Scholarship terms and conditions

You must read the scholarship terms and conditions carefully before you apply. These are the terms and conditions for the scholarship in the academic year 2025/2026.

1. Nature and duration of award 

The scholarship is awarded for a 1 year full-time on-campus Master’s programme and is subject to the award holder’s satisfactory engagement with their academic programme as well as the activities of the Education Beyond Borders Programme. 

The scholarship only covers costs for individuals in Edinburgh or within commutable distance (up to 60 miles) and does not provide financial or practical support for family members and other dependents. This means that the scholarship does not include support for living or accommodation costs for anyone other than the successful candidate. 

Successful candidates cannot transfer this scholarship to another education institution and cannot defer the award to a later academic year.

You will need a UK bank account before receiving this award, as you will be required to provide details for this account to receive your funding.  

2. Value of award

The award covers part or full UK Home Tuition Fees plus a full or partial stipend which is in line with the UKRI minimum level. For academic year 2026/27, the stipend is up to the value of £20,780 (UKRI rate). Please note that the amount you receive will be decided upon following an assessment of your individual circumstances which is based on your immigration status and therefore, eligibility for governmental student finance.

If you have asylum seeker status and you are in receipt of Home Office support, it may be more secure for you to remain on this and receive funding from Education Beyond Borders towards tuition fees plus study and travel costs only. (This applies if you are based in Edinburgh or within a commutable distance). We will discuss this with you on an individual basis. 

Find out guidance about staying on home office support as scholarship recipient: 

Asylum seeker support guidance from Student Action for Refugees (STAR) 

Immigration status change

If your immigration status is still ‘asylum seeker’ on 31 May 2026, your funding structure will follow that of an asylum seeker. This means that even if you were to get your refugee status after 31 May 2026, you would still receive the full scholarship amount for tuition fees and stipend. 

However, if your immigration status has changed to refugee or humanitarian protection by 31 May 2026, you will be classified as such for the purpose of funding.

Read about the funding structures

3. Responsibility for applying for government financial support 

This section is not applicable to those with asylum seeker status.  

In addition to your scholarship, you are expected to apply for and receive all UK government student financial support that is available to you, usually in the form of a student loan for part of your tuition fees and living costs.  

Funding is awarded by the government funding bodies in the part of the UK in which an applicant normally lives, not where they are planning to study (for example, Scotland). If an applicant normally lives in: 

Your eligibility for UK government financial support depends on several factors, such as the level of programme at which you are studying, your residency status, your immigration status and whether you have studied in higher education before. Other factors may also be taken into consideration.  

If you are eligible for government support, then your scholarship will cover the difference between the amount you are eligible to receive from the governmental student finance agency, and the University of Edinburgh tuition fees/UKRI living expenses rate of £20,780. It is your responsibility to check how much your tuition fees will cost and how much you are eligible to receive from the UK government funding body for both tuition fees and living costs. 

See how much your tuition fees will cost

If you choose not to apply for student finance for any reason (religious or personal), it is your responsibility to inform the Education Beyond Borders team and outline how you intend to cover the amount that student finance would have provided for your tuition fees/living expenses. Failure to do so may result in the termination of your scholarship.   

More information about funding and financial support

4. Changes in legal immigration status 

Changes in your legal immigration status will not affect your status as a recipient of this scholarship. However, you must promptly notify the Education Beyond Borders team of any changes to your immigration status and provide evidence of your new status for our records.

5. Residence in Edinburgh 

All successful candidates are expected to live in Edinburgh or within a commutable distance of up to 60 miles for the duration of their academic programme.

If you are not currently a resident in Edinburgh or within a commutable distance of 60 miles, you are expected to relocate prior to the commencement of the 2025/2026 academic year and to provide satisfactory proof of address to the Education Beyond Borders team. 

Failure to do so may result in the termination of your scholarship. 

6. Academic programme 

Scholarship offers are conditional on your acceptance of an offer for admission to an eligible academic programme at the University of Edinburgh. If your offer from your chosen course at the University of Edinburgh is conditional on English language proficiency, we will provide a test for you free of charge.

You are required to maintain an attendance rate of at least 70% throughout the academic year and to engage satisfactorily with your programme. If there are any circumstances which might prevent you from maintaining the minimum attendance rate, it is your responsibility to raise this with the Education Beyond Borders team and your assigned student advisor in your school as soon as possible.

The Education Beyond Borders team reserves the right to check your engagement and progress through EUCLID (University of Edinburgh student record system) and/or by contacting your course director and/or student advisor.

7. Communication 

Email is the University of Edinburgh’s official channel of communication. It is your responsibility to read and acknowledge all emails from the Education Beyond Borders team. Post-matriculation the Education Beyond Borders team will use your University of Edinburgh email address as your primary email.  

It is also important for you to note that all communications will be logged and shared across the Education Beyond Borders team where necessary to ensure the safety and wellbeing of students and staff.

8. Respect for colleagues, staff and students

All successful candidates are expected to conduct themselves in an appropriate manner in their day-to-day activities, including in their dealings with members of the Education Beyond Borders scholarship cohort and staff.  

It is also important to note that as a member of the student community, you are bound by the Code of Student Conduct and expected to act respectfully towards students and staff at the University. 

9. Termination of scholarship 

This scholarship award may be terminated on any of the following grounds: 

  1. Failure to maintain a minimum of a 70% attendance rate on any of the courses on your degree programme
  1. Failure to engage satisfactorily with your academic programme and the Education Beyond Borders activities
  1. Failure to move to Edinburgh or live within a commutable distance of up to 60 miles for the duration of the programme
  1. Withdrawal from your Master’s programme
  1. Changing to a programme of study which is not eligible for the scholarship.

If you fail to enclose correct information about yourself at the time of your application linked to the eligibility criteria, your offer for scholarship will be withdrawn. 

10. Data protection 

All personal data provided will be processed in accordance with:

University’s Data Protection Policies 

UK Data Protection/GDPR regulations

Funding and financial support 

Funding is awarded by the authorities in the part of the UK in which you normally live, not where you are planning to study (i.e. Scotland). For an overview of the scholarship funding and to find out about any other government financial support you may be eligible for, visit our funding and financial support page: 

Funding and financial support

Questions about the terms and conditions 

Please get in touch with the Education Beyond Borders team if you need to check or clarify any of our terms and conditions. 

Contact us at educationbeyondborders@ed.ac.uk

Before you apply – checklist

The checklist will help you understand and apply for the scholarship. Please ensure that you have read through each page in the checklist before you apply.

This article was published on