University of Edinburgh Scholarships for International Students in 2026

How to read this list of Edinburgh scholarships

Each award below is a separate scheme with its own rules. Before you read the amounts, check three things: the level (Masters or PhD), whether it is on-campus or online, and the nationality or residency list. Most Edinburgh awards are restricted on at least one of these, and a strong application to the wrong scheme wastes weeks.

Almost every scheme also requires you to have applied for admission to the University of Edinburgh first. Some application systems will not even open until you hold an offer or have full access to the student portal. Treat the admission application as step one, not an afterthought.

Deadlines in our listings are the dates of the round we recorded. Where a scheme runs every year, the official page has the current date. Use the filtered list for this page to see which Edinburgh awards are open now.

Masters scholarships at Edinburgh: tuition awards for international students

Most Edinburgh funding for international Masters students is a tuition award. The amount may be a fixed sum deducted from fees, the full fee for your programme, or the difference between the home and overseas rate. Living costs are usually not included.

Fixed-sum and fee-gap awards

The Edinburgh Global Masters Scholarships at University of Edinburgh (UK) give non-EU students £3,000 toward tuition for a full-time Masters in any subject, taken off the fee rather than paid out. Preference goes to candidates who have not already had the chance to study in Scotland, and you need, or expect, the overseas equivalent of a UK first-class honours degree. The University of Edinburgh Southern African Scholarships for Masters Study are for students from listed Southern African countries and cover the overseas tuition rate plus University accommodation for one academic year.

Region and partner-funded awards

The Scotland’s Saltire Scholarships at University of Edinburgh are run by the Scottish Government with Scottish institutions for nationals of Canada, China (including Hong Kong), India, Japan, Pakistan and the USA, for one-year taught Masters in selected subjects. The Edinburgh Global Development Academy Scholarships for Masters Study support students on development-related programmes, with awards for students from less developed countries and for UK/EU students.

All of these listings record an earlier round. The official page has the current deadline and amount.

Online and distance learning scholarships: full tuition without moving to Scotland

Edinburgh runs several awards for part-time online Masters, and these are among the most generous on this page because they cover the full tuition for the normal duration of the programme.

• Edinburgh Global Online Distance Learning Scholarships at University of Edinburgh: for any part-time online Masters, open to nationals and residents of listed countries. The personal statement must cover why this programme, how it helps your career, and how you will contribute to your community or region.
• Glenmore Medical Postgraduate Scholarship at University of Edinburgh: full tuition for eligible Human Medical programmes, for international students from eligible developing countries. Selection weighs academic merit and the strength of a personal statement.
• Glenmore Medical Online Postgraduate Scholarship at University of Edinburgh: an earlier round of the Glenmore online scheme for the College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, covering full tuition for the programme duration.
• Commonwealth Online Global Health Scholarships at University of Edinburgh: full tuition plus resources such as summer school participation, help with internet and printing costs, and a contribution to project costs, for citizens of listed developing Commonwealth countries.

The Edinburgh Global Health Academy Master’s Scholarship 2015 is an earlier Global Health Academy award that covered the home rate of tuition for students from selected low-income countries. The Prince Albert of Monaco II Foundation Climate Change Masters Scholarships at University of Edinburgh supported online climate change study for nationals of selected developing countries. For both, the official site has the current round.

PhD scholarships at Edinburgh for international students

The best-known doctoral award here is the Edinburgh Global Research Scholarships for PhD Study at the University of Edinburgh. It pays the gap between the UK/EU tuition rate and the overseas rate for up to three years, subject to satisfactory progress, and maintenance is not covered. Awards are open to overseas nationals in any field, and financial status, nationality and proposed field are not taken into account in selection.

Because it is fee-only, you need a separate plan for living costs. A first-class Bachelor's degree plus an excellent Master's degree puts you in a competitive position; an upper second can be considered but is a weaker footing. You must also have applied for admission to a full-time PhD.

The University's own funding pages also list Edinburgh Doctoral College Scholarships for PhD study and college-level awards. Check those pages for the current doctoral rounds, since the listing we hold records an earlier deadline.

University of Edinburgh scholarships compared: level, what is covered, deadline

Dates shown are the rounds our listings recorded. Where a scheme is annual, the official page carries the current deadline.

Who qualifies: nationality, residency and degree grade rules

Edinburgh does not run one open scholarship for all international students. Eligibility is built around a few levers, and you usually need to satisfy all of them.

