The Turing Scheme is a UK government initiative that funds students like you to pursue international study placements like the ones we organise.
The scheme offers financial support to help you cover various expenses associated with your Work the World placement. These expenses might include your flights, living expenses, and even the cost of the placement itself.
The amount of funding you get depends on several factors, like the duration and location of the placement, and the specific activities involved. But, it is not uncommon for universities participating in the scheme to cover the entire cost of your placement.
— Use the Turing Scheme to gain career-boosting clinical experience —
On the above point, you don’t apply directly to the Turing Scheme as an individual—your university needs to apply as an institution. If successful, your university will receive a budget to distribute to eligible students.
Your university might already be a participating institution, so your best next step is to ask them. You can point them towards the official Turing Grant website if they are not already participating.
— Have your own once-in-a-lifetime travel experience —
Are You Eligible For Turing Funding?
The official Turing Scheme website states that to be eligible for funded placement, you need to be either:
- “Studying on a recognised UK higher education qualification or British overseas territory equivalent (up to and including doctorate level)”
- “A recent graduate with a recognised UK higher education qualification or British overseas territory equivalent (up to and including doctorate level)”
— You'll see a lack of resources and back-to-basics equipment —
You don’t have to be a UK national, and there is no upper age limit, which makes the scheme even more accessible.
Check out the Turing Scheme’s official website for the most up-to-date information.
Recent Graduates
If you recently graduated, you are still eligible. The only condition is that you undertake your placement within 12 months of completing a qualification at your university.
How Much Could You Get?
We cannot answer this question concretely, so you’ll need to contact your university to determine the amount you could be entitled to. Your university will assess your unique circumstances and determine how much to allocate you.
— Make travel memories that will last a lifetime —
That said, based on what we have witnessed in recent years, it’s not uncommon for students to receive thousands of pounds for their trip. There is even additional funding available for students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Bradford University secured more than £750,000 to distribute to its students for the 2023/2024 Turing Scheme intake. We hosted several of them, including Devon Mitchell-McCann — a paramedic science student who undertook a placement in Dar es Salaam. Devon received more than half the cost of her Work the World placement.
She said, “I was a fourth-year Paramedic and was chatting to my university tutor about wanting to gain relevant experience abroad, so he informed me about a Turing Grant. […] I applied, got it, and it funded over half the cost of my three-week placement in Tanzania.
To anyone considering going overseas, I say do it! Even if you don’t want to work overseas for your future career you will learn so much you can take home with you. Especially as a student or newly qualified as I am now, I feel it’s so much more beneficial, and you’re used to learning. I can honestly say it’s one of the best decisions I’ve ever made - the only bit of advice I would give is to go as long as possible, as three weeks was not enough for me!”
Why Go Overseas?
Spending time in a low-resource clinical setting in Africa or Asia could be a pivotal step that transforms your perspective on healthcare provision.
You could see different cultural attitudes towards care, how religious beliefs affect clinical practice, and extremely late presentations and advanced conditions.
— Meet other healthcare students from all over the world —
“There are many reasons to choose any particular elective experience. Coming from a country with a first-class healthcare system, I was interested in immersing myself in a new and unfamiliar community, embracing the ‘culture shock’, to observe, learn, and contribute however I could…
Sri Lanka, for its part, presented the opportunity for a different kind of cultural and educational immersion, with the added temptation of travel and adventure at your doorstep.” – Edward Spraggon, on his elective in Sri Lanka
Next Steps:
- Speak to our expert consultants to discuss your placement
- Secure your space with a £300 registration fee
- Get in touch with your university to discuss Turing Scheme funding
- Your balance isn’t due until 90 days before you’re due to depart — you have plenty of time to secure funding
- Experience a once-in-a-lifetime overseas placement with Work the World
Start your
Adventure
Speak to our placement experts today by completing the short form at the bottom of this page.
Speak to our placement experts today by completing the short form at the bottom of this page.
