Training and Development Bursaries
The Radio Academy is a registered charity, dedicated to the promotion of excellence in the radio and audio industry in the UK. We exist to support people at all stages of their audio careers. With our Radio Academy bursaries, we aim to support people to take part in training or development opportunities, who might be underrepresented in the industry or not have the means to pay the costs involved out of their own pocket. This might include contributions towards ticket fees, transport or accommodation.
At various points in the year, we advertise opportunities for bursaries for our own events, or other events that we've partnered with, and these will all be listed on this page. We will usually ask that you provide us a write-up of the event or training that you attended, how it has helped you and how you will give back by sharing the knowledge with others.
Bursaries for Radio TechCon 2023
Once again, we are contributing five bursary places to the Radio TechCon Bursary Scheme, and will also offer every bursary recipient free Radio Academy Membership.
Radio TechCon 2023 takes place on Monday 27th November 2023 at IET London: Savoy Place. Find out more about the event and how to apply for the Bursary Scheme at Radio TechCon.
Bursary reports for The Radio Academy Festival 2023
We offered Bursaries to The Radio Academy Festival 2023, including a free ticket, a year's free Affiliate Membership of The Radio Academy, and a contribution towards travel.
"Without this bursary i would not have been able to attend the Radio academy festival. Not only did I experience mainstream media but also networked with some amazing media and radio individuals. Its always great to be able to speak to people who started in the same position i am today, and listen to their growth and knowing im in the right position to grow my local community station."
"I loved the Radio Festival: the speakers were all interesting, there was a great variety of events and I made lots of new contacts. As someone who is disabled, I don’t have much money, so the chance to attend the festival on a bursary was amazing. Thank you Radio Academy!"
"I had a great day at the Radio Academy Festival, something that I wouldn't be able to attend without the bursary which I am grateful for. I finished college this year and have a passion for radio, so found this event useful to get my foot in the door. Not only did I learn loads from the talks & panels, but the best part of the day for me was the networking and getting to meet so many amazing people from the industry. I made new connections and contacts and feel much more confident about how I can get a job in the radio industry. Everyone I met were so friendly and willing to help me, and these connections will be helpful as I start my career."
Bursary report for Radio TechCon 2022
In Nov 2022, we contributed five additional bursaries to the Radio TechCon bursary scheme, and gave every recipient free Radio Academy Membership too.
"Radio Tech Con was a fantastic conference and way to get a heads up on current industry tech issues and invaluable conference that has helping me keep me in the tech loop. It was great to meet such a diverse range of audio professionals across sectors and hear about the new research on neurodiverse listening. Very interesting to get an update on current spectrum issues and how stations broadcast through the war in Ukraine and London Bridge. Also fascinating to hear about audio faking and cloning how Adobe is working to encrypt files. Always good to hear about the latest BBC research and current podcast projects direct as well. Really useful and inspiring day which I will be sharing with my students."
Bursaries for The Radio Academy Festival 2022
We gifted six places to The Radio Academy Festival held in September 2022.
Bursary reports for The Podcast Show, May 2022
I was flabbergasted before the show by just how many different presentations were being offered. Each of the various streams of presentations and lectures, offered something of interest to me. There are so many I thought it might be difficult to work one’s way round each of them. What caught me by surprise was how popular some were with queues forming outside some of the stages well before the events started. - Andrew Stuck
Personally, I was looking to draw on experience from all kinds of areas - both creative and business-related - in order to get a feel for the industry as a whole and its direction of travel, as well as augmenting my skill set with some great tips. I hope that many of the talks were recorded for attendees to access at a later date, as the wealth of knowledge is priceless. - Rachel Porter
Bursary report for GROW, June 2022
I came to the conference with a hope of finding out how to make my podcast financially sustainable, having not yet previously delved into the world of advertising - entirely self-funding at present - as well as learning about new ways of increasing and diversifying my audience. I wasn’t disappointed! The unexpected joy of the day though, was meeting and networking with fellow podcasters. It hadn’t struck home, until that point, that I’d never met, or spoken to anyone else who produces a podcast. I met and exchanged details with some great people; we shared our experiences, we helped each other out, and really sparked off hearing what other people do. It was such an incredibly welcoming, proactive, positive community to be around, and it’s really make me realise, it’s an industry and community that I really want to continue being a part of. It feels like home - Hannah Sylvester
Bursaries for Radio TechCon 2021
In Nov 2021, we contributed five additional bursaries to the Radio Tech Con bursary scheme, and gave every recipient free Radio Academy Membership too.
Bursary reports for Podcast Day 24, June 2021
A whole day devoted to sharing insights and answering questions on all things related to the art of podcasting - what’s not to like? I’m still catching up on sessions I didn’t get to on the day and revisiting the ones I did. That’s how rich the programme was. - George Luke
Podcast Day 24 was an incredibly informative and useful experience for me. I’ve recently taken up a producer role to reboot an outlet's podcast, so being able to get meticulous insight into what the industry landscape looks like, not just in the UK but in Europe and the rest of the English-speaking world, was invaluable - Pascal Maguet
All the sessions were enjoyable, informative and valuable. In each of them there was always a little gem, at least, that could be found and taken away. In some ways, I had already started to do some of the ideas that were suggested and that have been proven by podcasters and producers, and this encouraged me to carry on doing what I am doing. In other instances, it encouraged me to take a greater look at what I am currently doing and consolidate these new suggestions and ideas. - Joyanna Lovelock
