UK Scholarships
Talent is everywhere. Routes into travel are not.
For many talented people, the barriers to building a career in travel begin long before the first job application.
The cost of professional education. Inaccessible learning. Inflexible recruitment. Assumptions about capability. Or simply never being shown that a meaningful career in travel could be possible.
INCLU FUTURES wants to help change that.
Fully funded scholarships
Over the next 12 months, we intend to award 12 fully funded UK Scholarships to people who might otherwise find it difficult – or impossible – to access a credible professional pathway into the travel industry.
Supported by Inclu Academy and Inclu Travel, each scholarship will provide professional education, accessible learning support, mentoring and exposure to the real world of inclusive journey design and travel operations.
Who are the scholarships for?
The UK Scholarships are for people based in the United Kingdom who have the potential and commitment to build a meaningful future within travel but may face barriers to accessing the education and opportunity required.
We particularly welcome applications from people with physical, sensory or neurodivergent lived experience.
Applicants may be…
- Completely new to the travel industry
- Exploring whether travel could offer a meaningful career
- Developing an early-stage travel business
- Seeking to turn lived experience into credible professional capability
- Returning to work following illness, injury or a change in circumstances
- Looking for a flexible career that can be developed around individual needs
- Unable to fund professional travel education independently
No previous travel-industry experience is required.
We are not looking for a perfect CV. We are looking for potential.
The scholarship pathway
Each 100% scholarship will cover the complete Inclu Academy Travel Advisor Pathway:
Freshers → Inclusive Travel Advisor Foundation → Inclusive Travel Advisor Professional → Inclusive Travel Designer → Inclusive Travel Concierge
The pathway is designed to take a scholar from initial discovery through structured professional understanding and into the practical disciplines of inclusive journey design.
It explores far more than accessible products. Scholars will learn to understand the person before the requirement, communicate with confidence, recognise barriers, assess suitability, interrogate information, consider the complete journey and design travel around individual possibility.
What the scholarship includes
The scholarship will include:
- Full access to the Inclu Academy Travel Advisor Pathway
- Professional education and structured progression
- Course assessments and certification
- Accessible learning support
- Mentoring and pathway guidance
- Exposure to inclusive journey design
- Insight into travel operations and professional practice
- Opportunities to demonstrate developing talent and capability
What we are looking for
- Curiosity and a willingness to learn
- Empathy without assumption
- Sound judgement
- Reliability and personal responsibility
- Attention to detail
- Commitment to completing the pathway
- A genuine interest in people, places and possibility
- The potential to translate learning into professional practice
Lived experience can bring valuable insight, but it does not create automatic expertise. The purpose of the scholarship is to help scholars combine their individual perspective with the professional knowledge, discipline and capability required to serve travellers consistently well.
Scholarships will be awarded according to individual potential, the barriers an applicant faces, their commitment to the programme and the difference the opportunity could make to their professional direction.
Removing barriers – not lowering standards
INCLU FUTURES is not about lowering the threshold for entering the travel profession.
It is about removing the barriers that prevent talented people from reaching it.
Every scholar will be expected to engage fully with the learning, complete the required assessments and demonstrate the professional standards associated with each stage of the pathway.
A scholarship guarantees access to professional education and the opportunity to demonstrate what you can do. What follows will depend upon the individual.
Where the pathway could lead
For some scholars, completing the pathway may provide the foundation for building an independent travel business or developing a role elsewhere within hospitality, tourism or travel.
Those who successfully complete the pathway and demonstrate exceptional potential may also have the opportunity to be considered for further applied development or future roles within the journey-design and operational ecosystem of Inclu Travel or one of our trade partners.
The scholarship does not guarantee employment, a hosted travel advisor position, client enquiries or a commercial relationship with Inclu Travel.
Any opportunity beyond the educational pathway will be earned on merit and determined by individual talent, capability, performance, professional standards, role suitability and the needs of the relevant organisation.
Apply or nominate
You can express an interest in a scholarship for yourself, nominate someone whose potential deserves to be recognised, or contact us as an organisation interested in supporting or extending the programme.
A nomination does not commit the individual or guarantee an award. We will always speak directly with the prospective scholar and ensure they wish to participate.
The first step is a conversation. We want to understand the person, their ambitions, the barriers they face, the support they may require and what they hope the scholarship will make possible.
Contact:
Richard Thompson
Founder, Inclu Academy
Chief Executive, Inclu Travel Group
richard@inclu.uk