financially supporting:
  • themselves
  • themselves and someone who is dependent on them, such as a child or partner
• someone with experience of being in care or who is a care leaver – including anyone who is or has been in care, or from a looked after background, at any stage of their life
• a carer, meaning anyone who both:
  • looks after a family member, partner or friend who needs help because of their illness, frailty, disability, a mental health problem or an addiction, and cannot cope without their support
  • is not paid for this care
• someone who is estranged – including anyone who has had no contact with their biological or adoptive parents for 12 months or more, or the relationship with their parents has broken down within the last 12 months
• a refugee or an asylum seeker

This list is not exhaustive. If you identify students who do not precisely meet these definitions but share similar characteristics which justify extra support, you may include them in your application.

We will review the eligibility criteria for students from disadvantaged backgrounds for future years of the scheme.

Travel funding

We will provide funding towards the direct costs of travel for HE students from disadvantaged backgrounds, for one return journey including transfers.

We will provide funding for each student based on a travel grant for each destination. There is a list of destinations and grant rates.

If actual costs are less than the suggested rate, you can use the difference for travel costs in other placements.

We no longer provide separate funding for exceptionally expensive travel.

We may request evidence of the actual travel costs.

You must:

• ensure that total travel claims do not exceed the granted amount
• return any travel funding that is not spent on eligible travel activity to the Department for Education (DfE)

Readiness to travel  

We will provide funding to help students from disadvantaged backgrounds prepare to travel.

You must only use readiness to travel funding for:

• passports
• visa applications and reasonable associated costs such as translated documents and police certificates
• vaccines
• travel insurance
• medical certificates

You should apply using estimated costs associated with the items, as they will be paid as actual costs rather than based on set rates.

Extra funding for students with SEND

We will provide extra funding for students if their HE provider says they attend as a student with special educational or additional needs or a disability, including ASN in Scotland and ALN in Wales. 

You can claim support for additional costs that these students may face on international placements.

For example, we will fund visits, of up to 3 days, where staff or students may need to visit the host destination to carry out pre-placement checks. You must outline why you need the funds when you apply for the scheme.

When students are in receipt of Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA), you should not apply for costs that are already funded by DSA. You can still apply for SEND support for costs that are not funded through DSA.

You should also not apply for additional SEND funding unless requesting funding for costs that are not usually covered by DSA, such as pre-mobility visits.

We recommend that providers who are successful with their applications let students know as soon as possible so they can contact their DSA needs assessor or relevant student finance body, and inform them that their placement is going ahead.

You will need to show the estimated costs associated with students with SEND. These will be paid as actual costs rather than based on set rates.

Organisational support

We will provide funding to support administration and implementation costs.

We will provide £315 per student for the first 100 students, and £180 per student after that.

You must only use organisational support funding for:

• direct staffing costs which are proportionate with running placements, including language preparation and student ambassadors involved in the scheme
• costs associated with appointing an external organisation (such as a private company) to administer and implement placements, including language preparation
• external audit fees
• room bookings for preparatory or post-placement events

You cannot use organisational support funding for any other activity, including:

• promoting or marketing the scheme
• appointing an external organisation to write your application
• IT service costs such as licenses, software, or hardware
• contingency funding for other budgets or to cover emergencies
• staff accompanying students on placements
• staff or student visits to attend events with current or potential partners inside or outside the UK

You cannot claim organisational support for placements at overseas campuses of your own organisation.

Direct staffing costs may be:

• short-term costs
• entire roles
• proportions of entire roles, for example if the staff member has other responsibilities not associated with running placements

You will need to record the costs incurred for staffing because of running placements directly.

Where any of the eligible organisational support costs are paid directly by students, you may give them the money, but you will need to collect receipts.

When you apply, you will need to set out how you will use organisational support funds to support your project, including how procurement of external services represents value for money.

You must regularly report how much of this funding you spend and return any unused funds to DfE.   

You should keep evidence of any expenditure and be prepared to provide a detailed breakdown on request.

This may include items such as:

• receipts
• quotes
• records of how staff time has been spent