Norton Rose Fulbright Bursary 2027: How to Apply

Key facts

Status: No current round published
Provider: Norton Rose Fulbright
Academic year: 2027
Last checked: September 2026

Norton Rose Fulbright left South Africa on 31 March 2026.

Written by Keagan HendricksStaff Writer (Unisa Alumnus)

Reviewed & verified by Naledi KhumaloSenior Admissions and Bursaries EditorVerified

This bursary is no longer offered. Norton Rose Fulbright ended its link with its South African practice on 31 March 2026, and the firm, now called Deneys, advertises articles rather than bursaries. For current law funding, see our LLB bursaries.

Norton Rose Fulbright, the global law firm, ran a bursary for LLB students in South Africa through its Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban offices. The bursary funded students from disadvantaged backgrounds and fed the firm’s candidate attorney programme, running on a two-year cycle.

What the Norton Rose Fulbright Bursary offered

Funding for an LLB at a South African university: tuition, books and accommodation.
Vacation work at the firm and mentorship by its attorneys.
Consideration for the firm’s candidate attorney programme after graduation.

Eligibility requirements in the last round

South African citizen.
Strong Matric results, or strong university results for current students.
Accepted for, or studying, an LLB at a South African university.
Demonstrated financial need and a commitment to a career in commercial law.

What to do now

Contact Deneys’s graduate recruitment team to ask whether the firm will run a bursary under its new name. Large firms usually fund LLB students as part of their transformation commitments.
Do not send applications to the old Norton Rose Fulbright South Africa addresses; they are no longer in use.
Apply to the law bursaries that are open now, listed below.

Closing date

There is no 2027 closing date. The last Norton Rose Fulbright round closed in October 2023.

Contact details

Deneys (formerly Norton Rose Fulbright South Africa): Johannesburg 011 685 8500
Norton Rose Fulbright global: www.nortonrosefulbright.com (no longer operating in South Africa)

Law bursaries open for 2027

Start with the Legal Practitioners Fidelity Fund bursary, which funds LLB students at every South African university, and the SASSETA bursary, which funds law as a priority field. Our law bursaries page lists the firms that run annual intakes.

FAQs

1. Is the Norton Rose Fulbright bursary available for 2027? +

No. Norton Rose Fulbright left South Africa on 31 March 2026. Its Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban offices became an independent firm trading as Deneys, the name the practice used before it joined Norton Rose in 2011. The bursary in its old form no longer exists, and Deneys had not announced a replacement when we checked.

2. What did the bursary offer? +

Funding for LLB students from disadvantaged backgrounds, covering tuition, books and accommodation, with vacation work at the firm and a route into its candidate attorney programme. It ran on a two-year cycle; the last round closed in October 2023.

3. Who could apply? +

South African citizens with strong Matric or university results, accepted for or studying an LLB at a South African university, who could show financial need.

4. Will Deneys run a bursary? +

Large firms usually fund LLB students as part of their transformation commitments, so a Deneys bursary is possible. Contact the firm's graduate recruitment team to ask.

5. Which law bursaries are open now? +

The Legal Practitioners Fidelity Fund bursary funds LLB students at all universities, and firms such as Webber Wentzel, Bowmans, Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr and ENS run annual bursaries. See our law bursaries page.

Update note (checked September 2026): Norton Rose Fulbright ended its link with its South African practice on 31 March 2026, so there is no longer a Norton Rose Fulbright bursary in South Africa. The practice now trades as Deneys, whose early-careers page advertises articles, not bursaries. Source: nortonrosefulbright.com.

This round is not open right now. Check the provider’s own site for the next round.

Visit the provider’s website

Student funding in numbers

2025811 011students funded by NSFAS580 000 at universities, 231 000 at TVET colleges, on a budget of R48.7 billion.

20261 026 091students approved for NSFAS funding609 403 first-year applicants qualified and 416 688 continuing students met the progression criteria, out of 893 847 applications.

2027 projectedR53.4bnbudgeted for NSFASThe allocation rises from R48.7 billion in 2025 to R51 billion in 2026 and R53.4 billion in 2027. Student numbers for 2027 are not published yet.

Figures from the Minister of Higher Education’s Budget Vote of 3 July 2025 and the NSFAS statement of 2 January 2026. NSFAS is the largest funder, not the only one – we track the rest.