Scholarships at SOAS Universidad de Londres

The Commonwealth Shared Scholarship Scheme is a joint initiative between the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission with funding from UK Department of International Development (DFID) and UK universities, to support scholarships for students from developing Commonwealth countries who would not otherwise be able to study in the United Kingdom.

The Commission funds the cost of tuition fees (at overseas rate), return airfares and other allowances and SOAS supports the student stipend for the award holders.

There are 3 scholarships available for the 2025/26 academic year under the following eligible programmes:

• Full-time MSc Global Development

• Full-time MSc Migration, Mobility and Development

Eligible programmes

• Full-time MSc Global Development

• Full-time MSc Migration, Mobility and Development

• Part-time programmes are not eligible

Candidate criteria

In order to be eligible, applicants should:

• Have applied to study at SOAS and hold an unconditional offer by the final shortlisting stage in early January

• Be a citizen of or have been granted refugee status by an eligible Commonwealth country, or be a British Protected Person

• Be permanently resident in an eligible Commonwealth country

• Be available to start their academic studies in the UK by the start of the UK academic year in September 2025

• By September 2025, hold a first degree of at least upper second-class (2:1) honours standard, or a lower second-class degree (2:2) and a relevant postgraduate qualification (usually a Master’s degree)

• Not have studied or worked for one (academic) year or more in a high-income country

• Be unable to afford to study in the UK university without this Scholarship

• Have provided all supporting documentation in the required format as outlined on the Commonwealth Shared Scholarship website

Deadline date : 12 December 2024.

SOAS University of London is offering five Global Excellence Scholarships to students from selected countries with excellent academic performance applying for postgraduate-taught courses. 

The Global Excellence Scholarships are designed to recognise and support applicants, of selected countries, who have achieved excellence across a variety of different platforms – ranging from academia to extra-curricular activities and volunteering. 

Each scholarship is valued at £8,000 and acts as a fee waiver.

Eligibility Criteria

• Must hold an offer for a full-time Postgraduate Taught (on campus) programme.

• Must be a passport holder of one of the following countries: Turkey, Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Indonesia.

• Must be an overseas fee-paying student.

• Minimum UK upper second-class (2:1) or international equivalent.

• The NLUD-SOAS Joint LLM/MA in Environmental Justice in South Asia and the Shiv Nadar IoE-SOAS Joint MA Global Urban Sociology programmes are not eligible for this scholarship.

Please note, if you have applied for a 2-year Master’s, the scholarship will be eligible towards the first year of tuition fees.

Application deadline 

• The deadline for the first round of scholarships is the 30 April 2025 BST+23:59.

• The deadline for the second round of scholarships is the 30 June 2025 BST+ 23:59.

The SOAS Master’s Scholarships (International) are designed to recognise and award overseas applicants with outstanding academic performance.

SOAS awards over 60 International Master’s Scholarships each year to students from over 30 countries. Each scholarship is valued at £5,000 and acts as a fee waiver. 

Eligibility criteria

• Must hold an offer for a full-time Postgraduate Taught (on campus) programme.

• Must be an overseas fee-paying student.

• Minimum UK upper second-class (2:1) or international equivalent.

• The NLUD-SOAS Joint LLM/MA in Environmental Justice in South Asia and the Shiv Nadar IoE-SOAS Joint MA Global Urban Sociology programmes are not eligible for this scholarship.

Application deadline

This scholarship is now open for 2025/2026.

• The deadline for the first round of scholarships is the 28 February 2025 GMT+00:00.

• The deadline for the second round of scholarships is the 30 April 2025 BST+23:59.

• The deadline for the third round of scholarships is the 30 June 2025 BST+23:59.

SOAS will be awarding 10 International Academic Excellence Scholarships worth £5,000 to students from around the world. 

Eligibility criteria

• You must have applied for an undergraduate degree for September 2025 (the scholarship selection panel will only be able to award a scholarship to those applicants who have received an offer by 31 May 2025).

• You must be an overseas fee-paying student.

• Have achieved or be predicted to achieve AAB in UK A Levels or the international equivalent.