Needless to say, Oxford, Cambridge and UCL are few of the most prestigious universities in the UK and even the world. They offer a wide range of opportunities and experiences and great academic scope and depth. This also means that they are very expensive, for a middle-class Indian person.
Fortunately, these universities also offer multiple scholarship programs and bursaries that will help pay for college. The UK offers a very inclusive financial aid program, but it is directed towards citizens of the UK only, and non UK citizens have to pay for university on their own. That being said, these universities also offer scholarships to international students as well, and also accept the external scholarships won by the students.
In this article, I will be discussing all the scholarship programs offered by these universities for international students (specifically Indian students). All the information in this blog is also available on the university websites, but my job is to give you useful information, in a condensed form, and that is what I’m going to do. I have also linked the scholarship pages for each of the three universities at the end of the article :)
Now, before I list the scholarships offered, I should first explain what scholarships and bursaries are and what is the difference between them.
Scholarships are financial awards that have been earned by the student because of their academic or extra curricular excellence. These are usually awards that entail a large sum of money that is for tuition, accommodation, etc. Universities usually offer only 1- 5 of these awards because they are worth a lot of money. Naturally, scholarships are very difficult to win because the competition for them is huge.
Bursaries on the other hand are smaller packages that contain a smaller amount meant for day to day essentials like groceries, academic books, house rent (if you’re in independent accommodation) and such. They are essentially financial grants that are given based on your neediness. Universities usually give 200-250 of these awards to students. Most of the time, these awards are given by a certain department of the university to their respective students.
Now, lets get to the programs offered by the three listed universities.
UCL
1) Deny’s Holland Scholarship
Value : 9,000 pounds per year
Criteria : Financial need
Eligibility : All students - UK, EU, overseas
Level : Undergraduate
2) UPCH Progression Scholarship
Value : 5000 pounds per year
Criteria : Academic Merit
Eligibility : All students - UK, EU, overseas
Level : Undergraduate
3) UPSCE Progression Scholarship
Value : 5000 pounds per year
Criteria : Academic Merit
Eligibility : All students - UK, EU, overseas
Level : Undergraduate
OXFORD UNIVERSITY
OXFORD SCHOLARSHIPS
1) Reach Oxford scholarship
Value : Course fees, annual grant towards living costs and one return air fare per year.
Criteria : Academic merit, financial need, special qualities (leadership skills),
willingness to work for social causes.
Eligibility : Must be a citizen of one of the following countries :
Afghanistan; Albania; Algeria; Angola; Antigua and Barbuda; Argentina; Armenia; Azerbaijan; Bangladesh; Belarus; Belize; Benin; Bhutan; Bolivia; Bosnia and Herzegovina; Botswana; Brazil; Burkina Faso; Burundi; Cambodia; Cameroon; Cape Verde; Central African Rep.; Chad; China; Colombia; Comoros; Congo, Dem. Rep.; Congo, Rep.; Cook Islands; Costa Rica; Côte d’Ivoire; Cuba; Djibouti; Dominica; Dominican Republic; Ecuador; Egypt; El Salvador; Equatorial Guinea; Eritrea; Eswatini; Ethiopia; Fiji; Gabon; Gambia; Georgia; Ghana; Grenada; Guatemala; Guinea; Guinea-Bissau; Guyana; Haiti; Honduras; India; Indonesia; Iran; Iraq; Jamaica; Jordan; Kazakhstan; Kenya; Kiribati; Korea, Dem. People's Rep.; Kosovo; Kyrgyz Rep.; Laos; Lebanon; Lesotho; Liberia; Libya; Madagascar; Malawi; Malaysia; Maldives; Mali; Marshall Islands; Mauritania; Mauritius; Mexico; Micronesia, Federated States; Moldova; Mongolia; Montenegro; Montserrat; Morocco; Mozambique; Myanmar; Namibia; Nauru; Nepal; Nicaragua; Niger; Nigeria; Niue; North Macedonia; Pakistan; Palau; Panama; Papua New Guinea; Paraguay; Peru; Philippines; Rwanda; Saint Helena; Samoa; São Tomé and Príncipe; Senegal; Serbia; Sierra Leone; Solomon Islands; Somalia; South Africa; South Sudan; Sri Lanka; St. Lucia; St. Vincent and Grenadines; Sudan; Suriname; Syria; Tajikistan; Tanzania; Thailand; Timor-Leste; Togo; Tokelau; Tonga; Tunisia; Turkey; Turkmenistan; Tuvalu; Uganda; Ukraine; Uzbekistan; Vanuatu; Venezuela; Vietnam; Wallis and Futuna; West Bank and Gaza Strip; Yemen; Zambia; Zimbabwe.
