Nothing beats having an internationally recognized postgraduate certificate, especially for African students. It is an investment to up your skill and stand a better chance at succeeding in your career.
For most African students who graduated from probably less recognized universities, complementing your first degree with a UK postgraduate degree will go a long way in opening doors for you.
Speaking of postgraduate scholarships, this article highlights seven opportunities you should consider in the UK for the 2023-2024 academic session. The deadlines for these scholarships are in 2023, giving you plenty of time to plan. Ensure you visit the university’s website for further information on how to apply.
Fully funded scholarships are extremely competitive and they depend on your area of research. However, students who have demonstrated high performance in their undergrad can easily get partly funded scholarships in the UK.
Edge Hill University:
Edge Hill University, is located in Lancashire near Liverpool and Manchester.
The University has an award-winning 160-acre campus in Lancashire. Since 1885, the university has been delivering higher education to create opportunity through knowledge.
The university is giving scholarships worth £3,000 towards the tuition fees of a postgraduate, MBA or MRes programme and will be awarded based on academic merit. Successful students will be notified on their offer letter, with the award being made at the discretion of the University.
The deadline for application is 1 June 2023. Find out more from the scholarship page.
Nottingham Trent University:
Nottingham Trent is a university with over 3,550 students from over 150 countries.
The institution is awarding scholarship worth from £4,000 to 50% of your tuition fee and are awarded competitively to students who show a strong commitment to their studies.
Apply or get more information here.
Terms and Conditions for International Scholarships
- To be eligible for an International Scholarship, you must have an offer of a place on an eligible course (excluding SQE Preparation courses, PGDL, LPC, BTC, Distance Learning and Exchange students) and be classed as an overseas student for tuition fee purposes (‘international student’).
- Nottingham Trent International College (NTIC) progression students are not eligible to apply for an International Scholarship.
- Please do not submit a scholarship application before you have applied to study at the University. You must have an offer of a place on an eligible course with NTU (Nottingham Trent University) before submitting a scholarship application.
- These scholarships are for international applicants only. Please visit ntu.ac.uk/scholarships for information on scholarships for UK students.
- If you are studying at an institution that has a partnership agreement with NTU you are eligible for either an NTU International Scholarship or the Partner Progression Discount (the higher amount would be deducted from your tuition fees).
- International students who receive sponsorship (your tuition fees are being paid by an employer, government, or funding body in full or in part) are not eligible to apply for an International Scholarship.
- Applicants may only apply for an International Scholarship once per academic year per offer of a place on a qualifying course.
- You are only eligible for an International Scholarship if you are an international student and are due to enrol on the first year of a course (or year 2 or 3 of an undergraduate course in the case of advanced entry) in September 2022, or January 2023. International students enrolled before January 2022 and due to progress onto the second, third or fourth year of their course of study in September 2022 or January 2023, or repeating the first year of study, are not eligible to apply.
- Applicants must be an international student starting a new course of study at NTU. We cannot consider applications from international students who were enrolled on a course of study at NTU before January 2022, unless they are progressing onto a new course of study at NTU.
- Applications received after the 16:00 GMT (4 pm) deadline will automatically be considered for the next available deadline. For example, application forms submitted after the first deadline and before the second deadline, will be considered for the second deadline.
- Applications received after the final deadline will not be considered.
- This application form is for eligible undergraduate and postgraduate taught courses only. Please do not use this form to apply for research funding.
- International students who make an application for an International Scholarship and are not successful will automatically be considered for any other scholarship for which they may be eligible.
- If you are awarded any other scholarship, bursary and / or tuition fee reduction from NTU you will only be eligible for the higher award (except for candidates who are awarded a Sport Scholarship).
- If you have an offer of a place to study on a one-year full-time, or two-year part-time Masters course, or a two-year full-time Masters course which incorporates a year-long work placement, and you are awarded any other scholarship, bursary and / or tuition fee reduction from NTU you will only be eligible for the higher award (except for candidates who are awarded a Sport Scholarship).
- If you have been made an offer of a place to study on a one year full-time or two year part-time postgraduate Masters course, or a two year full-time postgraduate Masters course which incorporates a year-long work placement and you are awarded any other scholarship, bursary and / or tuition fee reduction from NTU you will only be eligible for the higher award (except for candidates who are awarded a Sport Scholarship).
- If you are awarded an Undergraduate Scholarship with an award for each year of study, the award will be deducted from your tuition fee at the start of each year. You must successfully complete each year of the course to continue to receive this. Scholarships are not applied when a placement year is undertaken but will resume for your final year of study.
- The International Scholarship is not transferable and will not be awarded if you choose to transfer to a different course of study at NTU or if you defer your application to a different intake.
- Applicants will be informed whether they have (or have not) been awarded an International Scholarship (and of the value of the scholarship award if they have been awarded) within four weeks of the application deadline.
- The scholarship is applied to the tuition fee when an applicant accepts their scholarship offer/ and accepts and meets the conditions of their course offer/ and is eligible to enrol on the course.
