Grants: Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust (QEST)

The Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust (QEST) awards scholarship and apprenticeship funding of up to £18,000 to talented and aspiring craftspeople working in a broad range of skills, from farriery and cheese maturing to jewellery design, silversmithing and sculpture.  

The charity celebrates its 30th anniversary in 2020 and since 1990 has awarded over £4.5 million to more than 550 individuals working in over 130 different crafts. Craft is defined broadly and QEST welcomes applications from all areas, including rural skills, contemporary craft, conservation, luthiery and much more.  

Applications are invited in January and July. The next round is open 14 July - 24 August 2020.

How to apply

More information and application guidance can be found on the Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust (QEST) website.

All applications must be submitted online, using the online application form which you can get through the website.

Previous award winners

Sean Henderson, Apprentice

"I’m very grateful for the apprenticeship experience I’ve had so far. I owe a huge part of it to the team around me who support me as I learn but I could never have supported myself financially without the help of QEST. I can’t stress enough what that has done for me as an individual as well as a craftsperson. Waking up every day and leaving the house to do something I enjoy and care about seems a simple facet of life but it’s priceless."

Melissa White, Scholar

Receiving a QEST scholarship not only allowed me to fine tune my craft with research and learning but it also set me on pathways I could only dream of before. My somewhat niche craft received the recognition and exposure it needed to build up my practice with confidence. Thirteen years later QEST continues to open doors of opportunity for me and the rest of the QEST family - and it really does feel like we're a team moving forward together."

Read the stories of previous Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust award recipients

Read the Turn2us Grants Search profile on the Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust