What scholarships in the UK or Ireland can help cover my master's tuition and living expenses, and how much financial support can I expect?

The scholarship you should target depends on how much of the bill you need covered. Chevening and the Commonwealth Master's Scholarship are genuinely fully funded, whereas GREAT Scholarships and most university merit awards only reduce the tuition portion, which means you still need to plan separately for living costs even after winning one.

Fully Funded UK Routes

• Chevening Scholarship: covers tuition, a living stipend, travel and other allowances for a one year master's; applications for the 2027 to 2028 intake are open to Indian nationals until 6 October 2026.
• Commonwealth Master's Scholarship: usually fully funded, including tuition, airfare and a living allowance, administered through the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission.

Partial UK Funding and University Awards

GREAT Scholarships typically provide £10,000 toward tuition, though some universities top this up, such as the University of Bristol at £13,000. GREAT awards generally do not cover living costs, so you would still need to demonstrate the standard maintenance requirement, currently £1,570 a month outside London and £1,483 a month at some London institutions depending on the updated 2026 to 2027 figures. Many UK universities also run their own merit based awards ranging from roughly £3,000 to £15,000, which are usually applied directly against your tuition invoice.

Ireland's GOI IES Scholarship

The Government of Ireland International Education Scholarship, administered by the Higher Education Authority, provides a 10,000 euro stipend for one year of study plus a full tuition and registration fee waiver from the host institution. The scheme expects around 60 awards for the 2026 to 2027 cycle, so competition is real even though the funding is substantial. Ireland's immigration rules separately expect students to show access to roughly 10,000 euro for living costs for a typical academic year if they are not on a scholarship that already covers this.

This Information Is Also Available On

Chevening (India scholarship page), the British Council's Study UK GREAT Scholarships portal, and the Higher Education Authority's GOI IES call document.

My Advice

Apply to Chevening or Commonwealth early and treat GREAT or a university award as your realistic backup, not your plan A, since the fully funded routes are far more competitive. If you are set on Ireland, apply for GOI IES as soon as your course offer comes through, because the scholarship deadline typically falls well before the visa financial evidence deadline, and missing it means falling back on the full 10,000 euro living cost requirement out of pocket.