MBA in UK for Indian Students: 2027 Fees, Entry Rules and Deadlines Tuition for an MBA in UK for Indian
Scholarships to Study in UK for Indian Students: 2027 Entry Dates & Amounts
- Last Updated on: October 6, 2026 by
- Shiva Sai Bejawada
Three fully funded scholarships to study in UK for Indian students are still open for 2027 entry. The Commonwealth Master’s Scholarship closes first, at 8:30 pm India time on 20 October 2026. For Oxford’s Clarendon Fund, your course application is your scholarship application. Gates Cambridge sits inside the Cambridge application but adds four short essays and its own reference. Both are due in December or January. Sheffield, Lancaster, Glasgow and Edinburgh (listed programmes) cut fees automatically once you accept an offer.
If you’re hoping for a 100% scholarship with average marks, plan on two tracks: a long-shot full award and a university discount you can count on.
Written by
Senior Counsellor (British Council Certified) -UK & Ireland
Shiva Sai Bejawada is a British Council Certified overseas-education counsellor at AOEC India who guides Indian students through UK and Ireland university selection, admissions, and student visa documentation.
6 Years, 96% visa approval rate 
Reviewed by
Managing Director
Mr. Kongara Sridhar, Director of AOEC India, has over 12 years of experience in overseas education consulting, admissions, and student visa guidance.
Over 12 years Experience Key Takeaways
- The Commonwealth Master’s needs an application to the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission (CSC) by 20 October 2026, plus a nomination from India’s Ministry of Education, which picks the candidates it puts forward.
- The Commonwealth stipend is £1,712 a month (approx. ₹2.18 lakh), or £2,000 (approx. ₹2.55 lakh) in London.
- India is not eligible for Commonwealth PhD Scholarships in 2027/28.
- Sheffield (£7,000, approx. ₹8.93 lakh), Lancaster (£10,000, approx. ₹12.75 lakh), Glasgow and Edinburgh on listed programmes (£5,000 each, approx. ₹6.38 lakh) cut fees automatically once you accept an offer.
- Gates Cambridge pays fees plus £23,152 a year at the 2026-27 rate (approx. ₹29.53 lakh); apply by 8 December 2026 or 6 January 2027, by course.
- Commonwealth Scholars cannot switch to a Graduate visa after their course.
Table of Contents
Which UK scholarship fits your profile
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UK scholarships for Indian students open for 2027 entry
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What fully funded and partial UK scholarships cover
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Eligibility criteria for UK scholarships for Indian students
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How to apply: separate form, nominator or automatic on offer
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Frequently Asked Questions
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Which UK scholarship fits your profile
| Your profile | Best-fit awards | Next action | By when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Master’s applicant | Commonwealth Master’s if you can’t fund the UK without it; Manchester, Leeds, Sheffield, Lancaster, Glasgow | File the CSC form and meet the Ministry of Education’s own deadline; apply for your course now | CSC 20 Oct 2026 (ministry’s date may be earlier); Leeds 28 Feb 2027; Manchester 25 Apr 2027 |
| First-class graduate aiming at Oxford or Cambridge | Clarendon, Gates Cambridge; Felix (2027 terms pending) | Apply for the course by its funding deadline; for Gates, add the four essays and reference | Gates: 8 Dec 2026 or 6 Jan 2027; Oxford: your course’s Dec or Jan deadline |
| PhD applicant | Gates Cambridge, Clarendon; not Commonwealth PhD Scholarships, which exclude India for 2027/28 | Apply to the course by its funding deadline | Gates: 8 Dec 2026 or 6 Jan 2027 |
| Class 12 undergraduate applicant | Manchester Global Futures (undergraduate), £36,000 over 3 years (₹45.91 lakh); Lancaster, £3,000 a year (₹3.83 lakh) | Apply through UCAS, then file Manchester’s form | Manchester form by 30 Mar 2027 |
The Commonwealth Master’s asks for good marks and real financial need, not work experience. Good marks means a UK 2:1, the second-highest UK degree class. Whatever your marks, the money you can count on comes from automatic university awards, and each needs a course offer first. The study in UK hub covers choosing one.
