Scholarships in UK for International Students 2027: Eligibility, Benefits & How to Apply

The United Kingdom remains one of the most realistic destinations in the world for a funded degree, not because study there is cheap, but because the funding system is unusually layered. A government scholarship can cover a full master’s degree. A British Council programme can take £10,000 off a one-year postgraduate course. A university can combine an automatic tuition discount with a competitive excellence award. And because most UK master’s degrees last just one year, even a partial scholarship changes the total cost of the degree far more than the same award would in a two-year system. This guide explains scholarships in the UK for international students planning to start in 2027: who is eligible, what each major programme actually pays for, how the Student visa financial requirement works in practice, what a CAS is, and the exact sequence of steps that takes you from shortlisting courses to submitting a visa application.

It is written for applicants from Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Nepal, Nigeria, Indonesia and other countries where family funding, education loans and scholarships are usually combined. Wherever a figure appears in this article, it comes from an official source checked at the time of writing, and the Sources & Verification section at the end tells you exactly where to re-check it. Scholarship rules change every cycle, stipend rates are reviewed annually, and visa maintenance figures have risen twice in quick succession, so treat every number here as a well-researched starting point and confirm it on the official page before you pay a deposit or submit an application.

Scholarships in the UK at a Glance

UK funding for international students falls into four broad groups. First, UK government scholarships, above all Chevening and the Commonwealth Scholarships, which are fully funded but highly competitive and tied to development or leadership goals. Second, jointly funded programmes such as the GREAT Scholarships, run by the British Council with the UK government’s GREAT Britain Campaign and participating universities, which give a minimum of £10,000 towards one-year postgraduate tuition. Third, university scholarships, ranging from automatic international tuition discounts of a few thousand pounds to full-cost awards such as the Gates Cambridge Scholarship at the University of Cambridge. Fourth, external and home-country funding, including government scholarships from your own country, charities, and employer sponsorship. Most successful students in 2027 will not win a single full scholarship; they will stack two or three smaller sources and fund the remainder carefully.

You can browse funded institutions side by side in our universities directory and keep every deadline in one place using the planning resources in our study tools section. If you are still deciding between countries, the country comparisons in study abroad and the positions in our university rankings will help you build a shortlist before you spend money on applications.

Who Is Eligible for UK Scholarships?

Eligibility has three layers, and confusing them is the most common reason strong students waste a cycle. The first layer is admission eligibility: can you get an offer? UK universities assess your previous degree against UK standards, usually expecting the equivalent of an upper second-class honours degree (a 2:1) for competitive master’s courses, though many courses accept a good lower second-class degree or strong professional experience. You will normally need English language evidence, most often IELTS Academic or an accepted alternative, unless your previous degree was taught in English and the university waives the test under its own policy. The second layer is scholarship eligibility, which adds conditions such as nationality, work experience, financial need, leadership evidence, or a commitment to return home. The third layer is visa eligibility, covered in detail below: even a fully funded student must satisfy the Home Office that the funding is genuine and documented correctly.

For Chevening, the flagship government award, the official criteria are precise. You must be a citizen of a Chevening-eligible country or territory, hold an undergraduate degree that qualifies you for a UK master’s programme and that you completed at least two years before the application deadline, have at least two years of work experience gained after your undergraduate degree, equivalent to 2,800 hours, apply to three different eligible UK university courses, hold an unconditional offer from one of them by the deadline on the official timeline (8 July 2027 for the 2027-28 cycle), and commit to returning to your home country for at least two years after the scholarship ends. There is no upper age limit. Work experience can include full-time and part-time employment, voluntary work and paid or unpaid internships, but it must be documented and it must come after your degree.

Commonwealth Scholarships target a different profile: talented students from eligible Commonwealth countries who could not otherwise afford to study in the UK. For the Master’s and Shared schemes you generally need a first degree of at least upper second-class (2:1) standard by the September you start, or a lower second-class degree plus a relevant postgraduate qualification. You must be permanently resident in an eligible country, be available to start in September, and not have studied or worked for one academic year or more in a high-income country. Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Nigeria are among the eligible Commonwealth countries, which makes these awards especially relevant to many readers of this guide, while Nepal and Indonesia are not Commonwealth members and are therefore not eligible for this particular route.

GREAT Scholarships are simpler: you need to be a passport holder of a participating country, hold an offer for a one-year postgraduate taught course at a participating university, and meet that university’s own conditions, which often include being active in your field through work experience or a proven interest in the subject. University scholarships vary the most. Automatic discounts usually depend only on your fee status and admission average, while excellence awards at institutions such as the University of Oxford, the University of Cambridge, Imperial College London and the University of Edinburgh may require a separate statement, a nomination by your department, or consideration through a central funding application submitted with your course application.

