Country funding 8 min read
🇬🇧Funding your studies in the UK (2026 guide)
Student Finance England, Chevening, Commonwealth, GREAT Scholarships, and university-specific awards — the full map of how to pay for a UK degree.
For UK & Irish students
- Student Finance — tuition fee loan up to £9,535/yr (2025–26) paid directly to your university, plus a means-tested maintenance loan (up to £13,762/yr in London).
- You repay only after earning above £27,295/yr (Plan 5); the balance is written off after 40 years.
- Extra grants for disabled students, students with children, and NHS-funded courses (nursing, midwifery).
For international students — flagship awards
- Chevening — fully funded one-year Masters for future leaders. Deadline: early November. Requires 2 years' work experience.
- Commonwealth Scholarships — fully funded Masters and PhD for citizens of Commonwealth countries. Deadline: October–December.
- GREAT Scholarships — £10,000 tuition awards at 70+ UK universities for students from ~20 countries.
- Marshall Scholarships — for US citizens studying at any UK university.
University-specific scholarships (search these directly)
- Oxford — Rhodes, Clarendon, Weidenfeld-Hoffmann; Reach Oxford for developing countries.
- Cambridge — Gates Cambridge (fully funded, ~80 students/yr), Cambridge Trust.
- Imperial, UCL, LSE, Edinburgh, Manchester — all run their own international scholarships (£5k–£30k). Check the 'Fees & funding' page for every program you apply to.
Practical tips
- One-year UK Masters is often ~50% cheaper total than a two-year US or Australian equivalent.
- You need to show ~£1,483/month (London) or £1,136/month (outside) in savings for the visa CAS.
- Graduate Route visa: 2 years unrestricted work after graduation (3 for PhD) — a huge post-study ROI factor.
Put it into action