Funding for non-UK students
Students need to be accepted onto a course of study before they can apply for a scholarship. Application deadlines are usually quite early for international students, typically January, so you need to start doing your planning at least a year in advance. Competition is intense for awards and you will generally have to have a first-class undergraduate degree.
Overseas students from outside the EU
These students should initially contact the British Council Office in their own country, where they will be offered specific country advice. See www.britishcouncil.org/new
The following schemes and organisations offer full scholarships (fees, maintenance grant and return travel costs) for overseas students to study in Britain:
- British Chevening Scholarships
- Commonwealth Scholarships Commission
- Ford Foundation International Fellowships Program
- Gates Cambridge Scholarships
- Rhodes Trust for Oxford
The following award schemes are administered by the universities direct, and they will advertise vacancies when they become available:
Dorothy Hodgkin Postgraduate Awards - PhD studentships for students from developing countries, mainly for science and engineering.
DIFD Awards - One-year master's awards for students from Developing Countries in the Commonwealth, with relevance to development in their own country.
Shell Centenary Awards - For students from developing countries, with subjects within the broad categories of applied sciences and technology, environmental sciences, business management, law and economics.
Full funding for students from specific countries
The list below gives some examples of well-known schemes, but you should also do your own research within your country of origin.
- Canon Collins Trust for Southern Africa
- Fulbright Commission (USA)
- Marshall Scholarships (USA)
- Monash Scholarships (Australia)
- Inlaks Foundation Scholarships (India)
- Sir Edward Youde Memorial Fund (Hong Kong)
- Umid Foundation (Uzbekistan)
- Colfuturo (Columbia)
- Charles Wallace Trusts (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar)
Full and partial funding from UK universities
The major universities in the UK usually offer a few full international scholarships. These may be allocated to specific countries or regions in the world. Some scholarships pay maintenance and UK fees but are available to international students who can pay the difference in the fees.
International students always need to show that they have the additional funding in place before being offered this type of scholarship. They will also need to show that they have the appropriate level of English.
Virtually all UK universities offer competitive partial international scholarships, in the form of a fee reduction of about £1,000 or £2,000. In addition, you can usually expect automatic fee reductions of about 10 per cent for returning students or alumni of the college concerned.
For further information go to: http://www.hotcourses.com (postgraduate then postgraduate funding for non UK students)
