Scholarships FAQs

What is a scholarship?

A scholarship is a competitive and prestigious award given to students who meet certain criteria. At Leeds we have two types:

Automatic scholarships based on grades (handled by specific faculties). 
Non-automatic, means-tested scholarships based on a range of criteria including household income (handled by our undergraduate scholarships team).

The scholarships based on income will require you to submit an application before you enter the University. When selecting students for a scholarship based on income, we also take into account factors such as:

personal circumstances
educational background

The scholarships based on income include on-course opportunities through the Plus Programme: peer support, a welcome day, social events, skills workshops and dedicated staff support. They are designed to encourage you to make the most of your time at Leeds. The scholarships are limited in number and very competitive; submitting your form by the deadline and meeting the eligibility criteria will not guarantee that you receive an award.

The faculty based automatic scholarships do not normally require you to submit an application; they are offered in certain subject areas (based on grades) and you will be informed by the admissions team for your school if you qualify after registering at Leeds. 

Please note, if you defer entry for a year, you will generally need to apply for financial support applicable to your year of entry.

Eligibility

I'm an NHS-funded student — am I eligible to apply for a scholarship?

Medicine and dentistry students (who are currently partially funded by the NHS) can apply for a means-tested scholarship. If they are successful, they will receive it during the first three years of their degree.

I already have experience of higher education – am I still able to apply for a scholarship?

Scholarships based on income are targeted at students who have not yet entered higher education. However, foundation year students currently studying at level 0 are eligible to apply, if they are progressing onto level one study.

If you have left a degree level course at another institution within your first year of study, you will also be considered, as long as you are eligible to receive full tuition fee funding from the Student Loans Company for your course at Leeds.

I'm intending to study as a part-time student; am I eligible to apply ?

Unfortunately, part time students are not eligible. This is because all our scholarships based on income require the recipients to be paying 100% of the full UK undergraduate fees (£9,250 for students starting in 2024/25; fee waivers from within the University exempted).

The automatic scholarships based on grades all have different criteria; please see the terms and conditions for each scholarship for further information.

I'm an international student — am I eligible to apply?

No, unfortunately the scholarships based on income are only for students paying full UK undergraduate tuition fees.

There may be scholarships available based on your academic achievement.

Applying

I haven't applied for means-tested government funding (student loan) — does that matter?

You can still apply for a scholarship before you have applied for means-tested government funding, however, our funding team needs the final assessment of your household income provided by the Student Loans Company before it can confirm if you are eligible or to make a payment

For 2024 entry, your income assessment, carried out by the Student Loans Company (SLC), must be finalised by 18 October 2024, with all required evidence submitted and received to SLC by 4 October 2024. This is so that the University is able to confirm you are eligible to receive any scholarship you have been provisionally awarded. Failure to meet these deadlines could result in any scholarship offer being withdrawn.

The automatic scholarships based on grades all have different criteria; please see the terms and conditions for each scholarship for further information.

Do I need to have an offer to study at Leeds before I can apply for a scholarship?

You can apply for a scholarship based on household income before you have an offer to study at Leeds.

Our pre-entry application deadlines are early so we can try to give you a provisional decision as quickly as possible. However we realise that not everyone will have received an offer decision at this point.

If you are subsequently not offered a place at Leeds, your scholarship application will simply be withdrawn. The important thing is that you submit your scholarship application form by the relevant deadline.

Please see the terms and conditions for the academic achievement scholarships for details of eligibility criteria.

I didn't realise that these scholarships existed; will late applications be accepted?

Late applications cannot be accepted for scholarships based on household income. The application form will be on our webpages until 12pm, 31 May 2024 to give you plenty of time to apply.

Receiving the funding

My financial assessment by the Student Loans Company (SLC) is delayed. How will this affect my scholarship?

It will depend on your circumstances, but we recommend you contact the funding team as soon as you are aware of any delay. The funding team can provide assistance on a one-to-one basis by contacting the SLC with you. For 2024 entry, your income assessment, carried out by the Student Loans Company (SLC), must be finalised by 18 October 2024, with all required evidence submitted and received to SLC by 4 October 2024. This is so that the University is able to confirm you are eligible to receive any scholarship you have been provisionally awarded.

Please note: Information relating to scholarships does change from time to time. Whilst the University endeavours to keep this information as up to date as possible, it cannot be held liable for any inaccuracies.