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International scholarships

The loans and scholarships you may be eligible for will differ depending on the level you're planning to study:

We also offer a number of scholarships specifically for international students. Some are offered directly by Birkbeck, others are offered in partnership with other organisations.

Vice-Chancellor's Scholarships January 2025 and autumn 2025

  • Our Vice-Chancellor’s International Scholarships for international students domiciled in India reflects our commitment to promote equality and diversity across our full-time undergraduate and postgraduate taught programmes.  
  • Value
    • Full-time undergraduate degrees: £500 tuition fee discount, per year of enrolment, over a maximum period of three years (£500 per year over three years, total of £1,500). 
    • Full-time master's courses: £1,500 tuition fee reduction for the first year of enrolment only.
  • Eligibility: To be eligible for the scholarship, you must:
    • be a new student, starting your first year of study in January 2025 or autumn 2025. (N.B. this scholarship is only available to new students)
    • be an international student paying international tuition fees 
    • be studying a full-time undergraduate course (courses with foundation years are not eligible for this scholarship) starting in autumn 2025 or 
    • be studying a full-time master's course (postgraduate certificates, postgraduate diplomas and graduate diplomas are not eligible for this scholarship) starting in January 2025 or October 2025 
    • have an offer and be enrolled on one of our eligible programmes, as described above, starting in January 2025 or autumn 2025
    • be ordinarily domiciled in India.
  • Please note: This Birkbeck scholarship award cannot be combined with any other scholarships or awards available. If you are in receipt of sponsorship by a third party, you won’t be eligible.
  • How to apply: There is no need to apply. If you meet the eligibility criteria, the scholarship will be applied automatically at the point of enrolment.  

Birkbeck global future scholarships 

  • Scholarship amount: The scholarship will be applied as a discount to the tuition fee for the first year of your full-time master's course, to bring it in line with the Home tuition fee amount.
  • As part of our commitment to enhancing the global reach of Birkbeck, our Global Future Scholarship to support access to postgraduate master's study from all EU member countries, Australia, Brazil and Canada.
  • Please note: The reduction on course fees that Birkbeck offers through the Global Future Scholarship cannot be combined with any other scholarships available. 
  • To be eligible, you need to meet all of the following conditions.
    • You are ordinarily resident in one of the following countries:
      • Australia (from autumn 2025)
      • Austria
      • Belgium
      • Brazil
      • Bulgaria
      • Canada (from autumn 2025)
      • Croatia
      • Cyprus (EU)
      • Czech Republic
      • Denmark
      • Estonia
      • Finland
      • France
      • Germany
      • Greece
      • Hungary
      • Italy
      • Latvia
      • Lithuania
      • Luxembourg
      • Malta
      • Netherlands
      • Poland
      • Portugal
      • Romania
      • Slovakia
      • Slovenia
      • Spain
      • Sweden
    • you are self-funded and are holding a full-time master's offer of study from us for January 2025 or autumn 2025 intakes  
    • you are classified as an ‘International’ tuition fee payer.
  • Only one scholarship award can be made per student and the scholarship cannot normally be held in conjunction with any other scholarship. 
  • Applicants ordinarily resident in one of the named countries are eligible and do not need to apply for the scholarship; it will be automatically applied by our admissions team at the time of enrolment. If we require any further information from you, we will contact you directly. 
  • If at any point during your application journey, or during the course of your studies at Birkbeck, you gain settled or pre-settled status, you will no longer be eligible for a scholarship. 
  • Find out more about postgraduate study at Birkbeck.
  • Please note: This Birkbeck scholarship award cannot be combined with any other scholarships or awards available. If you are in receipt of sponsorship by a third party, you won’t be eligible.

Birkbeck Business School master's scholarships 2025

  • A £1,000 scholarship is available to international students domiciled in Nigeria who are studying full-time on the following programmes offered by the Birkbeck Business School in January 2025. 
    • MSc Digital Business
    • MSc Entrepreneurship and Innovation
    • MSc International Business
    • MSc Management
    • MSc Marketing
  • Value: £1,000 tuition fee reduction.
  • Eligibility: To be eligible for the scholarship, you must:
    • be an international student 
    • be studying full time
    • have received an offer in line with our entry criteria and a place to study on the MSc Digital Business, MSc Entrepreneurship and Innovation, MSc International Business, MSc Management or MSc Marketing in January 2025 
    • be domiciled in Nigeria.
  • Please note: This Birkbeck scholarship award cannot be combined with any other scholarships or awards available. If you are in receipt of sponsorship by a third party, you won’t be eligible.
  • How to apply: There is no need to apply. If you meet the eligibility criteria, the scholarship will be applied automatically

Nigeria Creative Industries master's scholarships

  • A £1,000 scholarship is available to international students living in Nigeria starting on a School of Creative Arts, Culture and Communication master’s course in January 2025, and studying full time.   
  • Value: £1,000 tuition fee reduction
  • Eligibility: To be eligible for the scholarship, you must:
    • be an international student
    • be studying full time
    • have received an offer in line with our entry criteria and a place to study on a Creative Arts, Culture and Communication master’s course (including History of Art master's courses) in January 2024 or October 2024
    • be domiciled in Nigeria.
  • Please note: This Birkbeck scholarship award cannot be combined with any other scholarships or awards available. If you are in receipt of sponsorship by a third party, you won’t be eligible.
  • How to apply: There is no need to apply. If you meet the eligibility criteria the scholarship will be applied automatically.

