The British Council GREAT Scholarship 2026

The GREAT Scholarships are a program launched by the British Council in collaboration with the UK government’s GREAT Britain Campaign and participating UK higher education institutions, aimed at supporting international students pursuing postgraduate studies in the UK. They provide financial assistance for one-year taught master’s programs across various subjects, helping to make UK education more accessible to students from select countries.

Each award is worth £10,000, which is deducted directly from tuition fees for one academic year. The scholarship can only be used towards tuition fees. GREAT Scholarships offer students from 18 countries the opportunity to have the award towards their tuition fees for a wide range of one-year taught postgraduate courses. In the 2026-27 academic year, over 140 scholarships are offered by over 60 universities across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

The program targets students from 18 countries, including Bangladesh, China, Egypt, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Thailand, Turkey, and Vietnam (among others). Specific scholarships may be tailored to certain nationalities at participating universities. Some universities, like the University of Nottingham or the University of Manchester, offer targeted GREAT Scholarships for specific countries (e.g., China, Indonesia, Kenya, Bangladesh, Ghana, Pakistan).

Each scholarship is jointly funded by the UK government’s GREAT Britain Campaign and the British Council with participating UK higher education institutions. The GREAT Scholarships program was launched in 2018 to support the UK government’s GREAT Britain Campaign, which itself began in 2012 following the London Olympics to promote the UK globally in areas like education, tourism, and business.

The program was initiated by the British Council, a UK public body focused on cultural relations and educational opportunities, in collaboration with the UK government’s Department for International Trade (now part of the Department for Business and Trade) through the GREAT Britain Campaign. The British Council manages the overall program, while individual universities handle applications and selections.

As part of the programme, all GREAT scholars will be invited to a welcome event in the first semester and a networking event in the second semester. UK HEIs will award the scholarships by 30 June 2026. On each country’s dedicated page, applicants will find a comprehensive list of universities that provide scholarships to students from that specific nation, details of which courses are covered by these scholarships, and how to apply.

Location:

United Kingdom

Benefits

• Award of £10,000, applied towards tuition fees

• Access to world-class UK higher education at top universities

• Opportunities to learn alongside diverse peers from around the world

• Prestigious status as a GREAT scholar

Eligibilities

• be a passport holder and a permanent resident of a GREAT target country

• have an undergraduate degree that will enable entry onto a postgraduate programme at one of the UK universities
  universities taking part in the GREAT Scholarships campaign

• meet the English language requirement and other academic requirements of the UK HEI

• establish an engagement with the UK as a scholar, through personal and academic fulfillment.

Eligible Regions: Open for Bangladesh, China, Egypt, France, Ghana, Greece, India, Indonesia, Italy, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Spain, Thailand, Turkey and Vietnam