Funding for the UK

[Horb]

I was wondering if anyone had any knowledge of funding opportunities for study in the UK. I know of the Fulbright, Rhodes, Gates-Cambridge, and Marshall (as well as the Mitchell if we are counting Ireland), but I'm wondering if there are less competitive grants available or even just other grants in addition to these well known ones. It would be for an MA or MPhil.

[Aphotic]

The Clarendon Scholarship comes to mind. About 140 scholarships awarded to exceptional graduate students each year, and it covers the entire cost of study. This one is Oxford specific. Here is a link to all of the graduate scholarships that Oxford provides http://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/graduate/fees-and-funding/graduate-scholarships

 

I imagine other top schools offer similar awards to attract the best. Try to pick through their graduate websites to discover them.

[Horb]

Yeah I looked through, but as I am international, the majority only cover a certain amount of tuition (about 5,000 GBP) which wouldn't be enough to live off of. I thought, for some reason, that the Clarendon was tied to the Fulbright, but I guess I was wrong. They seem to have 20,000 applications each year for 140ish spots. I wonder how they determine which applications to even look at!

Edited January 29, 2015 by Horb

[TakeruK]

When I was considering UK schools, I also found that there were not really many less-competitive awards. In fact, this is kind of true for every international student -- the only awards for non-citizens are usually the super competitive awards for the very top applicants. And there is a weird age limit too...24 or something, doesn't leave much room for non-traditional students or those who did a Masters first (as is the norm in Canada).

 

But like the US, some UK schools have internal awards that you are automatically considered for when you apply to their program. They are still competitive in the sense that they are usually University-wide fellowships (where perhaps each department has some quota to award) so you would still need to be one of the top international students applying to their program, but at least it's one level of competition down Fulbright, Rhodes, etc.

[Horb]

Yeah, the Marshall and I think Rhodes has an age limit, but the Fulbright doesn't, nor does the Gates-Cambridge (at least, they wouldn't affect me). I might even still be eligible for the award when/if I apply. I'm doing an MA/PhD now and after my MA, I'd like to do research (maybe an MPhil) in England to get more specific knowledge of my period and access to sources that I can't get here. Idk if it is plausible, by my advisor doesn't seem against it (yet).

[Kleene]

Yeah I looked through, but as I am international, the majority only cover a certain amount of tuition (about 5,000 GBP) which wouldn't be enough to live off of. I thought, for some reason, that the Clarendon was tied to the Fulbright, but I guess I was wrong. They seem to have 20,000 applications each year for 140ish spots. I wonder how they determine which applications to even look at!

Departments nominate people for the Clarendon, so in reality they only have to look at a handful of applicants.