Valerie Graeme Smith Scholarship in the Arts

Value of award (per year)

1 award of £3,600, paid towards tuition fees.

Duration of award

One year

At what stage of my course application can I apply for this scholarship?

Please apply for the award after you have submitted your application for a place at St Andrews. You do not need to wait until you have received an offer of a place before applying for the award. 

Additional criteria

You must have applied for a taught postgraduate masters course (MLitt, MRes, MSc, MPP) within the Faculty of Arts.

In support of your application you will be asked to upload the following supporting documents:

• One personal reference and one academic or professional reference (two references in total). These can be in addition to your course application references, but must be uploaded before the deadline. Where possible your references should support the two or more criteria you meet from the list above. Please refer to the guidance below, or contact pgscholarships@st-andrews.ac.uk if you have any queries.
• University transcript(s), including interim transcripts for any degrees pending.

Student financial information

For this scholarship, you do not need to provide details about your household income and financial circumstances (and you can choose to opt out of that section of the application form), unless you wish to also be considered for other scholarships based on financial need.

References

You are required to provide one academic reference and one personal reference.

The academic reference may be the same as one of the academic references submitted with your study application. If you do not have access to those references, instead please upload a holding document (e.g. Word) with the name of the referee. The reference will then be uploaded by us after you have submitted the scholarship application.

The personal reference should be written by someone who knows you well (but not a family member) who can vouch for either your non-academic qualities that you write about in the application form, or your financial situation (if that is relevant to your application). For example, this could be an academic advisor who is aware of your personal attributes, a current or former employer, or a senior staff member in an organisation where you have volunteered.

If your referee(s) would prefer to send the reference(s) directly to us, please ask them to email the reference to pgscholarships@st-andrews.ac.uk, and to include your name and the name of the scholarship for which it is intended, before the scholarship deadline date. When you apply for the scholarship, in place of the reference, please upload a holding document with the referee's name, and a note that the reference will be sent directly by them. The document will then be added after you have submitted the application, as long as we receive it by the application deadline.

Please note: We do not recommend using an academic reference in place of the personal reference, as this may not meet the requirements of the scholarship and may be detrimental to your application. Please only do this if you are sure that it can serve as a personal reference, e.g. if it is written by an academic who is familiar with and refers specifically to your non-academic qualities.

How to apply

1. Apply for your chosen course at the University St Andrews: Masters (MSc, MLitt, MRes, MPP). Your course should meet the eligibility criteria for this scholarship (see above). After submitting your course application, you must allow up to two working days to receive login details for the My Application portal.
2. When you have received your login details, apply for the scholarship by logging into My Application, follow the links to Scholarships and Funding and then search for St Leonard's Masters Scholarship (International) in the Scholarships and funding catalogue.

By completing St Leonard's Masters Scholarship (International) application form, you will be automatically considered for the Valerie Graeme Smith Scholarship in the Arts if you meet the criteria.

For this scholarship, you do not need to provide details about your household income and financial circumstances (and you can choose to opt out of that section of the application form), unless you wish to also be considered for other scholarships based on financial need.

Scholarship application form guidance

Terms and conditions

• If full funding for tuition fees has been secured through alternate means, all or part of the Valerie Graeme Smith Scholarship in the Arts award may be converted to maintenance in some circumstances.

Please read the University of St Andrews scholarships terms and conditions

If applying to this scholarship, please be aware of the following requirements:

• Core personal details may be passed to the benefactors of your scholarship. Your name, the name of your town of origin, school/college and subject of study will be passed to the donor of the scholarship with your consent.
• Attendance at Development related scholarship events (including invitations to meet the donors) is strongly encouraged. You will be invited to these as appropriate by the Development Office.
• Submission of reports throughout the period of scholarship support. You are required to submit an Introductory Biography at the start of your award period and the Development Office will contact you towards the end of the academic session for a report on your time at St Andrews to share with the donors of your award. This will be an annual cycle for the duration of your award.

When will I know the outcome?

The outcome of your scholarship application will be available on the My Application portal by late March 2026. Follow the links to Scholarships and Funding and go to View or continue my funding applications to see your application status.

If you are successful, you will also receive an award letter.