UK scholarships for Indian students open for 2027 entry
For 2027 entry, the table below lists 11 postgraduate scholarships to study in UK for Indian students. Three pay tuition and living costs. The other eight cut tuition by £3,000 to £16,000, with the Leeds Masters International Excellence Scholarships at the top. Apply in date order, not by amount.
| Award | Level | Amount (GBP + INR) | Duration | How you get it | Status and next date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Commonwealth Master’s Scholarships | Master’s | Full tuition plus £1,712 a month (₹2.18 lakh), £2,000 in London (₹2.55 lakh) | Whole course | Form plus Ministry of Education nomination | Open; CSC form by 20 Oct 2026, 8:30 pm IST |
| Gates Cambridge Scholarship | Master’s or PhD | University fees plus £23,152 maintenance a year at the 2026-27 rate (₹29.53 lakh) | Whole course | Gates section of your Cambridge application: four short essays and a separate reference | Gates Cambridge deadline 8 Dec 2026 or 6 Jan 2027, by course |
| Clarendon Fund (Oxford) | Master’s or PhD | Course fees plus a living grant | Whole course | Automatic with your Oxford application | Apply by your course’s Dec or Jan deadline |
| Manchester Global Futures Scholarship (master’s) | Master’s | £12,000 tuition discount (₹15.30 lakh) | One-off discount | Separate form after offer; self-funded only | Form by 25 Apr 2027 |
| Leeds Masters International Excellence Scholarships | Master’s | £3,000, £6,000 or £16,000 discount (₹3.83, 7.65 or 20.41 lakh) | One-off discount | Separate form; 2:1 minimum | Round 1 closes 28 Feb 2027; round 2 closes 16 May 2027 |
| Sheffield International Postgraduate Scholarship | Master’s | £7,000 tuition reduction (₹8.93 lakh) | One-off discount | Automatic once you accept | Accept offer by 4pm UK time (8:30 pm IST), 6 Jul 2027 |
| Lancaster Postgraduate India Scholarship | Taught master’s | £10,000 fee reduction (₹12.75 lakh) | One-off discount | Automatic once you accept | Open for 2027 entry |
| World Changers Glasgow Scholarship | Master’s | £5,000 tuition discount (₹6.38 lakh) | One-off discount | Automatic on offer | Open for Sept 2027 and Jan 2028 entry |
| Edinburgh India Merit Scholarship | Taught master’s, listed programmes | £5,000 off tuition (₹6.38 lakh) | First year only | Automatic on offer | Open for 2027/28 entry |
| Exeter Postgraduate Taught Scholarship for India | Taught master’s, listed programmes, January 2027 entry only | £7,500 first-year discount (₹9.57 lakh) | First year only | Automatic on offer | Apply for the course by 1 Dec 2026 |
| Birmingham Postgraduate High Fliers Scholarship | Master’s, January 2027 entry only | £5,000 tuition discount (₹6.38 lakh) | One-off discount | Automatic on offer | Accept your unconditional offer by 7 Dec 2026 |
With a 2:1 and no sponsor, the four automatic awards for September 2027 (Sheffield, Lancaster, Glasgow, and Edinburgh for listed programmes only) apply as soon as you accept an offer. Put at least two of them on a shortlist built from the top UK universities for master’s.
These are closed for now, or had not announced a 2027 round by early October 2026:
- GREAT Scholarships: 12 for India in 2026-27, at least £10,000 each.
- British Council Women in STEM: 25 for South Asia, at least £40,000 each.
- Rhodes Scholarships for India: five a year; the 2027 round closed 23 July 2026.
- Charles Wallace India Trust: two a year, for artists and heritage professionals aged 28 to 38.
- Felix Scholarship at Reading: up to five awards, tuition plus a stipend of around £17,894 for 2026 entry; 2027 details not yet published.
If your family is from a Scheduled Caste or a Denotified, Nomadic or Semi-Nomadic Tribe, or works as landless farm labourers or traditional artisans, look at the Government of India’s National Overseas Scholarship. It has 125 awards for 2026-27, and a second 40-day application window was due in September or October 2026, so check the scheme’s portal now.
What fully funded and partial UK scholarships cover
A partial award leaves most of the bill unpaid. For 2027/28 entry, most one-year taught (course-based) master's at the University of York cost international students £27,840 to £34,500 (approx. ₹35.51 to 44.00 lakh), so a £10,000 (approx. ₹12.75 lakh) award covers 29% to 36% of tuition. Living costs, visa fees and the health surcharge still fall on you.
Only full awards pay a stipend (a monthly living allowance). A tuition fee discount leaves three costs with you. The Student visa fee is £558. The health surcharge (the NHS fee paid with your visa) is £1,164 on a typical one-year master’s visa. Then there’s the living money the visa asks you to show. From 30 November 2026, that’s £1,570 a month in London or £1,203 elsewhere, for up to nine months.