What Do UK Scholarships Actually Cover?

The phrase “fully funded” is used loosely online, so it is worth unpacking what each element means. Tuition coverage is the headline: Chevening pays the full tuition fee for an eligible one-year master’s (with a cap applying to MBA fees that you should confirm on the official site), Commonwealth awards pay approved tuition through an agreement with the university, and Gates Cambridge pays the full University Composition Fee at the rate for your course. A living stipend is the second element. Chevening pays a monthly personal living allowance at a higher rate for London, reviewed annually. Commonwealth stipends were £1,452 per month outside London and £1,781 per month in the London metropolitan area at the 2026-27 rates published by participating universities. Gates Cambridge paid a maintenance allowance of £23,152 for twelve months at its 2026-27 rate, pro rata for shorter courses and for up to four years for PhD scholars.

Travel and arrival costs are the third element. Chevening covers an economy return flight by an approved route, an arrival allowance, a homeward departure allowance and a travel top-up for mandatory events. Commonwealth awards cover approved airfare to and from the UK. Gates Cambridge covers one economy single airfare at the beginning and one at the end of the course. Visa-related costs are the fourth element: Chevening pays the cost of one entry clearance application and up to £75 towards a tuberculosis test where one is required; Gates Cambridge covers inbound visa costs and the Immigration Health Surcharge; Commonwealth arrangements have included health surcharge costs in some schemes, which you should confirm for your specific award. What these scholarships generally do not cover is equally important: flights or visas for a spouse or children, private accommodation deposits beyond stated allowances, and costs incurred before the award is confirmed. If you are bringing family, budget for them separately and check the current dependant rules before you plan, because most taught master’s students can no longer bring dependants under the Student route.

The UK Student Visa Financial Requirement, Explained Properly

Every scholarship plan eventually meets the visa rules, and this is where careful students gain an advantage. To get a Student visa you need an offer from a licensed student sponsor, a Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS), enough money, and English ability. The money test has two parts. First, you must show the course fees for the first academic year (or the full course if it is shorter), as stated on your CAS, minus anything the CAS records as already paid. Second, you must show living costs of £1,529 per month if your course is in London, or £1,171 per month if it is outside London, for each month of your course up to a maximum of nine months. That means a maximum living-cost figure of £13,761 in London or £10,539 outside London, on top of unpaid fees. These are the GOV.UK figures in force at the time of writing, and you can verify them on the official financial evidence guidance on GOV.UK.

Two practical details decide real applications. The money must be held for at least 28 consecutive days, and the end date of that 28-day period must fall within 31 days of the date you apply. A single day on which the balance drops below the required total restarts the calculation, so families who move money late, or who let a loan disbursement bounce in and out, fail a test they thought they had passed. Scholarship holders are in a stronger position: an official sponsorship letter from a government, university or scholarship body can be used as evidence for the amount it covers, and many fully funded scholars rely on their award letter rather than bank statements for the sponsored portion. Keep the letter precise; it should name you, state the amount and confirm what it covers. Note also the announced change: official reporting of the Immigration Rules changes indicates the monthly figures rise to £1,570 in London and £1,203 outside London for applications made on or after 30 November 2026. If you will apply after that date, hold the higher amount for your 28 days. Always re-check the live GOV.UK page in the week you apply, because the figure on the page is the figure the Home Office will use.

The visa itself also has direct costs. At the time of writing, the Student visa application fee is £558 and the Immigration Health Surcharge for students is £776 per year of permission granted, which is why a one-year master’s with wrap-around permission often produces a surcharge bill above a single year’s rate. Some scholarship schemes reimburse or cover these costs and some do not, so read your award letter line by line. Keep our full list of funded opportunities in the scholarships directory open while you budget, and model the total with the visa costs included rather than treating them as an afterthought.

What Is a CAS and Why Does It Matter?

The Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies is a virtual document your university creates once you have an unconditional offer and have met its conditions, which commonly include paying a tuition deposit. It contains a unique reference number and the details the Home Office will check: your course, its start and end dates, the fees, and any fees or accommodation payments already made. You cannot apply for the visa without it, and errors on a CAS, such as a misspelled name, a wrong course title or an outdated fee figure, can cause delays or refusals, so check every field the moment it arrives. Universities issue CAS documents at different speeds; some take days, others several weeks during peak summer. Build that waiting time into your plan, especially if your scholarship letter must be recorded or your deposit must clear before the CAS is released. A scholarship does not replace a CAS: even a Chevening scholar needs one, because the CAS is about admission and sponsorship, while the scholarship is about money.