Birkbeck international excellence scholarships

  • Birkbeck is offering a limited number of scholarships to international students enrolling in the autumn 2025 and January 2026 intakes on a full-time undergraduate or postgraduate taught programme.
  • Details for our January intake will be published in the autumn.
  • Scholarship amount
  • £1,000 to £5,000
  • The scholarship will be applied as a discount to the tuition fee for your first year of study only. 
  • 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 undergraduate or postgraduate taught programme offered by Birkbeck, starting in autumn 2025. 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: Bangladesh, Bhutan, Kazakhstan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Uzbekistan. 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. You must be a national of, and living in, Türkiye.
    • 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 and Canada. If you are a Brazilian national and you hold an offer to study a master's programme at Birkbeck, you are likely to be eligible for the Birkbeck Global Future Scholarship (see above). If you have an unconditional offer to study an undergraduate programme at Birkbeck and you are an international student living in Brazil or Canada, you can apply for this Birkbeck International Excellence Scholarship, which is applicable to the first year of your undergraduate studies only. 
    • Application form for those ordinarily residing in Africa. You must be a national of, and living in, one of the following territories: Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo (Brazzaville), Congo (Democratic Republic), Côte d'Ivoire, Djibouti, Egypt, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Equatorial Guinea, eSwatini, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, The Gambia, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Western Sahara, 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 undergraduate or 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 4,000 characters 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 conditionally awarded this scholarship, you will be notified by e-mail. Student visa applicants must complete payment of the Student visa non-refundable deposit within the time limit stated on the award letter (typically five to seven working days).
  • You must successfully enrol for the autumn 2025 intake to receive the award, and no later than 7 September 2025.
  • Deadlines
  • For courses starting in autumn 2025, the deadline to apply for this scholarship is:
    • Round 1: 11:59 pm (BST -  UK time) on Sunday 18 May 2025
    • Round 2: 11:59 pm (BST - UK time) on Sunday 22 June 2025
    • Round 3: 11:59 pm (BST - UK time) on Sunday 20 July 2025
    • Please note: Students who have applied by an earlier deadline do not need to submit a new application to be considered for the next rounds.
  • General 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 short courses and part-time programmes*.
  • As a Birkbeck scholar you will 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 7 September 2025 the scholarship fund will be cancelled in full.

Birkbeck-OnCampus Progression Scholarship

  • The Birkbeck-OnCampus Progression Scholarship offers international students who complete a foundation programme with OnCampus – including UFP, IY1 or Pre-Master -and progress to a full-time degree at Birkbeck, a £2,000 fee reduction against their first-year tuition fee.
  • The scholarship is designed to support international students who have completed a foundation programme with OnCampus in continuing their studies at Birkbeck in London. It reflects the university's commitment to helping talented international students succeed on their academic journey.
  • Eligibility criteria: To be eligible for the scholarship you must meet all the criteria below. The £2,000 tuition fee reduction is applied to the first year of study at Birkbeck only:
    • You must be classified as an 'overseas' tuition fee payer.
    • You must have successfully completed an OnCampus Foundation Programme, including Undergraduate Foundation Programme, International Year 1 or Pre-Master Programme.
    • You must enrol on a full-time degree course at Birkbeck, including undergraduate programmes (first-year entry or second-year direct entry for eligible programmes) and masters taught programmes.
    • You cannot combine this scholarship with any other scholarships available.
    • You must complete your enrolment at Birkbeck by the 29 August 2025.
  • How to apply: Eligible students don’t need to apply for this scholarship. The deduction will be automatically applied at the point of enrolment. Enrolments completed later than the 29 August 2025 will not be eligible for tuition fee reduction.

Commonwealth Scholarships

  • Commonwealth citizens can apply for a number of different funds under the Commonwealth Scholarship.
  • Birkbeck currently takes part in the following schemes:
    • Commonwealth PhD Scholarships (for least developed and fragile country candidates) 
    • Commonwealth Split-site (PhD) Scholarships (for low- and middle-income country candidates)
    • Commonwealth Master's Scholarships (for candidates nominated by CSC nominating agencies)

Chevening Scholarships 

Further information

Visit our international finance page to find out about fees and payment plans, loans and bank accounts for international students studying in the UK.

If you would like further information, please .