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How to spot a bursary scam
Bursary scams targeting school-leavers are real and common in South Africa. Before you apply anywhere, check for these warning signs:
- •Asks you to pay a "registration", "processing", or "admin" fee before you can apply -- legitimate bursaries never charge you to apply.
- •Only exists as a WhatsApp forward or social media post, with no official provider website you can independently verify.
- •Pressures you to "apply now before it's too late" with no clear closing date.
- •Asks for banking details, your ID document, or a payment before confirming you've actually been awarded anything.
Every listing on this page shows its real provider and a source link -- click through and verify independently before you apply.
Every listing here is already screened
Beyond checking the signs above yourself: every bursary submitted to UCAG is automatically screened for scam patterns before it's ever added -- a keyword check for common scam phrasing, plus a machine-learning model trained to catch scam wording that doesn't match an exact phrase (e.g. "a quick refundable fee" instead of "registration fee"). Nothing that fails this check is shown on this page.