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Postgraduate Funding At Universities In Scotland
PLEASE NOTE: As a result of Brexit, from Autumn 2021 postgraduate students from the European Union studying at a UK university will be charged the same tuition fees as international students. Meanwhile, UK students studying their postgraduate course at a European university are also likely to incur higher tuition fees than their EU counterparts. It is advisable to check with the individual universities in the UK and Europe for up-to-date information on tuition fees for all postgraduate programs.
The Scottish Funding Council (SFC) is the national, strategic body responsible for funding teaching and learning provision in Scotland's colleges and universities. The SFC doesn't fund individual students as their funding goes directly to colleges and universities. Its funding currently contributes to Scotland's 19 universities and 26 colleges. The universities funded by the SFC are:
Abertay University, Edinburgh Napier University, Glasgow Caledonian University, Glasgow School of Art, Heriot-Watt University, Open University in Scotland, Queen Margaret University, Robert Gordon University, Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, SRUC, University of Aberdeen, University of Dundee, University of Edinburgh, University of Glasgow, University of St Andrews, University of Stirling, University of Strathclyde, University of the Highlands and Islands, University of the West of Scotland.
The SFC has invested £1.9 billion into Scotland’s universities and HE institutions, and is responsible for helping many postgraduate students achieve their dreams of studying a postgrad program in Scotland. However, the SFC doesn’t actually fund individual students – instead it makes the funding available to the Scottish universities, and these in turn offer SFC-funded places via the Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS).
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Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS)
The Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) is an agency of the Scottish Government that gives SFC-funded financial support to eligible students. It offers a universal student loan entitlement of £10,000 for all eligible taught postgraduate students. This comprises a tuition fee loan up to £5,500 for full-time students and living cost loan of £4,500 if you meet eligibility requirements and are under 60 years old on the first academic year of your course. Do note that the living cost loan is not available to part-time postgraduate students or EU nationals coming to Scotland to study.
To be eligible to apply to the SAAS for a SFC-funded scholarship, students need to fulfill one of the following criteria:
General residence criteria
- Be ordinarily resident (habitually and normally reside in) the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man for the three years immediately before the relevant date. If you are not a UK or other EU national, you must have ‘settled status’ in the UK (as set out in the Immigration Act 1971) on the relevant date, and
- Be ordinarily resident in Scotland on the relevant date. We will not treat you as being ordinarily resident in Scotland if your main purpose in coming here has been to receive full-time education and that you would have otherwise been living elsewhere.
The relevant dates are as follows:
- 1 August for courses that start between 1 August and 31 December
- 1 January for courses that start between 1 January and 31 March
- 1 April for courses that start between 1 April and 30 June
- 1 July for courses that start between 1 July and 31 July
Other criteria for UK nationals
If you are a UK national who does not meet the normal residence conditions, you may be eligible to apply for funding under one of the conditions below.
- UK returners — UK nationals and their family members who lived in Scotland before living elsewhere in the EU, EEA or Switzerland, who have returned to the UK
- UK nationals and their family members who live in the EU, EEA or Switzerland and who have never lived in the UK
- UK national who was born in and has spent the greater part of their life in the UK
- UK national or family member of such who is temporary absent from the UK and/or Scotland who is living outside the EU, EEA or Switzerland
UK returners — UK nationals and their family members who lived in Scotland before living elsewhere in the EU, EEA or Switzerland, who have returned to the UK.
To be eligible to apply for full support to study a course of higher education in the UK, you must meet the following conditions:
- Prior to living elsewhere in the EU, EEA or Switzerland you were a UK national or person with settled status in the UK or the family member (visit section 11 for more information) of a UK national, and
- You were settled* in the UK and ordinarily resident in Scotland for at least three years immediately before leaving the UK; and
- You have been ordinarily resident in the UK, Islands, Gibraltar or EEA/Switzerland during the three years immediately prior to the relevant date; and
- You are settled in the UK within the meaning of the Immigration Act* and you are ordinarily resident in the UK on the relevant date.
UK nationals or their family members who live in the EU, EEA or Switzerland and who have never lived in the UK.
If you are a UK national who lives in the EEA or Switzerland and you have never lived in the UK, visit the EU Tuition Fee Loan page for help with your eligibility to funding and instructions on how to apply.
To be eligible for funding as a UK national or the family member of a UK national who has never lived in the UK you must be starting your course prior to 31 July 2028.
Criteria EU nationals and their family members
To be eligible to apply for full support (tuition fees, loan, bursary and living-costs grants), you must:
- Be, on the relevant date, a EU national or the family member (visit section 11 for more information) of an EU national and you both have settled or pre-settled status through the EU Settlement Scheme; and
- Have been ordinarily resident in the UK for the three years immediately prior to the relevant date; and
- Be ordinarily resident in Scotland on the relevant date.
If you are claiming support as the family member of an EU national, both you and your EU family member must meet all the conditions above.
Criteria for Irish nationals
You may be eligible to apply for full support, if you meet the EU national full support conditions, visit section four for more information.
Please note you would not be required to have settled or pre-settled status through the EU Settlement Scheme, however if you are applying for funding as the family member (visit section 11 for more information) of an Irish national you would need to have a status through the EU Settlement Scheme.
Additionally, further information on funding as well as funding eligibility for EEA and Swiss nationals can be found on the SAAS website.
SFC-funded scholarships at Scottish universities
For those students that meet the eligibility requirements, universities in Scotland offer many SFC-funded scholarships including full payment of tuition fees to postgraduate students. For example, the University of Glasgow has SFC-funded scholarships available to students opting to study a wide variety of postgraduate programs from Animal Welfare Science to Playwriting and Dramaturgy. Meanwhile the University of Edinburgh offers repayable student support of up to £5,500 via the SAAS for a whole range of postgrad subjects from Accounting to Visual Communication. And the University of Dundee currently has 40+ fully funded taught postgraduate SFC-funded places. Check the website of the Scottish university that you are interested in studying at to see what SFC-funding opportunities they have for you.
5 steps to SFC-funding success
1. Choose your Scottish university.
2. Type ‘SAAS’ or ‘SFC Funding’ into the university website search box and click search.
3. Read the list of postgrad programs that are eligible for SAAS/SFC funding and choose the one that interests you.
4. Apply for the postgrad program.
5. Download a loan application form from the SAAS website and apply.
Student testimonial
Wojciech Borowski was a postgraduate student studying City Planning & Real Estate Development at the University of Glasgow. He says, “SFC funding made my dream of attending a postgraduate course in City Planning & Real Estate Development at University of Glasgow become reality so much easier.”
Further funding advice
If you meet the eligibility requirements to apply for an SFC-funded scholarship then you could be lucky enough to get all of your postgraduate tuition fees paid for. However if you don’t succeed with your application, or if you are from England, Northern Ireland, Wales or a country from outside of the European Union, there are thousands of other bursaries and scholarships available to you including the £500 Postgrad Solutions Study Bursaries.
Good luck in finding the funding you need, and for those applying for an SFC-funded scholarship we wish you the best of luck!
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