Masters Scholarships UK 2026: Funded Postgraduate Awards for International Students

How to read this list of UK master's scholarships

Every award below is a real listing with a host, a level and a stated deadline. Read the funding line first, because it tells you whether the award pays tuition, living costs, or both. Then read the deadline, because a UK master's usually starts in September and most scholarship panels close months before that.

Three labels do most of the work. Fully funded means tuition plus a living allowance, and sometimes travel and visa costs. Tuition fees means the award reduces or clears your fees but leaves rent and food to you. Partial or varies means the amount depends on your course or on which tier the panel gives you.

Use the Filtered list for this page to see what is open now, and the wider Scholarship finder if you are still choosing a country. If you are comparing destinations, our Scholarships in United Kingdom page sits alongside guides to Scholarships in Canada and Scholarships in Germany.

Fully funded master's programmes in the UK: tuition, stipend and travel

These are the awards that cover the whole cost of the year. They are the hardest to win and the ones worth starting earliest, because several require you to be admitted to the university before the funding deadline.

• Chevening Scholarships in the UK for International Master's Students covers tuition, a monthly living allowance, travel to and from the UK, an arrival allowance, a homeward departure allowance, one visa application and a travel grant for Chevening events. The listing gives a deadline of 6 Oct 2026.
• Commonwealth Master's and PhD Scholarships for Developing Commonwealth Countries pays airfare, tuition and examination fees, a monthly stipend, a study travel grant and a warm clothing allowance. Deadline on the listing: 20 Oct 2026.
• Gates Cambridge Scholarships for International Students at University of Cambridge covers the full cost of study at Cambridge, including tuition, a maintenance allowance, one economy airfare at the start and end of the course, and inbound visa costs including the Immigration Health Surcharge. The listing shows 14 October 2026 for US citizens resident in the USA.
• Clarendon Fund Scholarships 2027 at University of Oxford covers tuition and college fees in full plus an annual grant for living costs. The listing gives Dec 2026/Jan 2027.
• Marshall Scholarship 2026: US citizens studying a Masters in the UK pays university fees, living costs, a book grant, a thesis grant, travel grants and fares to and from the United States. Deadline on the listing: 16 Sept 2025.
• Hatfield Lioness Scholarship for Women from Developing Countries at Durham University covers tuition, a living stipend, a self-catered single room at Hatfield College, a return economy air ticket, travel from the UK airport to Durham, a settling-in allowance and visa costs. Deadline on the listing: 31 March 2025.
• IOE Centenary Masters Scholarships at UCL for International Students covers full tuition, accommodation at International Students House and an annual stipend. Deadline on the listing: 4 May 2026.
• Rotary Peace Fellowships: Fully Funded Study with Rotary International covers tuition and fees, room and board, round-trip transportation and internship and field-study expenses, with the UK among the study countries. Deadline on the listing: 15 May 2024.

Two Oxford awards sit between full funding and fee help. Oxford-Weidenfeld and Hoffmann Scholarship and Leadership Programme covers all university and college fees plus a living cost grant, and Oxford Pershing Square Graduate Scholarships funds both a master's and an MBA, with a living cost contribution across both years.

Full tuition waivers: when the award clears fees but not rent

A full fee waiver is not the same as full funding. You still pay accommodation, food, travel and the visa, which in the UK is a real budget line. These awards are still worth a serious application, because they remove the largest single cost.

• ASBS Global Impact Scholarship, Glasgow University is a full fee waiver, with a deadline of 31st March 2027 11:45AM UK Time on the listing.
• Developing Solutions Scholarships at University of Nottingham covers 50 to 100 percent of tuition fees. Deadline on the listing: 15 April 2026.
• Allan & Nesta Ferguson Global Development Scholarships at University of East Anglia covers full tuition fees and adds a grant towards living costs. Deadline on the listing: 19 April 2024.
• Glenmore Medical Postgraduate Scholarship at University of Edinburgh covers full tuition for the duration of the programme. Deadline on the listing: 28 May 2026.
• Eira Francis Davies Scholarship at Swansea University for Female Master's Students covers full tuition. Deadline on the listing: 28 May 2023.
• Transform Together Scholarships at Sheffield Hallam University is a half fee waiver for the first year of a taught course, with deadlines of 31 May and 1 Nov on the listing.

Partial awards and fee discounts worth several thousand pounds

Most UK master's scholarships are partial. They are also the ones most students actually win, because the pool is wider and the paperwork is lighter. Treat them as a way to cut the bill, not to fund the year.

Deadlines move each round. Where a listing shows an older date, the official page carries the current one, and the Filtered list for this page shows what is open now.

MBA, law, public health and other subject-specific master's awards

Some of the best-funded UK master's awards are tied to a subject or a career goal rather than to a country.

MBA and business

Skoll MBA Scholarships at Said Business School, University of Oxford covers the full cost of tuition and college fees for the MBA and adds funds toward living expenses. The listing shows a deadline of 4 Jan 2023. The List of MBA Scholarships, Grants, and Fellowships for International Students has more.

Law and public policy

Law master's scholarships in the UK usually come from the law school itself or from a policy-focused trust. Browse the List of Law and Public Policy Scholarships and the List of Political Science Scholarships for LLM and policy awards.

