Imperial College London Scholarships: How to Apply

Imperial College London scholarships can cover anything from a £1,000 departmental bursary to a fully funded PhD with a stipend. They are open to undergraduates, master’s students and doctoral researchers, and a good number are available to international applicants. If you are an international student, including one from Africa, hoping to study science, engineering, medicine or business in London, this guide will help you work out what you may qualify for and how to apply. Imperial has no single “Imperial scholarship”. It runs hundreds of separate awards, each with its own rules, so the real skill is finding the right ones early.

I pulled this guide from Imperial’s own scholarship search and its Imperial Inspires pages, checked in early October 2026. Funding details change every cycle, so treat the figures here as a guide and confirm them on the official page before you apply.

What Imperial College London scholarships actually are

Imperial lists its funding in a searchable database on its website. At the time of writing, the search tool showed 288 results. That number includes closed awards and awards for several academic years (2025/26, 2026/27 and 2027/28), so it overstates what is open to you right now.

The awards fall into a few broad groups:

Central scholarships, such as Imperial Inspires, the Imperial Excellence Scholarship and the President’s PhD Scholarships.
Departmental awards, such as the Department of Aeronautics MSc Scholarship or the EEE MSc Studentships.
Business School awards, including the African Future Leader award and several “Future Leaders” scholarships.
Partner and external schemes, such as GREAT, Commonwealth, DAAD and Fulbright-Imperial.
Industry and donor-funded awards, such as the CMA CGM Excellence Fund, J.P. Morgan and Formula 1 engineering scholarships.

Many awards have a Home or Overseas label. This refers to your tuition fee status, and it matters more than almost anything else. A large share of the undergraduate bursaries are Home-only, which means they are for students who pay the UK fee rate. International readers should filter for Overseas awards from the start.

Key benefits: what the funding covers

Awards differ a lot in size and shape. These examples come from the official listings and show the range:

Imperial Inspires: £15,000 per year for each year of the course, for international students paying the Overseas rate. Imperial says it is offering at least 300 of these for 2027 entry.
International Baccalaureate Excellence Scholarships: £5,000 per year for the duration of studies (Overseas, undergraduate).
GREAT Scholarship: £15,000 towards tuition fees (Overseas, taught master’s and some research master’s).
Imperial Excellence Scholarship: up to £15,000 towards tuition fees in the 2026/27 listing.
Commonwealth Shared Scholarship: full tuition fees and a stipend, plus allowances and an economy airfare.
President’s PhD Scholarships: full tuition fees, a stipend and a consumables budget.
Jack Hirst Scholarship: full tuition fees at the Overseas rate and a stipend equivalent to the annual UKRI rate.
Chevening-Bseisu: full tuition fees.
African Future Leader (MBA): up to £20,000 towards tuition fees.

Look closely at what each award pays for. A tuition discount and a full scholarship with a living stipend are very different things for your budget. £15,000 is a meaningful contribution, but London living costs and visa financial requirements still apply, so plan how you will cover the gap.

Who the scholarships are for: undergraduate, master’s and PhD

Undergraduate scholarships

International undergraduates have fewer awards than postgraduates, but there are real options:

Imperial Inspires applies to all full-time, on-campus undergraduate courses for the 2027 entry round.
IB Excellence Scholarships reward strong International Baccalaureate results.
Departmental and donor awards exist, but many are Home-only. Always check the “Available to” line.

Postgraduate taught (master’s) scholarships

This is where the choice is widest. Master’s students can look at Imperial Inspires (for selected full-time, on-campus courses), the Imperial Excellence Scholarship, MSc Academic Potential Scholarships, departmental awards, the GREAT scheme, Commonwealth scholarships and many more. The Business School has its own set of leadership-focused awards.

Doctoral (PhD) scholarships

Doctoral funding usually comes as a studentship, meaning fees plus a stipend. Examples include the President’s PhD Scholarships, department-specific PhD scholarships and project-based studentships that name a supervisor and research topic. Some PhD awards are open to Home and Overseas applicants. Others cover Home fees only, and international applicants then have to fund the difference. Read the award value line carefully.

Imperial College London scholarships eligibility criteria

There is no single list of rules, but these requirements come up again and again.

1. Fee status
Check whether the award is open to Home, Overseas or both. Imperial decides your fee status, so find out yours early.

