The relevance of scholarships to finance studies and meet the living expenses of international students cannot be overlooked. Scholarships played a pivotal role in changing the course of human life by helping talents to flourish and manifest at their fullest potential. Different kinds of scholarships can be accessed by international students. The presence of high competition means that the brightest will be getting scholarships that not only provide fee waivers but also finance living expenses, sometimes covering some aspects of dependent living expenses as well. Some other scholarships only provide complete fee waivers, while others only provide part fee waivers.
The following are some of the most important scholarships available to international students.
Gates – Cambridge Scholarships
To apply for this scholarship, you should be a citizen outside the United Kingdom and must be applying to get admission to a full-time residential Ph.D., MPhil/MLitt, or one-year postgraduate course with some exceptions.
If a student is currently pursuing at Cambridge and aims to apply for the new post-graduate degree they are entitled to apply for a Gates- Cambridge scholarship. For example, MPhil graduates can apply for Gates- Cambridge Scholarship to pursue Ph.D.
Edinburgh Global Research Scholarship
The University of Edinburgh ranked 30th in the Times Higher Education ranking of global universities offers 30 scholarships every year to eligible international students. Some of the scholarships are jointly sponsored by the University of Edinburgh and country-specific bodies such as the China Scholarship Council/the University of Edinburgh Scholarship co-sponsor. Further, there is the Edinburgh Doctoral College Scholarship which covers the fee of the doctoral student as well as a stipend to cover living expenses of £16062 p.a. This is subject to satisfactory progress. This award however is open to both UK and international students. For more details click here
International students from a number of countries or regions are eligible for other scholarships which can be accessible to a student who wishes to study at the University of Edinburgh namely Chevening scholarships, Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Plan (CSFP), CommonWealth Shared Scholarships, Edinburgh Doctoral College Scholarship, and GREAT Scholarships
Euraxess UK
This is a portal managed by the British Council that supports researchers with their career development irrespective of whether the researchers are moving abroad or moving into the UK. The free funding database can be found here. Early-stage researcher (post-graduate level), early career researcher (post-doctoral level), and experienced researcher (over six years post-doctorate) Click here to see details
Commonwealth scholarships
Commonwealth scholarships are awarded to those who are coming from low and middle-income Commonwealth countries and are not in a position to study in the UK without financial support. Scholarships are available for Ph.D., master, and distance learning. To know more, please click here.
University of Sussex Chancellor’s International Scholarships
The University of Sussex states that a limited number of scholarships are available to international applicants. The award is a fee waiver and £5000 and can be accessed by a prospective eligible bachelor’s or Master’s student. Click to see more
Transform Together scholarships
These scholarships are exclusively for international students and the award is a 50% or half fee waiver. This is available for undergraduate as well as postgraduate taught courses for the first year of the study of international students. The closing date for the application is 1st November 2022 for the 2023 January intake. For more information please click here
The University of the West of England Chancellor’s Scholarship
This scholarship is available for international postgraduate students. The award value is a 50% fee discount. The scholarship is available to one person and multiple conditions become applicable in receiving the scholarship namely the recipient of the scholarship should work as an intern within the international office or other departments. They will also be required to undertake ambassadorial activity for the University during the study period of the course. They must also maintain active membership in UWE Bristol Alumni Network. You can obtain more information to see here
University of Leeds Scholarships
Several scholarships are offered by the University of Leeds such as the International Undergraduate Science and Engineering Scholarship, Faculty of Biological Sciences, and Dean’s Excellence Scholarship to mention a few. You can access more information from here (Ref. 8 Integrate link). Details of more scholarships offered by Leeds University can be accessed here
Leeds Beckett University scholarships
Scholarships are available to international students such as £1500 for an international foundation year (first year only), £1000 per year for undergraduate courses, and £3000 for first-year postgraduate courses. However, MBA students get only £1500. For more information, please click here
Sheffield University scholarships
75 scholarships are offered by Sheffield University covering 50% of the total fees every year. The eligibility criteria are that the student must have a score of 60% average in their previous studies and this is mentioned as a Merit scholarship. Besides this, scholarships up to £2500 are offered to new international students. To obtain more information, please click here
University of Warwick scholarships
In 2021, the University of Warwick awarded approximately £2.71 million in scholarships to international students from more than 60 different countries. For the 2022 entry, 250 scholarships were made available by the university, and in the case of 160 scholarships, a full fee waiver (£13,000) for the duration of the undergraduate course was given. For more information on scholarships offered by the University of Warwick, please click here
University of Manchester scholarships
Three main scholarships available for international undergraduates are Global Futures Scholarship, Humanitarian Scholarship, and Subject-specific awards. Global Futures Scholarship is worth £1.7 million to international students starting their studies in September 2022. This scholarship is available to students from Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Malaysia, Kenya, Indonesia, etc. To knowing about the countries covered and the eligibility criteria, please click here (Ref. 13 Integrate link). The University of Manchester humanitarian scholarships are available for undergraduate and master’s student-taught programs however excluding medicine, architecture, nursing, and dentistry (Ref. 14 Integrate link). Subject-specific scholarships are also available, more details can be accessed from here
University of Bristol scholarships
The University of Bristol plans to invest £2 million in scholarships for 2022. These are provided through a number of programs namely Think Big undergraduate, Global undergraduate, and finance scholarships, School of policy studies international undergraduate scholarships, and Michael Wong Pakshong bursary to mention. To know more about these scholarships and eligibility criteria, Click here
Cardiff University Scholarships
Cardiff University offers £2 million in scholarships to undergraduate and postgraduate international students. This is offered through the vice chancellor’s international scholarships. There are other scholarships as well available. More details can be accessed here