Level : Undergraduate
2) Simon and June Li Undergraduate Scholarship
Value : Course fees and a grant towards living costs.
Criteria : Scholarships will be awarded on the basis of academic merit and financial need.
Eligibility : Must be a citizen of one of the following countries :
Bahrain, Bangladesh, Brunei Darussalam, China, Hong Kong SAR, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Oman, Papua New Guinea, Pakistan, Philippines, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Syria, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Vietnam, Yemen
Level : Undergraduate
EXTERNAL SCHOLARSHIP FOR INDIAN STUDENTS
Oxford and Cambridge Society of India Scholarships
Value :
OCSI scholarship(s) worth INR 200,000 (Rupees Two Lacs) each of the following two scholarships: OCSI K.K. Luthra Memorial Scholarship and OCSI Anita Banerji Memorial Scholarship, tenable at either the University of Cambridge or the University of Oxford.
One scholarship worth INR 100,000 (Rupees One Lac) tenable only at Emmanuel College, University of Cambridge, from Emmanuel College Cambridge (India) Trust.
One scholarship worth INR 100,000 (Rupees One Lac) tenable only at St. Hilda's College, Oxford, from Ritika Dhamija.
Criteria : Based on Academic Excellence
Eligibility :
Must be a citizen of India
Must be ordinarily resident in India
Must be not more than 30 years of age on 1 September of the year of application for the award
Must be a graduate of an Indian university if applying to a second undergraduate or for a post graduate course (applicants who are expected to graduate in the year of the award are also eligible to apply for the awards), or be from a school in India if applying for an undergraduate course.
Must have applied for and secured admission to study a full-time course at the University of Cambridge or the University of Oxford.
Candidates are required to present proof of admission before grant of the scholarship, and proof of having taken up residence at Cambridge or Oxford before the scholarships funds are released.
Level :
Research leading to the PhD degree
One-year post-graduate courses (e.g. MPhil, LLM, Diploma, CASM or Part III Maths, MBA, PGCE etc.)
Taught and research based Masters programmes of various durations (including M. Sc., engineering, medicine)
Second Bachelors degree as an Affiliated Student/Senior Status
Bachelors degree programme
OXFORD COLLEGES - BURSARIES
Oxford university has many colleges that offer their own Bursaries.
One example is of Trinity College, Oxford University.
Trinity college, like most other Oxford colleges offers a wide range of bursaries for both undergraduate as well as postgraduate level of study.
The link to the website showing the bursaries offered in trinity college is :
NOTE : Trinity College is only an example, most other colleges also have their own bursaries, check them out too. The websites are listed in the official Oxford University website.
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY
CAMBRIDGE SCHOLARSHIPS
1) Cambridge Trust Scholarship
Value : Contribution towards University tuition fee
Criteria : Academic excellence
Eligibility : Must be a citizen of India, and should have been offered admission by Cambridge university
Level : Undergraduate
2) Manmohan Singh Cambridge Scholarship
Value : Variable, will be declared when scholarship recipients are chosen
Criteria : Academic performance, overall performance and involvement in extra curricular activities
Eligibility : Must be a citizen of India, and should have been offered admission by Cambridge university
Level : Undergraduate
EXTERNAL SCHOLARSHIP FOR INDIAN STUDENTS
For information on external scholarships, see the same under Oxford university.
CAMBRIDGE COLLEGES - BURSARIES AND SCHOLARSHIPS
Like Oxford university, Cambridge university also has various colleges that offer their own scholarships and bursaries.
For more information on them, visit official website for Cambridge university :
Links
SIMON AND JUNE LI - https://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/fees-and-funding/oxford-support/simon-and-june-li-scholarship
REACH OXFORD - https://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/fees-and-funding/oxford-support/reach-oxford-scholarship
EXTERNAL SCHOLARSHIPS -
CAMBRIDGE SCHOLARSHIPS - https://www.cambridgetrust.org/scholarships/?country=India°ree=Undergraduate&subject=all&college=all&submit=Search
NOTE : This article has been highly requested, so I decided to write on this topic. From now, most of the articles will be based on the requests of the readers.
If you have any comments or requests, do tell me personally through :
Instagram : @university.fever
Thank you for reading this article, I hope it was helpful :)