Scholarships and funding - Study UK - British Council

Deciding to study in the UK is an investment in your future. A prestigious degree from the UK is a valuable and transformative experience and will take your education - and your employability - to the next level.

There are many funding options available for international students who want to study in the UK. They range from part-funding, for example paying part of your fees, to full-funding which covers programme fees, living expenses, and return flights to the UK.

Wider UK government funding

The UK government offers hundreds of scholarships, bursaries and additional financial support to students from a large number of countries.

You can visit the UK Council for International Student Affairs (UKCISA) website to find out more about the funding available if you are studying in the UK as a postgraduate student, including whether or not you are eligible to apply for a scholarship. Just scroll down to the relevant section of the webpage.

UKCISA is the UK’s national advisory body serving the interests of international students and those who work with them. 

Postgraduate studentships

Many universities offer fully-funded postgraduate studentships for PhD programmes. Find out more.

Institution-specific scholarships

Many UK higher-education institutions offer their own scholarship programmes.

These are offered based on a number of factors, which can be broadly split out into the following categories:

1. Academic, merit and excellence scholarships - These are usually awarded to students with a strong academic background, including achieving strong grades in their school exams. 
2. Performance-based scholarships - These are usually awarded to those who have exceptional ability in an extracurricular activity such as sports, music or performing arts like drama or dance.
3. Subject-specific scholarships - These are often offered by individual departments for students studying a particular course or subject.
4. Equal access or sanctuary scholarships - These scholarships can take the form of a tuition fee reduction or waiver or maintenance award and are offered to refugees and asylum seekers who have fled persecution from their home countries.
5. Disability scholarships - These scholarships support international students with a disability, long-term mental health condition, learning difficulty or other special needs. 

Always check out different institutions’ websites to discover what is available, and take a look at specialist websites like Postgraduate Studentships and Prospects for curated information that covers different institutions.