How to Apply: A Step-by-Step Plan for 2027 Entry

Step 1: Build a two-track shortlist. Choose universities for academic fit and for funding probability at the same time. A sensible portfolio mixes two ambitious choices, three realistic choices where your grades sit comfortably above the entry requirement, and at least one university whose automatic international discount meaningfully lowers the fee. Read programme pages for module content, assessment style and employability support, not just rankings.

Step 2: Map every scholarship to its real deadline. Chevening’s 2027-28 round has already closed (6 October 2026), with interviews in March-April 2027 and results from mid-June 2027; if you missed it, your Chevening target becomes the following cycle, and your 2027 plan should rest on Commonwealth, GREAT, university and home-country awards. Commonwealth applications typically run through nominating agencies as well as the Commission’s own system, so check both routes for your country. GREAT deadlines are set by each university. Gates Cambridge is considered through the Cambridge application itself, with deadlines of 14 October 2026 for US citizens resident in the USA and 8 December 2026 or 6 January 2027 for everyone else, depending on the course.

Step 3: Prepare documents early. Order certified transcripts and degree certificates, arrange translations if your documents are not in English, book an English test with enough margin to retake it, and ask referees at least a month before you need them. Scholarship referees should know your work, not just your grades.

Step 4: Write scholarship-specific statements. Chevening’s essays ask about leadership, networking, your study plan and your career plan; generic statements fail because assessors read thousands of them. Commonwealth applications ask how your study connects to development impact in your home country. University statements should connect your record to the specific department you are joining. Every claim should carry evidence: a number, a named project, a result.

Step 5: Apply for admission and scholarships in parallel. Scholarship deadlines rarely wait for admission decisions, and several awards require an offer by a fixed date. Submit course applications early enough to hold an offer when the scholarship panel asks for one, and for Chevening remember that an unconditional offer from one of your three choices is a condition of the award itself.

Step 6: Accept, pay any required deposit, and secure your CAS. Read the offer conditions precisely. If your scholarship covers the deposit, get written confirmation of how it will be recorded so the CAS shows the correct amount already paid.

Step 7: Run the 28-day funds clock deliberately. Decide the account, the amount (fees balance plus the correct London or outside-London living figure at the rate in force on your application date), and the start date. Then do not touch the money.

Step 8: Apply for the visa and prepare for arrival. Apply online, pay the fee and health surcharge, attend biometrics or verify identity as instructed, and keep copies of everything. Decisions from outside the UK usually take around three weeks, but do not book non-refundable travel until the visa is in your passport or your vignette is confirmed.

Required Documents Checklist

For admission and scholarship applications you will typically need: a valid passport; degree certificates and full transcripts; English language evidence where required; a personal statement or scholarship essays; two references (academic, professional, or one of each, as the scheme specifies); a CV for postgraduate and scholarship applications; and, for research degrees, a research proposal and a supervisor’s agreement in principle. For the visa you will need your CAS reference, your passport, financial evidence (bank statements meeting the 28-day rule, a loan letter from a regulated lender, or an official sponsorship letter), evidence of parental consent and relationship if funds sit in a parent’s account, a tuberculosis test certificate if you are resident in a listed country, and your offer and qualification documents where requested. Nationals of some countries benefit from differential evidence arrangements and may not be asked for documents upfront, but you must still meet the requirements and be able to produce the evidence if asked, so prepare it regardless.

Deadlines and Timeline for 2027 Entry

How Selection Works and How to Improve Your Chances

Panels reward coherence. The strongest applications tell one story across the CV, the essays and the interview: a problem you have worked on, the skills the UK course adds, and the role you will take afterwards. Quantify your experience (Chevening’s 2,800 hours is a floor, not a target), choose referees who can describe specific incidents, and pick courses whose modules genuinely fill your gaps; panels notice when a course choice is decorative. For need-based awards such as Commonwealth and many university hardship-linked schemes, be candid and specific about finances, because assessors are comparing documented need. For merit awards, your transcript does the heavy lifting, so apply after the strongest semester you can present, and explain any weak period briefly and factually rather than hiding it. Finally, apply for more than one scheme. The students who fund UK study successfully almost always run a portfolio: one government award, one university award and one partial discount, any two of which make the degree affordable.