Parents: most families close the gap with an education loan, and it’s safer to fix the loan amount after the university award is confirmed. The J N Tata Endowment loan scholarship is a loan, not a grant, so count it as debt. The cost of studying in the UK breakdown turns that gap into a yearly figure.
From our counselling desk: Apply for the Commonwealth Master's if you qualify, but don't build your budget on it. Build it on an automatic university discount you lock in by accepting an offer, and size the loan to that figure. If a full award comes through later, it pays your tuition, so losing the discount no longer matters.
Eligibility criteria for UK scholarships for Indian students
Good marks get you considered, but each of these scholarships to study in UK for Indian students adds one rule of its own:
- Commonwealth Master’s: a 2:1 by September 2027, or a 2:2 (one class below a 2:1) plus a relevant postgraduate qualification. You must also be unable to afford UK study without the award, and you can’t have studied at master’s level in the UK before. The nominator may add its own rules.
- Felix: at Oxford, Felix Scholarships need a first-class undergraduate or master’s degree from an Indian university, no degree from outside India, and real financial need. You’re expected to return to India afterwards.
- Manchester Global Futures: only if you or your family pay your fees (self-funded), not an outside sponsor.
- National Overseas Scholarship: for the listed groups above, with 60% marks, family income up to ₹8 lakh and age up to 35. You also need an unconditional offer (one with no conditions left to meet) from a QS top-500 university. Afterwards, you must return to India within 30 days of finishing and stay at least a year.
The Commonwealth Master’s has one catch: Commonwealth Scholars can’t switch to a Graduate visa (the UK post-study work visa). If working in the UK after your degree is the goal, a university discount is the better route.
How to apply: separate form, nominator or automatic on offer
Take Sneha, a Hyderabad B.Tech graduate whose family can’t fund a UK master’s on its own. She files the CSC form in October 2026 and applies for courses at the same time, so she holds an offer and an automatic discount whatever the Commonwealth panel decides.
- Commonwealth form first. The Commonwealth Master’s needs the CSC form and a nomination from India’s Ministry of Education. The ministry sets its own deadline, which can be earlier than 20 October, so check its notice now. The CSC takes no direct applications.
- Course applications in parallel. Every university award needs an offer first, so apply for courses now rather than waiting on a scholarship result.
- Automatic awards need only acceptance. These are the easiest awards to get: accept the offer by the university’s stated date and the discount applies.
- Check which awards you can combine before you accept. Sheffield’s award can’t be combined with a sponsor’s money; an education loan doesn’t count as a sponsor. Glasgow withdraws its discount if a sponsor pays everything. You can add Exeter’s own Excellence Scholarship on top, up to £10,000 for the two together.
- Use the award for your visa. If the Indian or UK government, the British Council, a university or an international organisation pays your living costs, ask it for a financial sponsor letter. Under the Home Office funding rules that money counts toward the funds your visa asks you to show. If it covers only part, proof of funds for a UK student visa shows how to top it up from savings.
Get in Touch
Frequently Asked Questions
How can Indian students get a 100% scholarship in the UK?
File the Commonwealth Master’s form by 20 October 2026; it pays tuition, a stipend and travel. Or apply to Oxford or Cambridge by your course deadline for Clarendon or Gates Cambridge, and Felix if it runs for 2027. Full awards are few, so also secure an automatic university discount.
Can I study in London for free?
Not on a university discount alone, since those cut part of one year’s fee. The Commonwealth Master’s pays full London tuition plus a higher London stipend. Without a full award, you pay London tuition and show London’s higher living-cost figure for your visa.
Are there UK scholarships for Indian students after 12th?
Yes, but they’re partial, because the fully funded awards here, from the Commonwealth to Gates Cambridge, fund postgraduate study only. Manchester’s Global Futures undergraduate award needs 60% each year to continue and Manchester as your firm (first) choice on UCAS by 15 May 2027. Board rules and fees are in study in UK after 12th.
Do UK scholarships need IELTS?
The awards here follow your course offer, so the English score that matters is the one your university sets for your specific course. Want to skip the test? Which UK universities accept you without IELTS lists the other proof they take.
Which UK scholarship is easiest to get?