2. Mode of study
Most central awards require full-time study. Imperial Inspires, for example, applies to full-time, on-campus courses. Online and part-time courses are generally excluded from Inspires.

3. Admission to Imperial
You usually have to apply for a place on a course first. Scholarship applications usually follow the admissions application rather than replacing it.

4. Academic merit and potential
Imperial describes Inspires assessment as based on academic merit and potential, shown through your application, admissions test and interview (undergraduate) or your application and interviews (postgraduate).

5. Course eligibility
Not every course offers every scholarship. For Inspires at postgraduate level, the official page lists excluded courses. For example, MRes courses, online courses and part-time courses are ineligible in the Faculty of Engineering and the Business School, and the Business School’s MBA programmes are also excluded.

6. Special criteria
Some awards target specific groups or backgrounds, such as women in finance, students of Black heritage, disabled students or students from particular countries. These are narrower, so read the criteria carefully before investing time.

A note on Africa-specific options. Imperial runs an Africa regional information page, and awards like African Future Leader exist for the MBA. For most other African applicants, the practical route is the general Overseas awards above, plus external schemes such as Chevening and Commonwealth that can be held at Imperial. Check each listing for nationality rules.

Step-by-step application process (with practical tips)

Because the process differs by award, here is the route for the flagship scheme, Imperial Inspires, for 2027 entry, followed by general steps for everything else.

Imperial Inspires: undergraduate route

Apply through UCAS by 13 January 2027. The MBBS (medicine) UCAS deadline is earlier, on 15 October 2026.
Watch for your scholarship invitation. If your course offers an Inspires scholarship and you meet the minimum entry and eligibility requirements, Imperial invites you to apply.
Submit the scholarship application by 23:59 UK time on 5 February 2027. This includes an optional 250-word statement on why you want to study at Imperial.
Wait for the outcome. Imperial says applicants will be told by email no later than 30 April 2027.

Tip: Don’t skip the “optional” statement. Imperial says it may be considered in the assessment, so a thoughtful 250 words is a cheap way to stand out.

Imperial Inspires: postgraduate taught route

Submit your admissions application through My Imperial before the deadline for your department and round.
Check for an invitation to apply for a scholarship.
Complete the scholarship application within two weeks of the invitation.
Receive your outcome by the end of the application round in which you applied.

There is no additional written task for postgraduate Inspires applicants, so your main application and any interview carry the weight.

Every other Imperial scholarship

Use the scholarship search and filter by degree level, department, tuition fee status, mode of study and “Only open scholarships.”
Open each award’s page and read the eligibility, deadline and how-to-apply sections in full.
Apply for your course first (or at the same time), because many awards depend on an offer or a submitted application.
Follow the award-specific process. Some are automatic, some need a form, and some route through an external body, like Chevening or Commonwealth.
Keep a tracker with each deadline, document and login.

Required documents checklist

Imperial does not publish one universal checklist, because requirements vary by award. Based on the listings and application pages, expect to prepare some or all of these:

A completed course application (UCAS for undergraduates, My Imperial for postgraduates)
Academic transcripts and degree or school certificates
Proof of English language ability, if required for your course
A personal statement or motivation statement
The optional 250-word Inspires statement (undergraduate)
References, where your course asks for them
A research proposal and supervisor details (PhD applicants)
Admissions test results, for undergraduate courses that require them
A passport or ID for fee status assessment
A CV, for some postgraduate and Business School awards

Treat this as a planning list rather than an official one. Where a scholarship page lists its own documents, follow that page.

Important deadlines and timeline

Deadlines are the part most likely to catch people out. The dates below are the ones published for the 2027 entry round at the time of writing.

Imperial Inspires, undergraduate

15 October 2026: UCAS deadline for MBBS
13 January 2027: UCAS deadline for other courses
5 February 2027: scholarship application deadline
By 30 April 2027: outcome notification

Imperial Inspires, postgraduate taught (admissions application deadlines for scholarship consideration)

6 January 2027: Chemical Engineering; Civil and Environmental Engineering; Electrical and Electronic Engineering; Materials; Mechanical Engineering; Chemistry; Mathematics; and all listed Faculty of Medicine departments
10 March 2027: Aeronautics; Bioengineering; Dyson School of Engineering; Life Sciences; Physics
28 April 2027: Computing; Centre for Environmental Policy; Imperial Business School
Earth Science and Engineering: awarded on a rolling basis in Round 2, so apply as soon as possible after applications opened on 30 September 2026

