Scholarship deadlines and when to start

At a glance

Why they are so early

Large awards shortlist, interview and announce before the academic cycle begins, so that a successful applicant can still apply to universities and arrange a visa. Everything you need for them therefore has to exist before you have an offer.

• Test scores must already be in hand.
• References must be arranged before you have applied anywhere.
• Essays must be written without knowing which offer you will hold.
• Some awards require an offer, which creates a sequencing problem worth checking early.

Building the timeline backwards

1. Find the earliest deadline among the awards you intend to apply for.
2. Subtract six weeks for references.
3. Subtract the time to sit and receive a test score.
4. Subtract the weeks for certificates and transcripts.
5. That is your start date — and it is usually fourteen to sixteen months before the course.

If that date has already passed, the honest answer is often the next intake. A rushed application to a competitive award is time spent for very little, and the next cycle gives you the thing the application actually needs.

The awards we list

Showing 12 of 100, most searched first. Each one carries its own deadline, eligibility and the source we read it from.