Eligibility

You must meet the eligibility criteria to apply:

• Applicants must qualify academically for admission to the University of Edinburgh for a relevant degree programme listed. You will generally need to have achieved the equivalent of a UK Second Class (Upper) Bachelor’s (Hons) degree or higher. 

Find out more about the postgraduate entry requirements for your country:

• Applicants will have faced significant barriers to education (social, financial, personal, practical or health-related).
• Applicants must have graduated from an undergraduate study and must have a degree certificate and official final transcript to upload alongside their application by 8 November 2024.
• Applicants must be residents and citizens or hold refugee status in a sub-Saharan African country.
• Applicants must have faced barriers to education and in their early career.
• Applicants must demonstrate a track record of leadership and service within their community.
• Applicants must demonstrate experience, or at least ambition, in making a meaningful impact in addressing the climate crisis
• Applicants must be 35 or under the year the programme commences. Therefore, for the 2025/26 academic year, we accept applications from those born on or after 1 January 1990. Anyone born in 1989 and prior is not eligible. 
• Applicants should not have previously completed a postgraduate degree and should not be enrolled (or apply to enrol) at a separate university whilst on the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program scholarship.
• If applying for the online Masters programme: Applicants should not have previously completed a postgraduate degree and should not be enrolled (or applying to enrol) at a separate university.
• If applying for the online Postgraduate Diploma: Applicants can either have an undergraduate or Masters degree from a Sub-Saharan African university (provided they will graduate from either degree by 8 November 2024). If you have a Masters degree, our admissions team will review your first degree (undergraduate) to meet the postgraduate diploma entry requirement. The Program will review your Masters degree transcripts to confirm your university’s graduation date and location. 
• We particularly welcome applications from female scholars, scholars from refugee and displaced backgrounds, and scholars with disabilities (see FAQs below for further information)