Scholarships at Durham University

We are delighted to offer a number of Global Sports Awards - for European / International fee paying undergraduate students in 2026/27.   The awards will support the tuition fee costs of candidates who demonstrate the ability to compete in high performance sport.  Preference will be given to our target markets of USA, Canada and South Africa but applicants from other countries can be considered. 

Amount

Up to a maximum of £5,000 per year subject to sport performance level

Programmes

Global Sport Awards are available for most Durham University undergraduate programmes.

The following programmes will be excluded from the Global Sport Awards:

• Foundation programmes

• All Law programmes

Eligibility

Applicants must

• have been assessed by Durham University as European or International fee status.

• demonstrate the ability to compete in high performance sport

• agree to play an active part in University or College sport at Durham University

Deadlines

• 1st round selection: midnight (GMT) 30 January 2026

• 2nd round selection: midnight (GMT) 15 May 2026

This year, in partnership with the British Council and the GREAT Britain Campaign, Durham University is offering three tuition fee scholarships worth £15,000 each to students in France, Ghana and Mexico applying for eligible postgraduate taught courses for 2026.

This scholarship scheme is part of the 'GREAT Scholarships 2026' campaign, which has been launched by the British Council together with UK universities to support more students to access excellent UK higher education opportunities.

Number of Awards Available and Amount of Each Award

• 1x £15,000 scholarship towards tuition fee for students from France

• 1x £15,000 scholarship towards tuition fee for students from Ghana 

• 1x £15,000 scholarship towards tuition fee for students from Mexico

Eligibility

You can apply for a Durham University - GREAT France Scholarship if you:

• are a resident of France, hold a French passport, and

• classed as an overseas student for fee purposes, self-financing, and

• hold the equivalent of a first-class honours degree, and

• hold an unconditional offer to start a full-time Taught Masters degree in September 2026

You can apply for a Durham University - GREAT Ghana Scholarship if you:

• are a resident of Ghana, hold a Ghanaian passport, and

• classed as an overseas student for fee purposes, self-financing, and

• hold the equivalent of a first-class honours degree, and

• hold an unconditional offer to start a full-time Taught Masters degree in September 2026

You can apply for a Durham University - GREAT Mexico Scholarship if you:

• are a resident of Mexico, hold a Mexican passport, and

• classed as an overseas student for fee purposes, self-financing, and

• hold the equivalent of a first-class honours degree, and

• hold an unconditional offer to start a full-time Taught Masters degree in September 2026

Durham University is pleased to announce the introduction of the Khodorkovsky Scholarships which are specifically designed to support citizens of Russia wishing to undertake a second degree at Durham University.

It is the intention of the scholarship programme that Scholars make a meaningful contribution to the development of Russia and promote east/west understanding.

Amount

Full payment of annual tuition fees

Postgraduate annual stipend for living costs (UKRI rates 2026/27 £21,805)

Undergraduate annual stipend to be confirmed

Immigration Health Surcharge and Visa application fee (at the standard rates)

Eligibility

• You must be a citizen of Russia;

• You must be ‘ordinarily resident’ in the Russian Federation. Your country of  ordinary residence is the country in which you are normally resident, out of choice and for a settled purpose, apart from temporary or occasional absences. It is not a country in which you are studying, working or living temporarily. Accordingly, by way of example,  where a student has temporarily relocated outside of Russia, after the start of the Russian/Ukraine conflict, his place of ordinary resident remains Russia and should be so indicated in the application form;

• You must have undertaken a first degree at a Russian University in any subject.  Preference will be given to students who have not been enrolled in a degree course outside of Russia prior to their application to Durham University;

• Be assessed for tuition fees by the University on an Overseas fees basis;

• Demonstrate exceptional academic merit and/or potential;

• Recipients should confirm that they hope to return to Russia, for at least one year after completion of their studies, when circumstances arise making it appropriate for such return, to make a meaningful contribution to the development of Russia and to promote east/west understanding;

• Applicants undertaking online programmes are not eligible.

• Deferring the scholarship after acceptance is not permitted. If you are deferring your academic application to the 2027/28 entry, you would be considered alongside eligible 2027/28 entry applications. 

The Inspiring Excellence Postgraduate Scholarship is an invitation to International Students to achieve excellence at Durham.

