Financial Support Available to International Students in the UK

As you delve into your research for a course in the UK, you will find that the majority of courses in the UK charge higher tuition fees to international students. But don’t panic; there is financial support available to international students in the UK, and though it most likely won’t cover all of your costs, there are plenty of funding opportunities that can cover a large proportion of your tuition fees and/or living costs.

Here are your options:

Scholarships…

Business schools across the UK have a multitude of scholarships available for international students who wish to study at undergraduate level, postgraduate level, or higher. Scholarships will usually provide full/partial coverage of your course tuition fees, and some may also provide a stipend for living costs, or a contribution towards this.

When you’ve researched the courses and offer and made up your shortlist of UK universities for your applications, it’s equally as important to check out their scholarships and funding pages for more information on the range of scholarships on offer and which ones you could be eligible for (some of them will be for EU students only, whilst others will be aimed at international students or students from specific geographical regions).

Bursaries…

A bursary possibly won’t give you as much of a financial boost as a scholarship can, but every penny counts when you want to study abroad, and these funding opportunities can certainly be a welcome addition to your savings for your course. They usually provide partial funding for tuition fees, and some have specific uses for aspects of your living costs such as travel or study materials.

As with the scholarships, any bursaries available at a business school will be listed on their scholarship and funding pages on their website. So be sure to do your research and don’t miss out on a chance to apply for anything you could be eligible for.

Chevening Scholarships…

The Chevening Scholarships are run by the UK government, and offer international students funding opportunities to study a postgraduate qualification at an institution in the UK.

The scholarship scheme is open to any degree discipline, so if you’re interested in studying a finance related subject at Master’s level, then this could be an option for you. The scholarships usually cover one-year courses.

There are over 600 scholarships available for 2015/16 entry. The application period opens in the summer of each year. You can find out more by visiting the Chevening Scholarships website.