Key facts
- Status
- Check with the provider
- Provider
- Telkom Foundation (Telkom SA SOC Ltd)
- Field of study
- ICT, Health Science, Accounting, Engineering, Law
- Study level
- Undergraduate
- Last checked
- September 2026
The Telkom Foundation's 2026 annual report says its bursaries go on merit to top learners from Foundation-supported schools and programmes; there is no public application form or window.
VerifiedThe Telkom Foundation is the trust, set up in 1998, that runs Telkom’s corporate social investment. It pays full university bursaries, but it does not take open applications. The Foundation’s 2026 annual report says the bursaries go to top-achieving learners from the schools and high school programmes the Foundation already supports, and are awarded on merit, subject to available funding. The Foundation publishes no application route for students outside those programmes.
Where the bursars come from
The Foundation’s High School Support Programme gives extra Maths, Science and English teaching, learning materials and psychosocial support to learners at less-resourced public schools, through partners such as:
- The Alexandra Education Committee, which supports academically able learners from Alexandra in Johannesburg.
- Ikusasa Lethu, run with St Mary’s School in Waverley, for Grade 8 to 12 learners at quintile 1 to 3 high schools in Alexandra and nearby areas. Four Ikusasa Lethu participants received Telkom Foundation bursaries for tertiary study in the 2026 financial year.
- The Kutlwanong Promaths Programme at three Foundation-funded centres: Bohlokong in the Free State, and Fernie and Vukuzakhe in Mpumalanga.
The Foundation also pays for the GradesMatch Bridge Programme, which helps Grade 11 and 12 learners in its programmes with career planning and with applying to universities and funders. In 2026 it supported 100 learners, and the report records 186 university applications from that group, of which 55 were accepted.
Full-cost cover with mentoring and job shadowing
According to the Foundation’s annual report and an April 2026 Telkom media release, the bursary covers:
- Tuition and registration fees
- Accommodation and a stipend
- An electronic device and books
Recipients also get wellness support, mentorship and job shadowing. The Foundation does not publish a work-back condition.
Not only ICT degrees
Telkom says the Foundation puts particular weight on women in ICT, but the bursaries are not limited to technology. The 2026 annual report lists the fields its bursars are studying: health sciences, science (including computer science, actuarial science, mathematics and life sciences), accounting, engineering, education, architecture, law, film and film production, fine art, information systems, language and communications, tourism management, social work and property studies. The universities named include Wits, Pretoria, Johannesburg, Cape Town, Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University, the Free State, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Nelson Mandela University and North-West University. The report gives a 2025 gender split of 74.5% female and 25.5% male.
Bursars, graduates and dropouts, 2022 to 2025
The Foundation publishes its own track record, including students who did not finish:
| Year | Students funded | Attrition | Graduated |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 20 | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | 35 | 2 | 0 |
| 2024 | 38 | 2 | 3 |
| 2025 | 51 | 14 | 12 |
Of the 51 students funded in 2025, the report says 12 completed their qualifications and 14 were academically excluded. The Foundation awarded R7.4 million in bursaries in the 2026 financial year and R30.5 million from FY2023 to FY2026. Telkom’s April 2026 release said 21 first-year bursars were being supported at universities.
Clearing historic student debt
The same release announced that the Foundation had cleared the historic debt of 97 students who had finished their studies but could not graduate because of unpaid fees, so that they could graduate in 2025. They came from institutions including Tshwane University of Technology, Boston City Campus, Richfield and Belgium Campus iTversity. Together with the first-year bursaries, this was part of a R6.4 million investment across 10 institutions. Telkom did not describe an application process for the debt relief.
For funders that do take open applications, the NSFAS bursary covers students from low-income households at public universities, and the ICT bursaries list gathers companies that fund technology study.