Funding for International Students

Funding your postgraduate study can be a complex and confusing task for even the most prepared applicants. As your options are far more personalised than at undergraduate level, we decided to pulled together some helpful tips and links to guide you on your way. 

Tips

  1. Explore your options. Students rarely receive enough funding from one source to cover their costs, so its worth doing your research to see if you can combine your options.
  2. Consider government-backed loans. With options available, many students apply for the government loans to support their studies with more information on our Masters funding page.
  3. See if you’re eligible for a bursery. The University of Leeds offer a 10% tuition fee bursery to our alumni. Find out more on our Alumni bursary page. 
  4. Keep on reading to find out more about self-funding, sponsors and Scholarships.

Self-funding 

  • Postgraduate fees are set on a course-by-course basis and can be found by searching our Coursefinder pages
  • Postgraduate fees are not regulated by the UK government, so decisions on UK undergraduate fees do not apply.
  • Fees are set independently and reviewed on an annual basis. 
  • You are classified as either a home or international student for the purpose of assessing tuition fees. Where your status is not clear from your application form, you will enter our fee assessment process
  • Non-UK EU students starting in the academic year 2021/2022 onwards will be classes as International.  
  • Further information can be found on our fees page.

Sponsored students 

  • Sponsors are organisations (such as companies, government departments or charities) that pay your fees and require an invoice from the University before they can make payment. 
  • You must provide evidence of your sponsorship before you can register at the University. 
  • If some or all of your fees are paid by a sponsor, your sponsor will need to provide a letter detailing how much they are going to pay. We need this letter to issue an invoice and allow you to register as a student.
  • Find out what evidence of sponsorship we need to see, how your sponsor can pay us and what happens if your sponsor fails to pay on our dedicated sponsored students page.
  • You’ll need to send Student Fees your sponsor letter even if you have provided sponsor evidence as part of your application. 

University postgraduate scholarships  

International: Beit Trust (February deadline) 

  • For applicants residing in Malawi, Zambia or Zimbabwe for a full-time Taught Masters course who intend to return to their country after their studies.
  • Candidates must hold a degree equivalent to a UK 2i with relevant work experience.
  • More information is available on the scholarship page.

International postgraduate scholarships  

Don’t forget to check if any funding is available from your country to study in the UK. This could be from your home government, or from organisations based in your home country.  

The UK government also provides a number of postgraduate scholarships. These include:

  • Chevening Scholarship for students with an undergraduate degree, specified relevant work experience, meeting specific English Language requirements and for citizens from specific countries. 

  • Commonwealth Scholarship Schemes provide a number of awards for postgraduate study and professional development each year. These are part-funded by UK host universities. 

  • Marshall Scholarship is for students from the USA. Find out more about applying and the terms of elibility.