Masters scholarships

Source: https://www.leeds.ac.uk/international-scholarships-funding/doc/masters-scholarships

We have up to £9.4 million worth of scholarships available for international students commencing their studies in September 2026.

By supporting talented individuals, we aim to empower you to reach your academic and professional goals while being part of our diverse learning community.

Find out about the scholarships available for 2026 at Leeds.

We also offer undergraduate and International Foundation Year scholarships for international students.

International Excellence Scholarships

We have 500 scholarships, worth either £3,000, £6,000 or £16,000 available to support eligible international students.

The awards recognise and reward high academic achievement for students applying to study a taught Masters course starting in September 2026.

At Leeds, we welcome international students from over 140 countries or regions to our multicultural campus. Our International Excellence Scholarship supports students to fulfil their potential and join our diverse community.

Eligibility criteria

To apply for an International Excellence Scholarship, you must:

• be classified as an international student for fee purposes;
• have a conditional or unconditional offer for an eligible taught Masters course starting in September 2026;
• be self-funded or partially-funded;
• demonstrate an excellent academic track record, and be predicted to achieve or have achieved a minimum  of a Bachelor’s degree with a 2:1 (hons) or equivalent;
• show excellent professional and personal skills evidenced through work experience and/or extracurricular activities.

Excluded courses

The following Masters courses are not eligible for the International Excellence Scholarship:

• MBA: the MBA currently offers a generous MBA Excellence Scholarships scheme
• All fully-online courses

How to apply

You will only be able to apply for this scholarship once you have a conditional or unconditional offer for a Masters course.

If you have an offer for multiple courses at the University of Leeds, you will need to submit a separate scholarship application for each course.

Apply now

To apply, you will need to complete the application form, which will take around 15 minutes to complete. You will not be able to save your progress, so make sure you have all the information ready before you begin.

Make sure you have your:

• University of Leeds student ID
• University of Leeds application ID number
• 100-word (600 characters, including spaces) personal statement explaining why you have chosen to study at Leeds and why you believe you should be considered for the scholarship.

Apply for the scholarship

Application deadline

There are two application rounds for this scholarship.

Application round one

• Apply by 5pm GMT on 27 February 2026.
• You will be notified of the outcome by 27 March 2026.

Application round two

• Apply by 5pm BST on 15 May 2026.
• You will be notified of the outcome by 12 June 2026.

Terms and conditions

• This scholarship can be combined with our International Regional Scholarship or external funding as long as this does not exceed 100% of your tuition fees. You may also be able to combine this scholarship with a School or Faculty scholarship.
• Please check the terms and conditions of any other scholarships that you have received to ensure that they can also be combined.
• If you are applying through an International Partner Agreement and are offered more than one University of Leeds scholarship, you can only accept one scholarship (this will be whichever award represents the highest value).
• The scholarship award cannot be deferred to the following year and is non-transferable to other courses at the University of Leeds.
• This scholarship is paid as a fee reduction for your first year of study only and can only be used as a fee reduction. It cannot be used towards other costs, including but not exclusive to maintenance or accommodation costs.

International Regional Scholarships

An automatic £6,000 fee reduction scholarship is available for international Masters students from an eligible country/region.

International Masters Regional Scholarships help to ease the cost of living, allowing you to focus on your education and achieve your potential. They are automatically awarded to eligible students as a fee reduction.

Eligibility criteria

To be eligible for an International Masters Regional Scholarship you must:

• be a passport holder from one of the following countries/regions: Egypt, India, Japan, Mexico, Peru, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United States of America, Vietnam;
• If you hold an eligible passport, but currently live in another country/region, you will be eligible for this scholarship.
• If you are only domiciled in one of these countries or regions, you will not be eligible for this scholarship.
• be classified as an international fee-paying student;
• be self-funded or partially-funded;
• hold a conditional or unconditional offer for a Masters degree (including MRes) starting in September 2026.

Excluded courses

The following Masters courses are not eligible for the International Masters Regional Scholarship:

• MBA: the MBA currently offers a generous MBA Excellence Scholarships scheme
• All fully-online courses
• Law (2-year Graduate Programme) LLB

How to apply

You do not need to apply for the scholarship. If you meet the eligibility and award criteria, you will automatically receive the scholarship.

Terms and conditions

• This scholarship award cannot be deferred to the following year and is only transferable to other eligible courses at the University of Leeds.
• This scholarship can be combined with our International Excellence Scholarship or external funding as long as this does not exceed 100% of your tuition fees. You may also be able to combine this scholarship with a School or Faculty scholarship.
• Please check the terms and conditions of any other scholarships that you have received to ensure that they can also be combined.
• If you are applying through an International Partner Agreement and are offered more than one University of Leeds scholarship, you can only accept one scholarship (this will be whichever award represents the highest value).
• This scholarship is paid as a fee reduction for your first year of study only and can only be used as a fee reduction. It cannot be used towards other costs, including but not exclusive to maintenance or accommodation costs.

Questions about scholarships

If you have questions about either of these scholarships,  please email the Admissions Enquiries team at study@leeds.ac.uk.