Scholarships at Escape Studios - and Beyond

Eamonn Butler

One question we often get asked at Escape Studios is what kind of scholarships are available for study.

We have a dedicated scholarship for studying animation; it's the Eamonn Butler scholarship, named after the Head of Animation at Cinesite, who for many years headed up the animation dept at Disney.

Eamonn Butler Scholarship
The Eamonn Butler scholarship is awarded to one applicant per year to our undergraduate animation programme.

MA animation Scholarship
We also offer a scholarship to one MA animation student, worth up to £8,000. You can find the details here. 

Beyond this, it is important to remember that there are also many other sources of funding to finance your studies.

Loans
As well as the existing system of loans and grants put in place by the Government a few years ago for the funding of higher education, there are also many other sources of charitable funding out there.
You'd be surprised how many charities and trusts provide grants for educational study.

Guide to Educational Grants
One great place to look is the Guide to Educational Grants, published by the NUS (National Union of Students), and which is updated every year.

Charitable Trusts
There are many charities and trusts that can help pay for higher education in the UK. The grants they make vary enormously, and they are often aimed at students from poorer backgrounds or from groups who are less-well represented at university or otherwise disadvantaged. 

Thousands of charities and trusts in the UK, some dating back hundreds of years, make grants to students for their education.  There are many educational charities and trusts that can offer supplementary help in case you find yourself short of funds.

The Charities Digest

How much can you get?
On average, most charities pay around £300 to £500 in grants, and most charities generally only make single payments. But these vary a great deal.

Eligibility
Different charities have different requirements - you will have to check your eligibility for each one.  By way of example, The Royal Scottish Corporation awards grants only to Scots who are studying in London.

Often, charities make awards on the basis of need, so it helps if you're pretty broke and also come from a "non-traditional" university background. Students from less prosperous backgrounds and from other disadvantaged groups are generally more likely to succeed.

Where can you find more information?

To find out more about these charitable grants for education, try these resources:

• The Educational Grants Directory
• The Charities Digest
• The Grants Register
• The Directory of Grant Making Trusts. 

These are all books - not online resources, and they are expensive. For example, The Directory of Grant Making Trusts costs £145 at amazon.

Library
Your best bet is to go to your local library and check them out. Be prepared to make some long lists, and take down the names, addresses and criteria of as many charities as you can manage.

Treat it like a military operation: arm yourself with spreadsheets, write letters, and tick off the ones you have already applied for.  Going down this route may involve some work and quite a few application forms, but it could be well worth it. To see more information, follow this link.

For an online resource, try this link. But remember, the charities which are harder to find will generally have fewer applications.

Also see the official NUS (National Union of Students) website, for more information.

Chevening
For overseas students, one promising route is Chevening, a UK Govt scholarship that pays for overseas students to come and study in the UK.

The Escape Studios Animation Blog offers a personal view on the art of animation and visual effects. To apply for our BA/MArt in 3D Animation, follow this link.  To apply for our storyboarding evening class, visit this page here.  For the next 12 week animation course, click here.