Scholarships at University of Manchester

The University of Manchester is proud to offer more than 330 awards to international students commencing their studies in September 2025. The total value of scholarships offered will be over £4.5 million, and awards will be open to students applying for undergraduate and master’s degrees

Undergraduate awards 

The University of Manchester is proud to offer more than 100 merit-based undergraduate scholarships of £24,000 (£8,000 per year over three years) to international students from a selection of countries across the globe.  

The Bicentenary Global Futures Scholarships for Africa are open to applicants domiciled in the following countries: Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and Zimbabwe. 

Award details

Each award comprises £8,000 for the first year of study with a further £8,000 awarded in the second and third years of study, conditional on attainment of 60% average in each year. Scholarships will be awarded in the form of a discount on published overseas tuition fees. 

Students must be taking one of the following qualifications: A-level, IB, South African Matric (NSC or IEB), NCUK International Foundation Year. 

Scholarships will be awarded based on academic excellence, predicted grades and your responses to questions in the online application form, which will be emailed to all eligible offer holders. 

Awardees will be selected based on academic merit, but we will endeavour to achieve a balance in the allocation of the awards by gender, domicile, qualification type and course of study. 

Eligibility criteria

• Applications will be considered from international fee-paying students domiciled in the following countries: Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and Zimbabwe.

• To be considered as domiciled in these countries, applicants must have predominantly resided there during the last three years.

• We consider your permanent country of residence to be the country in which you are ordinarily resident, not a country where you are only living for the purpose of full-time education.

• Applicants must be applying for direct first-year entry in 2025 and have, or be working towards one of the following qualifications:Application deadlines will vary by the qualification taken. 

  • A-levels

  • IB Diploma

  • South African NSC or IEB

  • NCUK International Foundation Year

• Scholarship applications from A Level, IB and NCUK IFY students will be assessed on any previous examinations, predicted grades in the above-listed qualifications and the strength of the personal statement.

• Scholarships for South African NSC/IEB students will be based upon grades attained following the results release in January 2025 and the strength of the personal statement.

• Applicants must be self-funded (not sponsored).

• Applicants for Medicine (MBChB), Dentistry (BDS), Architecture, or any courses with an integrated foundation year are not eligible for the award.

• Applicants must have selected The University of Manchester as their FIRM UCAS choice by 23 May 2025.

• Applicants who have previously studied in the UK are not eligible for the award.

• The award applies only to full-time courses of study delivered at The University of Manchester’s UK campus in Manchester. Applicants for blended and distance learning programmes are not eligible for the award.

• The application form will be emailed automatically to all eligible applicants shortly after an academic offer is made. Forms will not be emailed until December 2024.

Master’s awards 

The University of Manchester is proud to offer more than 230 merit-based master’s scholarships to prospective international students from a range of countries across the globe.  

The value of Global Futures Scholarships for African students is £15,000; scholarships will be awarded in the form of a discount on published overseas tuition fees.  

Within Africa, the awards are open to applicants domiciled in the following countries:  Botswana, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and Zimbabwe. 

Award details

These scholarships of £15,000 will be awarded based on academic excellence and the quality of your responses in the online application form. 

Scholarships will be awarded in the form of a discount on published overseas tuition fees. 

Summary of eligibility criteria

• Applications will be considered from international fee-paying students domiciled in the following countries: Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Egypt, Botswana, Zimbabwe and South Africa.

• To be considered as domiciled in these countries applicants must have predominantly resided there during the last three years.

• We consider your permanent country of residence to be the country in which you are ordinarily resident, not a country where you are only living for the purpose of full-time education.

• Applicants for the African awards must hold an unconditional offer to study a full-time on-campus master’s course at The University of Manchester for a course starting in September 2025 by 24 April 2025 and must submit an online scholarship application form by the same deadline. The application form will be emailed to all eligible offer-holders.

• Applicants will be considered for the award based on academic merit and the quality of their scholarship application, but we will endeavour to achieve a balance by gender, domicile and course in the allocation of the awards.

• Applicants must be self-funded (not sponsored).

• Applicants for MBA, MPhil, Master of Architecture (MArch), Architecture and Urbanism (MA), Master of Landscape Architecture (MLA), Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE), Clinical Medicine and Dentistry degrees are not eligible for the award. Some ‘Master’s by Research’ courses are also ineligible.

• Applicants who have studied a Bachelor’s degree outside of Africa are not eligible for the award.

• Applicants for blended and distance learning programmes are not eligible for the award.