St Leonards Masters Scholarship (Home students)

Value of award (per year)

Home students (Home tuition fee status, ordinarily resident in Scotland, England, Northern Ireland or Wales. Includes EU with settled or pre-settled status).

*Household income categories marked with an asterisk in the table above are under review for the 2027-2028 academic year entry.

The above award values are intended to supplement government funding. Applicants can also apply for a postgraduate masters loan.

Employability allowance

Eligible recipients of the scholarship will have access to funding support for opportunities which increase individual employability, such as internships, placements, conference attendance, additional qualifications. The funding cannot be used for opportunities directly connected to the recipient's course. Funding is flexible but must be approved by June.

Duration of award

One year

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

Apply 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 full-time postgraduate Masters programme (see full details below). Some scholarships may be available only for specific programmes.

Your programme start date must be one of the following:

• August 2027 - Master of Public Policy (MPP) students only
• September 2027
• January 2028

Selection is based on academic excellence, wider achievement and financial need. Please articulate or provide evidence for all the following that apply to you in the application form. All aspects of your scholarship application will be taken into consideration.

Applicants must meet one or more of the following criteria. If you identify with any of the circumstances below, you are encouraged to highlight this in your application:

• be care experienced. Provide local council confirmation letter or talk to an Admissions representative.
• have a lower than average household income.
• have previously received needs-based funding.
• have been part of a widening access initiative, such as a Sutton Trust Summer School.
• come from a neighbourhood which is classed as a socio-economically disadvantaged area.
• be able to provide evidence of a first class grade point average (GPA).
• have a proven record of academic excellence and show future leadership potential.
• be able to demonstrate non-academic achievement or leadership qualities, in such areas as music, theatre, sport or civic duties.
• have a physical, unseen or learning disability.
• be part of a minority group.

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 transcripts, including interim transcripts for any degrees pending.
• Evidence of household income (such as P60, salary, tax certificate); see Household Income information below for further details. You must include this to be considered for needs-based awards. Alternatively, upload a word document with a note confirming that you do not wish to be considered.
• Sport leadership applicants must provide a sport CV and video or video link before the deadline. Please email sportscholarships@st-andrews.ac.uk. Sport leadership applicants should be competing in their sport at an elite level (at international or world level and representing their home nation).
• Music excellence applicants must provide a music CV and video link or audio file before the deadline. Please email musicadmissions@st-andrews.ac.uk.

Household income

If you wish to be considered for scholarships based on financial need, you will be required to enter in your gross, annual household income in GBP, along with an exchange rate (if required), and contextual details about your financial circumstances. You will also be required to upload evidence of the income figure you have provided.

Please read the Financial funding tool and calculate household income guide where you can find helpful advice on how to calculate your household income. The guide will assist you in completing the financial funding tool in My Application when applying for means-tested scholarships based on financial need, and also provides further guidance about which documentation to upload.

If you would prefer not to disclose any information about your income or financial circumstances, please see the advice in the application form. You will not be eligible for any financial needs-based scholarships if you do not provide this information.

Sources for socio-economically disadvantaged areas: Scotland, England, London.

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, please upload a holding document, for example in Word, with the referee's name. 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 or referees would prefer to send the reference or references directly to the Scholarships Team, 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 the Scholarships Team receive it by the application deadline.

Please note: The Scholarships Team 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) or Postgraduate research (MSc(Res), MSt(Res), MPhil, MFA). Your course should meet the eligibility criteria for this scholarship (see above). After submitting your course application, you must allow up to three 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 (UK) in the Scholarships and funding catalogue.

Scholarship application form guidance

Terms and conditions

• All St Leonard's Masters sports scholars are expected to agree and follow the conditions stated in the Sports Scholar Agreement. Failure to meet the conditions can result in the loss of the scholarship. See the Saints Sport website for more details.
• Reserved University accommodation is not funded. Applicants are expected to fund their accommodation from the maintenance part of the scholarship. Applicants will still need to apply for University accommodation. If the applicant does not apply for accommodation within the timescale specified in the award email or they do not meet the conditions of the course, the reservation may be lost.
• Awardees who take up the employability allowance are required to meet with Careers Centre staff to access their employability funding. The allowance must be used during the Masters programme and awardees must remain registered to receive funding.
• The tuition fee element of scholarships awarded through the St Leonard's Masters scheme cannot be held in conjunction with any additional tuition fee scholarships or discounts, with the exception of the Graduate Discount. If a St Leonard's Masters award recipient is eligible to receive the Graduate Discount, this discount will be applied to the remaining tuition fee balance.

Please read the University of St Andrews scholarships terms and conditions

If you wish to be considered for donor-funded awards, 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 May 2027. 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.