Scholarships

Each year IATEFL offers a great range of conference scholarships to enable teachers, trainers and other ELT professionals the opportunity to attend the IATEFL Annual Conference in the UK.
These scholarships are offered by IATEFL, by a range of IATEFL Special Interest Groups, and by a wide range of other scholarship sponsors: institutions, companies, groups and individuals.

Applications for our 59th IATEFL Conference in Brighton are now open!

The quickest way to see which scholarships you are eligible for, and what expenses each of them cover, is to take a look at our 2026 Scholarship Summary Sheet.
If the scholarship requires you to submit a proposal, be sure to read the Scholarship Speaker Proposal Guidelines too:

The scholarship application deadline is Wednesday 18 June, 4pm (UK time).

If you have any questions about scholarships or the application process please take a look at our FAQ page, if you can't find the answer you are looking for please email [email protected].

The guidelines for our 2026 awards:

Donating to a scholarship

We couldn't offer the range of scholarships, enabling winners to attend the annual conference, without the support and generosity of individuals and institutions making generous donations. You can choose to support one of the existing scholarships, enabling it to continue for future years, or perhaps consider offering a new scholarship of your design. However you choose to support IATEFL Scholarships we greatly appreciate your support! 

Click here to donate

 

Current scholarships supported directly by IATEFL...

Ray Tongue Scholarship
The Ray Tongue Scholarship Fund was set up in memory of our late Founder Treasurer by generous donations from the many people who knew him. The aim of the scholarship is to help IATEFL members in the countries where Ray had worked (Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Sri Lanka or Thailand) to attend the IATEFL Annual Conference and give a presentation.

WR Lee Scholarship
Now known as the Bill Lee Scholarship, this fund was set up in memory of our late Founder Chair by generous donations from the many people who knew him. The aim of the scholarship is to help IATEFL members in the countries where Bill had worked (Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia) to attend the IATEFL Annual Conference and give a presentation.

Latin America Scholarship
This scholarship was set up by the IATEFL Board of Trustees with funds generated by the IATEFL Conference itself. Its aim is to help a teacher or teacher trainer from a Latin American country to attend the IATEFL Annual Conference for the first time. This scholarship is only awarded when donations have reached an amount which is sufficient to fund the award.

Gill Sturtridge First Time Speaker Scholarship
This scholarship is awarded from the donations given in her memory by the family and friends of Gill Sturtridge. The purpose of this scholarship is to encourage a member of IATEFL to give his/her first talk at an IATEFL Annual Conference.

A number of our Speical Interest Groups (SIGs) also support scholarships using funds allocated to them by IATEFL.

Meet the Scholarship Committee

Christian Ludwig, Scholarship Committee Chair, is from Germany and teaches at Freie Universität Berlin. Christian is particularly interested in technology and learner autonomy in ELT. 
Nora Tartsay Nemeth, is a teacher and teacher trainer at the School of English and American Studies, Eötvös Lorand University, Budapest. Past President of IATEFL-Hungary and still an active volunteer, Nora won the Bill Lee Scholarship for IATEFL Brighton 2018.
Dr Ben Beaumont is from the UK and lives in London, working for Trinity College London. Primarily involved in teacher education, Ben’s professional interests range from materials development to supporting lecturers working in English Medium of Instruction contexts.
Dr Blerta Mustafa is the Head of the English Department at the University of Prishtina and a former President of the Kosovo English Teachers’ Network. Her research interest includes English for Academic Purposes, teacher development, and social justice in ELT.
Wiktoria Allan - a warm welcome to our newest member!
Laura Creed - IATEFL Head Office

 

FAQs

See the answers to frequently asked questions about IATEFL Scholarships

Understanding the guidelines

Every year the sponsors of our scholarships set different parameters for their awards so please check the following points in the description of each scholarship before applying.
Being a member of IATEFL has helped me build a network of professional colleagues, develop my knowledge, and also the chance to make my first presentation at an international conference.
Adriana
Lecturer in TESOL
Brazil