Each scholarship is a competitive award worth up to £10,000 in tuition fee discounts towards the original tuition fee for a postgraduate programme starting in September 2026.

The selection will be based on an individual’s achievements and potential for positive impact upon completion of a postgraduate degree at Durham University.

The scholarships are available to all new international students to Durham who meet the eligibility criteria.

Amount

The scholarship is offered in two award types:

• Inspiring Excellence £5K - £5,000 in tuition fee discount

• Inspiring Excellence £10K - £10,000 in tuition fee discount

Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible for Durham Inspiring Excellence Postgraduate Scholarship, applicants must:

• have applied to a one-year, full-time (in-person) taught MSc, MA, LLM or MDS qualification (MBA, MSW programmes and MA in Theology and Ministry are excluded).

• start postgraduate studies at Durham University in September 2026.

• be classed as an overseas student for fee-paying purposes.

• self-funded and not already in receipt of any other scholarship, funding or sponsorship,

• meet or exceed the entry requirements for the programme applied for at Durham University

Deadlines

• 1st round selection: midnight (GMT) 16 January 2026

• 2nd round selection: midnight (GMT) 29 May 2026

The Inspiring Excellence Undergraduate Scholarship is an invitation to International Students to achieve excellence at Durham.

Each scholarship is a competitive award worth up to £15,000 - £30,000 in tuition fee discounts towards the original tuition fee for an undergraduate programme starting in September 2026.

The selection will be based on an individual’s achievements and potential for positive impact upon completion of an undergraduate degree at Durham University.

The scholarships are available to all new international students to Durham who meet the eligibility criteria.

Amount

The scholarship is offered in two award types:

• Inspiring Excellence £5k - up to £15,000 for three-year programmes (£5,000 per year)

• Inspiring Excellence £10k - up to £30,000 for three-year programmes (£10,000 per year) 

Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible for Durham Inspiring Excellence Undergraduate Scholarship, applicants must:

• have applied to full-time in-person undergraduate programme at Durham University (BA (Hons) in Theology, Ministry and Mission and BA (Hons) in Theology and Religion are excluded).

• have a valid UCAS ID.

• start undergraduate studies at Durham University in September 2026.

• be classed as an overseas student for fee-paying purposes.

• self-funded and not already be in receipt of any other scholarship, funding or sponsorship, 

• meet or exceed the entry requirements for the programme applied for at Durham University.

• confirm Durham University as your Firm choice by the UCAS reply deadline.

Deadlines

• 1st round selection: midnight (GMT) 30 January 2026

• 2nd round selection: midnight (GMT) 15 May 2026

Gratefully supported by the British Council, Durham University is delighted to announce five fully funded scholarships for female students from wider Europe interested in pursuing master’s studies in the 2026/27 academic year.

British Council Women in STEM Scholarships cover

• Full payment of tuition fees

• 12 months stipend

• A return economy class flight

• Visa application fee 

• Insurance 

• NHS surcharge

• Other study related costs

Eligibility

The eligible nationalities and academic programmes for 2026/27 entry are as below:

Eligible Country List

• Kazakhstan

• Uzbekistan

• Turkey

• Azerbaijan

• Albania

• Bosnia and Herzegovina

• Kosovo

• Montenegro

• North Macedonia

• Serbia

Eligible Programmes

• Master of Data Science in Bioinformatics and Biological Modelling

• Master of Science Biotechnology

• Master of Data Science in Health

• Master of Science in Environmental Sustainability

• Master of Science in Scientific Computing and Data Analysis (Environmental and Geographic Information Systems)

• Master of Science in Climate Change, Environmental Processes and Sustainable Futures

• Master of Science in Climate, Risk and Society

• Master of Science in Renewable and Sustainable Energy

• Master of Science in Electronic Engineering

• Master of Science in Plant Biotechnology and Enterprise

• Master of Data Science with AI Applications

• Master of Science in Advanced Computer Science (Artificial Intelligence)

• Master of Science in Scientific Computing and Data Analysis: AI Infrastructure Platforms

• Master of Science in Advanced Mechanical Engineering

• Master of Science in Scientific Computing and Data Analysis(Artificial Intelligence for Engineering)

• Master of Science in Environmental Hazards and Risk