- Scholarships are competitive and selection is based on the information provided on the scholarship application form. It is particularly important that you give your scholarship statement careful thought and preparation, and that you refer to the criteria provided.
- NTU’s decision in all matters relating to the scholarship is final.
- If your scholarship application is successful, we may ask you to become a student ambassador, or to appear in online and / or printed marketing materials for NTU. For example, providing a student profile and a photograph which may be used to promote NTU and NTU’s scholarship schemes and courses. Your name and course will be printed in the Scholarships Awards Celebration scheme. If you do not wish us to use your data in this manner, please notify us by email at international@ntu.ac.uk.
- If you fail to complete your course and choose to retake the course or undertake another eligible course, any scholarship you were awarded will not be applicable.
- If you fail to complete your course and the scholarship was not applied (i.e. you did not pay the tuition fees, or the tuition fees were reimbursed) then subject to the eligibility criteria, the scholarship may be available should you choose to retake the course or undertake another eligible course. You must re-apply for the scholarship.
- If you withdraw from your course while owing a proportion of your tuition fees to NTU, application of the scholarship shall be at the discretion of NTU and the scholarship may be withdrawn.
- Eligible postgraduate Masters courses are Master level awards (full-time and part-time only). Excluded courses: LLM BTC, LLM LPC (full-time, part-time, distance learning), LLM (distance learning), MSc Human Resource Management (part-time), MA International Relations (Online), MA Social Work, MA Advanced Social Work Practice, MA Careers Leaders Training Programme, MArch Architecture, MSc Biomedical Science (flexible learning). Please contact ntu.scholarships@ntu.ac.uk to confirm whether your course is eligible for the scheme. NTU reserve the right to exclude other courses at their discretion. Errors and omissions accepted.
- NTU may close scholarship applications to courses at any time where that course is full and closed to new applications.
Sheffield Hallam University:
Sheffield Hallam has about 34,000 students from 113 countries.
The institution offers automatic awards of between £2,000 to £3,000 to eligible applicants.
Applicants who require further assistance can apply for;
- Chevening Scholarship Scheme – for international full-time taught postgraduate applicants (excluding USA and EU)
- Commonwealth Shared Scholarship Scheme (CSSS) – for applicants from commonwealth countries for selected full-time taught postgraduate courses
- Performance Athlete Support Programme – financial assistance and support package for talented athletes
- GREAT Scholarships – scholarships in partnership with the British Council
University of Manchester:
Manchester University was established in 1824. The university has over 12,500 international students who speak more than 200 languages.
The University of Manchester, in partnership with the British Council and the GREAT Britain Campaign, is offering eight scholarships to students in Bangladesh, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Thailand and Turkey who’re applying for one-year master’s programmes and will enrol in the 2023/24 academic year.
The GREAT Scholarships 2023 programme, launched by the British Council and 49 UK universities, supports postgraduate students accessing world-class UK higher education opportunities.
The programme offers a minimum of £10,000 to students pursuing a one-year postgraduate programme in the UK. Students can apply for courses in a range of subjects at the 49 institutions across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Scholarships are available for the following courses: intercultural communication, health data science, and pollution environmental control.
Find out more here.
University of Bath:
The University of Bath, is one of the top ten universities in the UK with over 130 countries represented within the student body.
Alongside Study UK and the GREAT Britain campaign, University of Bath is offering six scholarships to master’s students studying full time, taught programmes.
One Nigerian will win the full tuition scholarship is available across the Faculty of Engineering & Design, Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences, Faculty of Science and School of Management*.
The final scholarship amount will be dependent upon the tuition fee of the course.
The award is available for all full-time, postgraduate taught master’s courses* and can only be used as a tuition fee waiver.
Eligibility criteria
To apply for this GREAT scholarship, you must:
- hold an offer from the University of Bath for a full-time, postgraduate taught master’s course* starting in 2023
- be a national of Nigeria and hold a Nigerian passport
- have international tuition fee status
University of Southampton:
The University of Southampton is a world-class research and education institution. There are over 30% of students are international, representing more than 135 different nations.
Various fully funded and partly funded scholarship are available at this university including Petroleum Technology Development Fund scholarships for Nigerians only and other CommonWealth and GREAT scholarships.
Get more information and Apply here.
University of Edinburgh:
The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is one of the UK’s six ancient universities.
This year, in partnership with the British Council and the GREAT Britain Campaign, the University of Edinburgh will be offering five scholarships for students, across China, India, Nigeria, Turkey and Vietnam applying for an eligible one-year postgraduate Masters programme for the 2023-2024 academic session.
One Nigerian applicant will win a fully funded scholarship to study a master’s programs in Electrical power Engineering.
Criteria
The scholarship will be awarded on the basis of academic merit. Candidates must have, or expect to obtain, the overseas equivalent of a UK first-class honours degree.
Students are to apply here by 31 March 2023.
