Scholarships to Study in UK for Indian Students: 2027 Entry Dates & Amounts

  • Last Updated on: October 15, 2026 by
  • Shiva Sai Bejawada
Scholarships to Study in UK for Indian Students
Scholarships to Study in UK for Indian Students

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
Shiva Sai Bejawada
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
Sridhar Kongara
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 Scroll here ↓ UK scholarships for Indian students open for 2027 entry Scroll here ↓ What fully funded and partial UK scholarships cover Scroll here ↓ Eligibility criteria for UK scholarships for Indian students Scroll here ↓ How to apply: separate form, nominator or automatic on offer Scroll here ↓ Frequently Asked Questions Scroll here ↓

Which UK scholarship fits your profile

Your profileBest-fit awardsNext actionBy when
Master’s applicantCommonwealth Master’s if you can’t fund the UK without it; Manchester, Leeds, Sheffield, Lancaster, GlasgowFile the CSC form and meet the Ministry of Education’s own deadline; apply for your course nowCSC 20 Oct 2026 (ministry’s date may be earlier); Leeds 28 Feb 2027; Manchester 25 Apr 2027
First-class graduate aiming at Oxford or CambridgeClarendon, Gates Cambridge; Felix (2027 terms pending)Apply for the course by its funding deadline; for Gates, add the four essays and referenceGates: 8 Dec 2026 or 6 Jan 2027; Oxford: your course’s Dec or Jan deadline
PhD applicantGates Cambridge, Clarendon; not Commonwealth PhD Scholarships, which exclude India for 2027/28Apply to the course by its funding deadlineGates: 8 Dec 2026 or 6 Jan 2027
Class 12 undergraduate applicantManchester 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 formManchester 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.

AwardLevelAmount (GBP + INR)DurationHow you get itStatus and next date
Commonwealth Master’s ScholarshipsMaster’sFull tuition plus £1,712 a month (₹2.18 lakh), £2,000 in London (₹2.55 lakh)Whole courseForm plus Ministry of Education nominationOpen; CSC form by 20 Oct 2026, 8:30 pm IST
Gates Cambridge ScholarshipMaster’s or PhDUniversity fees plus £23,152 maintenance a year at the 2026-27 rate (₹29.53 lakh)Whole courseGates section of your Cambridge application: four short essays and a separate referenceGates Cambridge deadline 8 Dec 2026 or 6 Jan 2027, by course
Clarendon Fund (Oxford)Master’s or PhDCourse fees plus a living grantWhole courseAutomatic with your Oxford applicationApply 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 discountSeparate form after offer; self-funded onlyForm by 25 Apr 2027
Leeds Masters International Excellence ScholarshipsMaster’s£3,000, £6,000 or £16,000 discount (₹3.83, 7.65 or 20.41 lakh)One-off discountSeparate form; 2:1 minimumRound 1 closes 28 Feb 2027; round 2 closes 16 May 2027
Sheffield International Postgraduate ScholarshipMaster’s£7,000 tuition reduction (₹8.93 lakh)One-off discountAutomatic once you acceptAccept offer by 4pm UK time (8:30 pm IST), 6 Jul 2027
Lancaster Postgraduate India ScholarshipTaught master’s£10,000 fee reduction (₹12.75 lakh)One-off discountAutomatic once you acceptOpen for 2027 entry
World Changers Glasgow ScholarshipMaster’s£5,000 tuition discount (₹6.38 lakh)One-off discountAutomatic on offerOpen for Sept 2027 and Jan 2028 entry
Edinburgh India Merit ScholarshipTaught master’s, listed programmes£5,000 off tuition (₹6.38 lakh)First year onlyAutomatic on offerOpen for 2027/28 entry
Exeter Postgraduate Taught Scholarship for IndiaTaught master’s, listed programmes, January 2027 entry only£7,500 first-year discount (₹9.57 lakh)First year onlyAutomatic on offerApply for the course by 1 Dec 2026
Birmingham Postgraduate High Fliers ScholarshipMaster’s, January 2027 entry only£5,000 tuition discount (₹6.38 lakh)One-off discountAutomatic on offerAccept 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:

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.

  1. 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.
  2. Course applications in parallel. Every university award needs an offer first, so apply for courses now rather than waiting on a scholarship result.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.

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Frequently Asked Questions

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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