• Nationality and residency. Many awards use a fixed country list. Saltire names Canada, China (including Hong Kong), India, Japan, Pakistan and the USA. The Southern African award names Angola, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The Commonwealth online award names a longer list of developing Commonwealth countries.
• Admission status. You must be accepted, or intending to accept an offer, on an eligible programme. Several schemes state that applicants must already hold an offer and have firmly accepted it, or plan to.
• Degree grade. Most Masters awards ask for the international equivalent of a UK first class or 2:1 Honours degree. The Global Masters award and the Glenmore Medical award ask for the equivalent of a first class honours degree.
• Programme match. Online medical awards only accept named Human Medical programmes. The Global Development Academy award only accepts its listed development programmes.
• Prior study. If you completed an undergraduate degree in Scotland, the Saltire scheme rules you out.

Read the country list and the programme list before anything else. If you are not on both, move to another scheme.

How to apply for University of Edinburgh scholarships, step by step

1. Pick your programme and level. Decide between an on-campus Masters, an online Masters or a PhD, because the funding pool differs for each.
2. Check the country and programme lists. Match your nationality, residency and intended programme against the award rules before you invest time.
3. Apply for admission to the University of Edinburgh. This comes first for nearly every scheme. Some scholarship forms stay locked until you have applied or have portal access.
4. Secure your offer. Many awards require an offer, conditional or unconditional, by the scholarship closing date, and some ask you to have firmly accepted it.
5. Prepare your documents. Transcripts, degree certificates, proof of nationality and residency, and a personal statement are the usual set.
6. Write the personal statement to the questions asked. The distance learning award asks for the specific elements that attracted you, the career benefit, and how you will contribute to your community or region. The Glenmore Medical award publishes guide questions on its official page.
7. Submit the scholarship form before the deadline. Note whether the deadline is in local time or GMT/BST, and keep a copy of what you submitted.

If this is your first funding application, our guide on how to apply for a scholarship covers the general workflow, and the scholarship motivation letter guide helps with the statement.

Documents and timeline: what to have ready and when

Deadlines across the schemes we list fall between February and July. The PhD award recorded 17 February, the Saltire award 31 July, and the Masters and online awards in between. Treat those as the shape of the cycle, not as this year's dates.

How selection works and what to do after an offer

Selection is described in the listings as based on academic merit, with the personal statement carrying real weight in the medical and online schemes. The PhD award looks at academic record and research potential. Financial status is explicitly not considered for the Global Research Scholarships.

After you are offered a scholarship, confirm in writing that you accept it and follow the University's instructions on how the award is applied to your fees. If your funding comes from the University, the fees team is told directly, so you do not usually need to upload separate evidence. If an external sponsor pays your fees, you must upload official confirmation on headed paper, including who the invoice goes to, the amount covered and a purchase order number if the sponsor needs one.

If you are not selected, ask whether feedback is available and check the next round. Many applicants succeed on a second attempt with a stronger statement and a better programme match.

Who these scholarships suit, and who should look elsewhere

They suit you if you already have, or expect, a strong first degree; you are a national of one of the listed countries; you are ready to apply for admission early; and you can cover living costs from another source, since several awards are tuition-only.

Look elsewhere if you need full funding including living costs, because the PhD award and most Masters awards do not cover maintenance. Look elsewhere too if your country is not on the relevant list, or if you want an undergraduate award: the schemes on this page are postgraduate. Undergraduates should start from the University's own undergraduate funding pages.

If you are open to studying outside Edinburgh, browse Scholarships in United Kingdom, fully funded scholarships for international students and Universities Offering Scholarships for Developing Country Students. Students from Africa may also find the scholarships for african students list useful, and the commonwealth scholarship page covers the wider Commonwealth route.

Common mistakes that cost Edinburgh applicants an award

• Applying for the scholarship before admission. The form may not open, and the panel expects an offer by the closing date.
• Ignoring the residency rule. Being a national of a listed country is often not enough; several schemes also require you to be resident there.
• Reusing a generic personal statement. The online distance learning award asks three specific questions, and the Glenmore Medical award publishes guide questions. Answer them directly.
• Assuming a tuition award covers living costs. Check the coverage line for each scheme before you budget.
• Missing the time zone. Some deadlines are stated in GMT or BST, so a late evening submission in your country may already be past the cut-off.
• Using an old deadline from a listing. Where our listing records an earlier round, the official page has the current date.

For help with the written parts, see scholarship application letter, recommendation letter for scholarship and scholarship interview questions.