Automatic awards, because there’s no separate application. Lancaster’s India award cuts £10,000 (approx. ₹12.75 lakh) from taught master’s fees, and Sheffield, Glasgow and Edinburgh (listed programmes) also apply on offer for September 2027. For low-fee schools to add, see affordable universities in UK for Indian students.
Ardent Overseas has counselled Indian students since 2016 from offices in Hyderabad and Tirupati, and a British Council certified counsellor handles UK files. For scholarship applicants, we shortlist courses whose offers feed automatic awards and check each scheme’s eligibility and deadlines before you apply.
Sources
Official sources first, then universities and trusts.
- Commonwealth Scholarship Commission in the UK, Commonwealth Master’s Scholarships (2027/28), retrieved 02 Oct 2026, cscuk.fcdo.gov.uk
- Commonwealth Scholarship Commission in the UK, Commonwealth PhD Scholarships (2027/28), retrieved 02 Oct 2026, cscuk.fcdo.gov.uk
- Commonwealth Scholarship Commission in the UK, National nominating agencies, retrieved 02 Oct 2026, cscuk.fcdo.gov.uk
- Home Office, Statement of changes to the Immigration Rules: HC 584 (3 Sep 2026), retrieved 02 Oct 2026, gov.uk
Show 26 more sources
- Home Office, Immigration Rules Appendix Finance (updated 3 Aug 2026), retrieved 02 Oct 2026, gov.uk
- GOV.UK, Student visa: money, retrieved 02 Oct 2026, gov.uk
- GOV.UK, Student visa, retrieved 02 Oct 2026, gov.uk
- GOV.UK, Pay for UK healthcare as part of your immigration application, retrieved 02 Oct 2026, gov.uk
- Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India, National Overseas Scholarship Scheme for SC etc. Candidates (2026-27), retrieved 02 Oct 2026, socialjustice.gov.in
- British Council India, GREAT Scholarships India (2026-27), retrieved 02 Oct 2026, britishcouncil.in
- British Council India, British Council Scholarships for women in STEM (2026-27), retrieved 02 Oct 2026, britishcouncil.in
- Gates Cambridge Trust, The Scholarship (2026-27 rate), retrieved 02 Oct 2026, gatescambridge.org
- Gates Cambridge Trust, How to apply, retrieved 06 Oct 2026, gatescambridge.org
- Gates Cambridge Trust, Cambridge University Scholarship Deadlines (2027 entry), retrieved 02 Oct 2026, gatescambridge.org
- University of Oxford, Clarendon Fund, retrieved 02 Oct 2026, ox.ac.uk
- Rhodes Trust, The Rhodes Scholarships for India (2027 round), retrieved 02 Oct 2026, rhodeshouse.ox.ac.uk
- University of Oxford, Felix Scholarships, retrieved 06 Oct 2026, ox.ac.uk
- University of Reading, Felix Scholarships, retrieved 02 Oct 2026, reading.ac.uk
- The University of Manchester, Information for students from India (Sept 2027 entry), retrieved 02 Oct 2026, manchester.ac.uk
- University of Leeds, Masters International Excellence Scholarships (Sept 2027 entry), retrieved 02 Oct 2026, leeds.ac.uk
- University of Sheffield, International Postgraduate Scholarship 2027 (2027), retrieved 02 Oct 2026, sheffield.ac.uk
- Lancaster University, Postgraduate India Scholarship (2027 entry), retrieved 02 Oct 2026, lancaster.ac.uk
- Lancaster University, Scholarships and Bursaries (2027 entry), retrieved 02 Oct 2026, lancaster.ac.uk
- University of Glasgow, World Changers Glasgow Scholarship (Sept 2027 entry), retrieved 02 Oct 2026, gla.ac.uk
- University of Edinburgh, India Merit Scholarship (2027/28), retrieved 02 Oct 2026, registryservices.ed.ac.uk
- University of Exeter, Postgraduate Taught Scholarships 2026/27 for India (2026/27), retrieved 02 Oct 2026, exeter.ac.uk
- University of Birmingham, Postgraduate High Fliers Scholarship for January 2027 (Jan 2027), retrieved 02 Oct 2026, birmingham.ac.uk
- University of York, International and EU tuition fee rates 2027/28 (2027/28), retrieved 02 Oct 2026, york.ac.uk
- Charles Wallace India Trust, Scholarships, retrieved 02 Oct 2026, charleswallaceindiatrust.com
- J N Tata Endowment, The J N Tata Endowment (Fall 2026), retrieved 02 Oct 2026, jntataendowment.org
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