Scotland Fully Funded Scholarships 2027-2028 for International Students

Overview

International students planning to study in Scotland in 2027-2028 can pursue several funding routes at Bachelor's, Master's and PhD level, though fully funded awards are far more common for Master's and doctoral study. Main routes include Chevening Scholarships, Commonwealth Scholarships, university-funded awards and funded PhD studentships. Not every scholarship covers all costs, as some pay only tuition or a fixed contribution toward fees.

What you get

At Master's level, the fully funded options are the Chevening Scholarship, the Commonwealth Master's Scholarship (for eligible applicants from lower- and middle-income Commonwealth countries), the University of Edinburgh Mastercard Foundation Scholarship (for eligible African applicants) and the Heriot-Watt Hoogenboom Scholarship for selected programmes.

Undergraduate awards are scarcer. St Andrews offers one full-tuition International Excellence Scholarship for a student entering in 2027, and Robert Gordon University's Vice-Chancellor's Undergraduate Scholarship covers full first-year tuition. Stirling provides £2,500 per year and Dundee's Global Excellence Undergraduate Scholarship gives £7,500 per year for the January 2027 intake.

For doctorates, Edinburgh Doctoral College Scholarships combine tuition with a UKRI-level stipend, Glasgow computing studentships can cover international tuition with living support at £22,437 a year in many cases, and St Andrews World-Leading Doctoral Scholarships combine full tuition with a stipend.

Who can apply

Eligibility depends on each scholarship and may involve academic qualifications, nationality, degree level, field of study, English-language scores and university admission requirements. A common planning range is IELTS 6.0 to 6.5 for undergraduate programmes and 6.5 to 7.0 for postgraduate programmes, though some courses ask for more.

How to apply

Bachelor's applicants choose a university and programme, check requirements, prepare transcripts, apply through UCAS, apply separately for scholarships where needed and complete the visa process once documents are issued. There is currently no confirmed 2027-2028 Scotland Saltire Scholarship call, so financial plans should not rely on it.

Key dates

Chevening applications close on 6 October 2026 at 11:00 UTC, with an unconditional UK university offer required by July 8, 2027. The Commonwealth Master's Scholarship window runs from 8 September to 20 October 2026. For the Edinburgh Mastercard Foundation Scholarship, a virtual information session must be attended between 15 and 24 September 2026 and the application deadline is 19 November 2026. Glasgow PhD applications close on 31 January 2027, and the Robert Gordon University award has a June 2027 deadline.