Bursaries offered to date (2005-9)

32 bursaries offered to students to attend UK and international festivals

12 bursaries offered to students to attend EKRAN training scheme in Poland

82 bursaries of up to £3,000 offered to MA productions to raise production standards, encourage collaborative filmmaking and promote the SSAW brand internationally

112 Pre-entry bursaries of up to £5,000

4 Merit based scholarships of £6,600

Pre-entry bursary recipients for 2009-10 announced
SSAW has announced the latest round of pre-entry study bursary recipients of awards of up to £5,000.

Eleven MA students who have started on the MA Film, MA Animation and MA Moving Image courses have this year financial support towards their fees and living expenses which has allowed them to take part in the post-graduate degrees.

This brings the total number of bursaries offered since 2005 to 113 individual awards and the total amount of funding awarded to undergraduate and postgraduate students to £351,213.

Ruby Rajah, who studied the MA Film at Newport said:

“Thank you to Skillset and the Screen Academy for making it possible for me to return to study a subject I am passionate about. If it wasn’t for the support through the bursary in particular, I wouldn’t have even dreamt of applying to undertake an MA.”

Brennig Haydn, recent graduate of the MA Moving Image at Glamorgan said:
“I cannot stress how important the Skillset Screen Academy is for the advancement of learning in the film and television sector in Wales. If it was not for this bursary, I would not have been able to afford the cost of going on this course. Having this bursary allowed me to focus on raising money for academic purposes and funding my short film.”

Laura Dalgleish, recent graduate of the PGDip in Screen Acting at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama said:
“The bursary allowed me not to have the added worry during what was already a very stressful year, by helping me with general living costs. I put it towards travel, plays, and living costs. The most important thing I believe was that it put my mind at ease to have that help, which in turn allowed me to fully put all my focus on the course, and getting the best from it I could.”

Chris Reilly, from the same course added:
“The bursary has changed my life. I could not have taken the course without it and the course itself has transformed my acting far beyond my expectation.”

Richard Blades, who is currently studying the MFA Animation at Newport, said:
“Without the bursary I would have seriously struggled to actually be able to do the course. The bursary meant that I did not have too many money worries. The bursary enabled me to focus on the course without it I would have had to have had to work far more hours. On the course I specialised in stop motion animation which can be costly the bursary was a massive help with being all the materials I needed for sets and puppets.”

Rhiannon Tate, who is in her final year on the BA Film and Video at Newport, said:
“The most important thing the bursary offered is financial security. I still work whilst at university but because of this money I only need to work a few hours a month, meaning my work hours do not get in the way of the course. The bursary has also allowed me to buy various pieces of equipment necessary for making films, fundamentals such as tape stock and petrol/travel costs, as well as helping me to pay for transport to attend the various masterclasses and networking events offered by the Screen Academy Wales.”