Public health and medicine

Public health and clinical master's awards are often fee waivers from a single faculty. See the List of Health Scholarships and the List of Medicine Scholarships. The Glenmore Medical Postgraduate Scholarship is one example of full tuition support for a medical postgraduate programme.

Development, peace and social sciences

Development-related master's funding is well represented in the UK. See the List of Development Studies Scholarships, the List of Peace Scholarships and the List of Social Sciences Scholarships. The Allan & Nesta Ferguson Global Development Scholarships sit in this group.

Who qualifies for UK master's scholarships

Eligibility rules vary by award, so read the official page for the one you want. The patterns below cover most of the listings on this page.

• Nationality and residence. Some awards are open only to citizens of certain countries, such as the Commonwealth Scholarships for developing Commonwealth countries or the Marshall Scholarship for US citizens.
• Admission first. Several university awards require you to hold an offer for the specific course before the funding deadline, so the course application has its own earlier date.
• Level and course. Most awards here are for taught or research master's study. Some name a faculty, a subject or a single programme.
• Academic record and English level. You will normally need a strong undergraduate degree and a test score that meets the university's requirement for the course.
• Leadership or development intent. Awards such as Chevening, the Weidenfeld programme and Rotary Peace Fellowships look for a record of leadership or community work, not just grades.
• Gender or background. A few awards are reserved, for example the Hatfield Lioness Scholarship for women from developing countries and the Eira Francis Davies Scholarship for female master's students.

Home students have their own routes, including university alumni discounts and departmental bursaries, but the awards on this page are mostly written for international applicants. Our All guides section covers how to read eligibility clauses in detail.

Deadlines and the application timeline

UK master's scholarships do not share one deadline. They cluster in two waves: a national wave in October, and a university wave from January to May. Plan backwards from the course start date.

Two dates are easy to miss. The Gates Cambridge listing shows 14 October 2026 for US citizens resident in the USA, and the ASBS Global Impact Scholarship closes at 11:45AM UK time on 31st March 2027. Time zones matter: submit in UK time, not yours.

How to apply for a master's scholarship in the UK, step by step

1. Pick three to five awards, not twenty. Mix one fully funded national award, one university award at a target department and one partial fee waiver as a fallback.
2. Confirm you meet every eligibility clause. Nationality, course, level and admission status. If one clause fails, stop and move to the next award.
3. Apply to the course early. Many panels only consider applicants who already hold an offer, and course deadlines can fall before the funding deadline.
4. Draft the motivation letter around one goal. Explain what you will do after the degree and why this department is the right place for it. Generic letters fail at the first read.
5. Ask for references early. Give each referee your CV, the award name and the deadline, and give them at least three weeks.
6. Prepare the documents. Transcripts, degree certificate, English test score, CV, motivation letter, references and passport details are the usual set.
7. Submit before the stated deadline in UK time and keep the confirmation email. Late or partial applications are usually not assessed.

If you are new to this, the Scholarship tips section has short posts on letters and references.

Documents, selection and what panels actually score

Most UK master's scholarship panels score three things: academic fit, the strength of your plan after the degree, and evidence that you can carry it out. Documents support those three points.

• Transcripts and degree certificate. Certified copies, with a grading explanation if your system differs from the UK scale.
• English language test score. Must meet the course requirement, not just the scholarship requirement.
• CV. One to two pages, focused on work, research and community roles.
• Motivation or personal statement. Specific to the award and the course.
• References. Academic where possible, professional where the award values leadership.
• Offer letter or application ID. Needed for awards that require admission first.
• Passport and visa details. Some awards pay visa costs, so the panel needs your details.

How the shortlist is built

Eligibility screening removes incomplete files first. A subject panel then ranks the rest on academic merit and fit with the award's purpose, and a final committee confirms the list. For leadership awards, an interview or a written exercise can follow. The official page states the process for each award.

Who these awards suit, and who should look elsewhere

These awards suit students with a clear academic direction, a strong undergraduate record and a plan that connects the degree to work back home or in a specific field. They also suit applicants who can start a year ahead: the national awards close in the autumn before the course begins.

Look elsewhere if you need funding for a bachelor's degree, if you cannot meet the nationality or course restriction on the awards that fit your budget, or if you need a scholarship that pays living costs and only partial awards are open to you. In that last case, compare a full fee waiver plus savings against a fully funded award in another country, using our Scholarships in the Netherlands or Scholarships in Sweden pages as a starting point.

If your subject is not covered above, browse by field: List of Engineering Scholarships, List of Economics & Finance Scholarships, List of Environmental Management Scholarships, List of Education Scholarships and List of Any field of study Scholarships.

Common mistakes that cost applicants a UK master's scholarship

• Missing the UK-time cut-off. A file sent at midnight your time can land after the panel closes.
• Applying for funding before the course. Awards that require an offer will screen you out if you have no application ID.
• Reusing one statement for every award. Panels spot a letter written for a different programme in the first paragraph.
• Reading only the headline amount. A £10,000 award against a much larger tuition bill still leaves a gap, and a fee waiver never pays rent.
• Ignoring the nationality clause. Several of the largest awards are restricted by citizenship or residence.
• Thin references. A referee who has not seen your statement cannot write a specific letter.
• Trusting an old deadline. Listings show the round they were captured in. The official page has the current date.