If you would like to apply for a grant from The Legal Education Foundation, please start by reading our Funding Programmes, How we Prioritise Applications and Eligibility and Exclusions pages.

If you are not sure whether it is worthwhile making an application please use the Contact Us form to raise any questions or request a discussion.

First Stage

If you are confident that your organisation and proposed work are eligible for funding, you can make an application using this form. It asks a few short questions about your organisation and the proposed work, including an estimate of how much funding you would like from TLEF.

You will need to complete and submit this application form online. We have two deadlines per year [see timetable]. You will receive an automated acknowledgement of your application.

All the applications submitted to each deadline will be considered together by the TLEF team to arrive at a long list of organisations which meet our criteria, bearing in mind our grants budget, our prior commitments and the balance across our funding programmes. As part of this process, it is possible that staff will contact you for further information.

You will hear within four weeks whether your application has been turned down at this stage or can go forward to the next stage.

Second Stage

If you are invited to make a full application, you will be sent a personalised link to a second stage form. This will be pre-populated with the information you provided at first stage, which you will have the opportunity to edit or expand. The form includes additional questions about your organisation and the proposed work. At this stage, we also ask for more financial information including a budget for the proposed work and your organisation’s budget for the current year.

You will have a month to complete this application form. It needs to be completed and submitted online.

As part of the second stage process, TLEF staff will arrange a time to discuss the application with the key staff who will be involved in the proposed work. This may involve a visit to your premises, a meeting at our offices, or a telephone or conference call.

Decisions

All second stage applications are submitted in full for consideration by our Grants, Programmes & Learning Committee. This Committee makes decisions on applications for up to £350,000.

If you have applied for more than £350,000, the Committee will make a recommendation to the full Board for decision.

The timetable for decisions can be found here.