Skip to main content

Birkbeck International Excellence Scholarship (January intake)

Award overview

  • Level: Postgraduate
  • Mode of study: Full-time
  • Tuition fee status: International
  • Award type: Fee discount 
  • Deadline: 2 November, 16 November, 21 November

Value

£3,000. The scholarship will be applied as a discount to the tuition fee for your first year of study at point of enrolment.

Eligibility

To be eligible you need to meet all of the following conditions: 

  • you are an international overseas tuition fee-paying student holding an unconditional offer on a full-time postgraduate taught programme offered by Birkbeck, starting in January 2026. You must have been assessed as an international fee-payer to qualify.
  • you are ordinarily resident of a country in the relevant region 
  • you are self-funded
  • you are classified as an 'overseas' tuition fee payer.

Only one scholarship award can be offered per student and the scholarship cannot normally be held in conjunction with any other scholarship.  You may apply for multiple scholarships; if you are successful in being awarded multiple scholarships, the highest value scholarship will be awarded to you.

How to apply

Once you have received an unconditional offer from Birkbeck, you can apply using the online application form for the region where you ordinarily reside.

  • Application form for those ordinarily residing in South Asia/Central Asia. You must be a national of, and living in, one of the following territories: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Please note that applicants ordinarily residing in India are not eligible for the International Excellence scholarship. Please refer above to our special Vice-Chancellor's International Scholarships for students domiciled in India.
  • Application form for those ordinarily residing in East Asia/Southeast Asia. You must be a national of, and living in, one of the following territories: Brunei, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong SAR, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Macau SAR, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam.
  • Application form for those ordinarily residing in Turkey and Northern Africa. You must be a national of, and living in, one of the following territories: Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Sudan, South Sudan, Tunisia, Turkey, Western Sahara. 
  • Application form for those ordinarily residing in The Americas. You must be a national of, and living in the Americas, with the exception of Brazil. If you are a Brazilian national and you hold an offer to study a master's programme at Birkbeck, you might be eligible for the Birkbeck Global Future Scholarship (see above).
  • Application form for those ordinarily residing in Sub Saharan Africa. You must be a national of, and living in, one of the following territories: Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo (Brazzaville), Congo (Democratic Republic), Côte d'Ivoire, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Equatorial Guinea, eSwatini, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, The Gambia, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
  • Application form for international students based in the UK. You must be an international student, of any nationality, living in the UK, and you must have been assessed as an international fee payer. You must hold an unconditional offer to study a full-time master's programme. If you do not require a Student Visa to study in the UK, then you can apply for this scholarship to study a part-time course. Please note that the scholarship will be awarded for the first year of your studies only, regardless of the duration of your chosen course. 

Successful scholars will be selected based on a statement of no more than 2,000 words in support of the application. The statement should detail why they are the ideal candidate for the scholarship. Applicants are required to demonstrate they have made provisions to fund the remainder of their tuition fees. 

If you are successfully awarded this scholarship, you will be notified by e-mail. You must complete a payment of the Student visa non-refundable deposit within the time limit stated on your award letter (typically five to seven working days). 

You must successfully enrol for the January 2026 intake no later than 12 December 2025.

Deadline

For courses starting in January 2026, the deadline to apply for this scholarship is:

  • Round 1: 11:59 pm (GMT -  UK time) on Sunday 2 November 2025
  • Round 2: 11:59 pm (GMT - UK time) on Sunday 16 November 2025
  • Round 3: 11:59 pm (GMT - UK time) on Sunday 21 November 2025

Please note: Students who have applied by the first deadline do not need to submit a new application to be considered for the second or third round.

Terms and conditions

Birkbeck has sole discretion to assign, vary or withdraw this award. 

This award is only available to students enrolling to Birkbeck for the first time.

This award excludes sponsorship students, current students and those returning on the second or third year of the same course.

This award excludes any courses outside of master's programmes starting in January 2026.

As a Birkbeck scholar you may be invited to participate in current and future promotional activities to represent the student body at Birkbeck; including, but not limited to, being interviewed and photographed by our External Relations and Marketing department, providing short progress reports on your studies. 

If the student fails to enrol by 12 December 2025, the scholarship fund will be cancelled in full.