Scholarships at University of Essex

If you're an international student from a member state of the African Union and are self-funding your postgraduate studies you could be eligible for a scholarship, paid as a discount on your tuition fee. Awards will be made based on grades obtained in your undergraduate degree, so all applications for relevant courses will automatically be considered.

Terms and conditions 

You will also be considered for this award if you are ordinarily resident in an African country above and you either (1) have a degree from a recognised UK university, other than the University of Essex, with a 2:1 or above; or (2) an equivalent qualification (as defined by our qualification equivalence guidance from any of the following countries: 

Eligibility

• These scholarships are restricted to students who are overseas fee payers and are entirely selffunded*.

• Students must be ordinarily resident (see below for the definition of ordinary residence) in a member state of the African Union.

• Students must have been awarded an undergraduate degree (this includes integrated Masters degrees) with the grade specified or above. We are not able to consider students on the basis of a postgraduate qualification that they hold (other than an integrated Masters) A higher Masters grade cannot be taken to compensate for a lower Bachelors grade;

• Students must register at the University of Essex in October 2025 or January 2026 for the first year of a full-time Masters course in academic year 2025-26 only, leading to the degree of:

•  MA, MSc, LLM, MFA, MPP, MBM

• These scholarships may be awarded to students who have completed relevant university studies in one of the specified countries above.

• The award cannot be held in conjunction with any other University of Essex scholarships. Students who are eligible for this award and are joining Essex through a link agreement, which includes a discounted fee, will receive whichever award is greater in value.

• This scholarship is available for the first year of taught Masters study at Essex only;

• Successful students should be available for promotional activities.

Students receiving a repayable loan to fund their studies will be considered as self-funded.

Students who are not eligible

The following students are NOT eligible for the PG Africa Regional Scholarship regardless of meeting the above criteria:

• Students studying a course that is normally delivered wholly online by Kaplan Open Learning, operating as University of Essex Online.

• Courses below Masters level: including, but not limited to, Graduate Certificates, Graduate Diplomas, Postgraduate Certificates (PGCerts), and Postgraduate Diplomas (PGDips).

• Students awarded the scholarship who defer entry to following academic years will be ineligible to receive the award and will be considered in line with the terms and conditions that apply in the new proposed year of entry.

• Students who are fully or partly sponsored by their government or other external agency and are not required to make any repayments (this does not include VISA sponsorship).

• University of Essex International College (UEIC) Pathway students.

• Students who are assessed as paying home tuition fees.

• Current students whose first year of Postgraduate study at the University of Essex, was prior to academic year 2025-26.

• Students transferring from another higher education institution.