Key Facts
- Status
- Check Provider for Dates
- Provider
- Field of Study
- Study Level
Eligibility Requirements
- South African citizen aged between 21 and 35
- Achieved an overall average of at least 60% in your undergraduate degree
- Enrolled in, or accepted for, a full-time one-year Honours programme at a public South African university
- This must be your first postgraduate qualification
- Combined household/family income below the Foundation's published threshold (reported as approximately R600,000-R700,000 per year, depending on the year's criteria)
About Firstrand Foundation Honours Bursary
The FirstRand Foundation Honours Bursary supports South African students entering a full-time Honours degree, funded through the FirstRand group's empowerment and social investment structures. It is designed to help academically strong undergraduates from lower- and middle-income households complete a postgraduate Honours qualification without dropping out for financial reasons, and forms part of FirstRand's broader corporate social investment and transformation commitments.
Funding Details
Reported benefits include cover for tuition fees, a book allowance, a travel/living allowance, food vouchers and airtime, along with ongoing psycho-social and academic support and workshops for personal and professional development.
Where You Can Study
Open to students entering an Honours year at any public university in South Africa, across fields such as accounting, actuarial science, agricultural sciences, computer science, data science, economics, engineering, mathematics and statistics.
About FirstRand Foundation
FirstRand Foundation is the philanthropic vehicle associated with FirstRand Limited, the JSE-listed financial services group whose operating franchises include First National Bank (FNB), Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) and WesB…
View full provider profile →Fields of Study & Who Can Apply
The bursary is open to South African citizens aged between 21 and 35 who have completed an undergraduate degree and have been accepted into a full-time, one-year Honours programme at a public South African university, and who have not previously studied at postgraduate level.
Application Procedure
Apply directly with the provider using the official application link below, before the closing date.
Last verified:
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this the same as the "FirstRand Foundation" or the "FirstRand Empowerment Foundation"?
FirstRand group runs both a general FirstRand Foundation (FRF) and a separate FirstRand Empowerment Foundation (FREF). This specific Honours bursary is administered under the empowerment/B-BBEE-linked foundation structure, though it is widely referred to online simply as the "FirstRand Foundation Honours Bursary". Confirm the current administering entity and portal on FirstRand's own foundations page before applying.
Where do I apply?
Recent cycles have used an online application portal (reported as a Feenix-hosted FREF bursary portal) rather than a direct email application. Check FirstRand's official foundations page for the live application link each year, as portal addresses have changed between cycles.
Has the deadline passed?
The most recently verified closing date was around late 2025/early 2026 for entry into the 2026 Honours year, which has already lapsed. No verified 2027 dates are available yet, so none are published here.
What is the household income cap?
Sources vary slightly on the exact published income threshold (some cite R600,000, others R700,000 per year), which may reflect changes between application cycles. Confirm the current year's exact threshold on the official application portal.
