Shoprite Group Bursary Programme

Shoprite Group, South Africa

Scholarship overview

The Shoprite Group bursary programme funds students in scarce and high-demand fields, currently Retail Business Management, Accounting (including the SAICA chartered-accounting stream), Supply Chain and Logistics, and Biological and Agricultural Sciences; the fields covered are updated regularly. Every bursary carries a work-back agreement that gives graduates a guaranteed job with the Group.

In its last financial year the Group invested more than R19 million in the programme, funding more than 250 students. Shoprite has been named Employer of Choice in the retail sector for four consecutive years by GradStar and the South African Graduate Employers Association, and is certified a Top Employer.

Undergraduates on the accounting bursary can move, after graduating, into the Group's three-year SAICA-accredited Trainee Accountant Programme, based in Brackenfell, Cape Town with short-term rotations to Johannesburg and Durban, which prepares trainees for the SAICA Assessment of Professional Competence (APC) exam.

Award Information

South African youth under 27 years old.
Registered, or registering, for undergraduate or postgraduate degree study at an accredited university; currently enrolled students may apply.
Each field of study (Retail Business Management, Accounting, Supply Chain and Logistics, Biological and Agricultural Sciences, and others) has its own qualifying criteria, set out on that field's individual bursary page.
For the accounting/SAICA-stream route: studying BCom Accounting or BAcc (CA stream), a 65% academic average, South African citizenship, and (for the related Trainee Accountant Programme) a valid driver's licence.
Must accept a work-back agreement.

Bursaries range from R30,000 to R60,000, depending on the course of study and institution.
Priority is given to paying tuition fees and books, with accommodation covered next.
Any surplus from the amount allocated, after tuition, books and accommodation, is paid to the bursar in monthly instalments; a bursar not living in residence can use this toward rent.
Monthly grocery allowance.
Wellbeing support through the Group's Employee Assistance Programme.
Extracurricular or additional modules are covered if they appear on the fee statement and the cost stays within the bursary's value.
If a funded module is failed, the module must be repeated at the student's own expense and the bursary is suspended (not cancelled) until the module is passed.
Work-back agreement: one year worked for the Group for every year the bursary is held; leaving before completing the work-back means repaying a pro-rata amount.

The 2026 programme opened on 5 February 2026 and closed on 31 May 2026. Applications generally open from February to May each year; the FAQ also describes a second window from July to September for study in the following academic year (the 2025/2026 round closed on 30 September 2025).

Read the individual bursary page for your field (Retail Business Management, Accounting, Supply Chain and Logistics, Biological and Agricultural Sciences, or another listed field) for its specific criteria.
Apply online through the Shoprite bursary portal while applications are open.
Undergraduates on the accounting route can go on, after graduating, to the Group's three-year SAICA Trainee Accountant Programme.
If you are awarded a bursary, accept the work-back agreement.

Official links

Documents you will need

Required documents differ by field and are listed on the individual bursary pages on the application portal.

How selection works

Applications are screened against each field's own qualifying criteria, such as academic average, age and citizenship.
For the accounting/SAICA-stream route, a 65% academic average is required.
A bursary is suspended rather than cancelled if the student fails a module, and reinstated once the module is passed.

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