Common Mistakes That Cost Students a Year

The first is treating scholarship deadlines as admission deadlines; Chevening closed in October 2026 for courses starting in September 2027, a full year ahead. The second is the 28-day rule: moving money too late, letting the balance dip, or using an account in a relative’s name other than a parent or legal guardian. The third is paying an agent who promises a scholarship or a visa; Chevening explicitly warns that applying is free and that no third party can secure an award. The fourth is accepting an offer without reading the deposit and refund conditions, which matters if a scholarship decision arrives after you have committed money. The fifth is budgeting only for tuition: rent deposits, flights, winter clothing, a laptop and the health surcharge are real costs even for fully funded scholars, and stipends are paid after arrival, not before. The sixth is ignoring the return-home condition attached to awards such as Chevening and Commonwealth; if your plan depends on staying in the UK afterwards, choose funding whose conditions match that plan and check the current Graduate route rules, which are changing for applications from 1 January 2027.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I get a fully funded scholarship for the UK in 2027?

Yes, through a small number of competitive routes: Chevening for one-year master’s degrees, Commonwealth Scholarships for eligible Commonwealth citizens, Gates Cambridge at Cambridge, and a limited number of university full-cost awards. Fully funded means tuition plus a living stipend and usually travel; it does not usually include family costs. Apply to more than one route and keep a partial-funding plan in reserve.

How much bank balance do I need for a UK Student visa?

Your unpaid first-year course fees as shown on your CAS, plus living costs of £1,529 per month in London or £1,171 per month outside London, for up to nine months (£13,761 or £10,539 maximum). For applications on or after 30 November 2026 the monthly figures are scheduled to rise to £1,570 and £1,203. The money must be held for 28 consecutive days ending within 31 days of your application, unless an official sponsorship letter covers it.

What is a CAS and when do I get it?

The Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies is the electronic record your university issues once your offer is unconditional and its conditions, often including a deposit, are met. It carries your course and fee details and the reference number your visa application needs. Check every field for errors as soon as it arrives.

I missed the Chevening deadline for 2027 entry. What can I do?

You cannot submit a late Chevening application, so build your 2027 funding from Commonwealth (if eligible), GREAT, university and home-country awards, and consider whether starting in 2028 with a Chevening application in the next cycle is the better route. Do not pay anyone who claims they can reopen a closed round.

Do I need IELTS for UK scholarships?

Chevening itself does not set an English test, but your university does set English conditions for admission, and an unconditional offer usually requires meeting them. Some universities waive tests for degrees taught in English under their own policies; others require IELTS or an accepted alternative. Budget time for one retake.

Can I work while studying in the UK?

Student visa holders on degree-level courses at compliant sponsors can usually work up to 20 hours per week in term time and full-time in vacations. Treat earnings as a top-up for living costs, never as part of the funds you show the Home Office, and check the conditions printed on your visa.

Can I bring my family with me?

Under current rules, dependants are generally limited to research degree students and government-sponsored students; most taught master’s students cannot bring dependants. Scholarship packages also generally exclude family travel and visas. Confirm the current position on GOV.UK before making family plans.

Are scholarships taxable or repayable?

Genuine scholarship stipends for full-time study are generally not taxed as employment income in the UK, but conditions differ by scheme, and awards with return-home or service conditions carry obligations rather than repayment. Read your award terms carefully; if you withdraw early, most schemes can require repayment of some funds.

Sources & Verification

This article was checked against official sources at the time of writing: GOV.UK’s Student visa and financial evidence pages (visa fee £558, health surcharge £776 per year, living costs £1,529 per month in London and £1,171 outside London for up to nine months, 28-day holding rule); Chevening’s official site at chevening.org (eligibility, 2,800 hours of work experience, 2027-28 timeline including the 6 October 2026 closing date and 8 July 2027 unconditional offer deadline); the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission and participating university pages (stipend £1,452 per month, £1,781 in London, at 2026-27 rates); the British Council’s GREAT Scholarships programme information (minimum £10,000 towards one-year postgraduate tuition); and the Gates Cambridge Trust (full Composition Fee, maintenance £23,152 for twelve months at the 2026-27 rate, and its published deadlines). Useful starting points are the GOV.UK Student visa overview and the Chevening eligibility page.

Disclaimer: Scholarship amounts, deadlines and visa figures change every year, and several figures in this guide are scheduled to change during the 2027 cycle. Always confirm deadlines, amounts and eligibility on the official website of the scholarship and on GOV.UK before applying or paying any money. StudyGraduate is an information portal, not an agency, university or government body. We never promise or guarantee selection, admission or visa approval, and no one else can honestly promise those outcomes either.