Other awards with published 2027 or 2027/28 dates

Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Scholarship (undergraduate, Home): 13 January 2027
Ash Music Scholarships (undergraduate): 28 February 2027
Department of Aeronautics MSc Scholarship: 1 March 2027
Jack Hirst Scholarship: 21 May 2027

What about awards with no date yet? Many 2027/28 listings, such as several Business School and Future Leaders scholarships, show no deadline yet. Last cycle’s pattern suggests many central master’s awards closed in mid-to-late May and many PhD awards closed between January and March. The Commonwealth Shared Scholarship closed in December in both of the last two cycles shown. Those are patterns, not promises, so check the page regularly.

Common mistakes to avoid and insider tips

Mistakes that cost applicants money

Applying to awards you can’t hold. Filtering for Overseas awards saves hours. Plenty of attractive listings are Home-only.
Missing the admissions deadline. For postgraduate Inspires, the scholarship consideration deadline is tied to your admissions application, not to a separate date.
Assuming “scholarship” means full funding. Many awards are partial. Plan your budget around the lowest realistic outcome.
Ignoring the invitation email. Postgraduate Inspires gives you two weeks from invitation. Check your spam folder and keep your contact details current.
Reading last year’s page. Each cycle has its own listing, with its own value and deadline.
Stopping at one application. Apply for every award you are eligible for.

Tips that improve your chances

Start in autumn. Applying early helps, particularly where rolling decisions apply, as in Earth Science and Engineering.
Make your academic case clear. Imperial says it looks for ability and commitment to your subject. Name specific modules, projects or research that show it.
Use the optional statement well. For the undergraduate 250 words, be specific about why Imperial and this course, not generic praise of the university.
Prepare for interviews. Both undergraduate and postgraduate assessments can include interviews, so revise your subject fundamentals.
Stack your funding. Combine an Imperial award with an external scheme where the rules allow it. Read each award’s terms on holding multiple awards.
Contact the department. If a listing is unclear, ask the funding contact named on the award page.

These tips are practical judgment, not official Imperial policy, so use them to prepare and rely on the official pages for rules.

Frequently asked questions

Are Imperial College London scholarships open to international students?
Yes, many are. Look for awards marked Overseas in the “Available to” line. Imperial Inspires is specifically for international students paying the Overseas fee rate.

How many Imperial Inspires scholarships are there?
For 2027 entry, Imperial says it is offering at least 300, worth £15,000 per year for each year of the course.

Do I need to apply to Imperial before I apply for a scholarship?
Usually, yes. For Imperial Inspires you submit your admissions application first and are then invited to apply for the scholarship.

Can I apply for more than one scholarship?
Often you can apply for several, but whether you can hold more than one depends on each award’s terms. Check before you accept.

Is there a scholarship for PhD students?
Yes. Examples include the President’s PhD Scholarships and various department and project studentships. Check whether the award covers Overseas fees or only Home fees.

Are part-time or online courses eligible for Imperial Inspires?
No. For postgraduate Inspires, the official page excludes online and part-time courses, and some other courses are excluded too.

Where do I find the most up-to-date list?
Use the scholarship search on Imperial’s website and turn on the “Only open scholarships” filter.

Conclusion: your next steps

Imperial College London scholarships reward early, well-researched applications. Here is a simple plan:

Work out your fee status and the course you want.
Filter Imperial’s scholarship search for your degree level, department and Overseas awards.
Write down every deadline in a tracker, starting with 6 January 2027 for many master’s departments and 13 January 2027 for most undergraduate UCAS applications.
Submit your admissions application, then respond quickly to any scholarship invitation.
Add external scholarships as a backup. See our guides to Chevening Scholarships, GREAT Scholarships and Clarendon Fund Scholarships for options that can sit alongside an Imperial offer.

Funding for a world-class degree is competitive, but a clear, early and honest application gives you a real chance. Good luck.

Apply HERE: Imperial College London scholarship

Author’s note: I put this guide together from Imperial’s published scholarship pages as they stood in early October 2026. Amounts, deadlines and eligibility rules change from year to year, and some awards close without notice. Please check the official Imperial College London website before you apply, and don’t rely on any third-party summary, including this one, for final decisions.