International Masters Awards application guidance

The below is guidance for how to complete the online application for UCL's centrally administered scholarship scheme, the International Masters Awards.

• Schemes
• Navigating the form
• Answering the questions
• Contact Student Funding

Schemes

These guidance notes relate to the completion of the application form for the International Masters Awards (IMA). The IMA is an umbrella application process that allows students to apply once and to be considered for all the schemes it encompasses, as long as they meet the eligibility criteria for those schemes. Eligibility criteria for the specific schemes are listed on the relevant web pages which are accessible by clicking on the links below:

• UCL Global Masters Scholarship
• GREAT Scholarship
• Humanitarian Scholarship
• Musubi Global Master's Scholarship

This application will collect information on a number of financial factors, including household income information and estimations of other available funds for study. Additional information including personal details and academic references from your UCL admissions application are used and are therefore not requested through the funding application.

Navigating the form

• In order to move through the form, you will need to click on the ‘Next’ button at the bottom of each page.
• You will need to answer all required questions to move forward with the application – if you have not answered anything an error message will appear informing you of this.
• We have highlighted the mandatory questions in the question guidance below.
• The first section of the application is applicable to all scholarships (Questions 2 -36).  The next section relates to the Humanitarian Scholarship (Questions 37-43).
• Statements and Evidence: This section explains the upload statements that are required for the Humanitarian Scholarship and GREAT Scholarship only.  No other evidence should be uploaded here.
• Once you have clicked 'Next' on the question page, you will be taken to the Privacy Statement page. Once you have ticked the checkbox and clicked Next, you will be taken to the Applicant Declaration page.  Once you tick the checkbox and click next you will be taken to the Final stage.  This is your last chance to make any changes to your answers by clicking the Back button.
• Submission page: In order to complete the application, you will need to select 'Yes' and click the ‘Next’ button on the final page.
• Once you have submitted, you should receive an automated email confirming receipt of your completed application. You will no longer be able to access the application form.

Answering the questions

1. Academic Details:

Q2. [Mandatory]  If you have previously completed, or are expected to complete, a Master's or PhD degree (UK equivalent) by the start of the next academic year, please select the degree (UK equivalent)?

For some schemes based on financial need, students who have not yet had the opportunity to study for a postgraduate degree will be given preference to those that already hold a Master’s or Doctoral degree. This is a drop-down menu to select either Master's or PhD level study or Not Applicable if you do not hold such a postgraduate degree. 

3. Household Details:

Q4. [Mandatory] Please provide a figure for your household's gross annual income (you must convert this into UK £ sterling - numerical values only).

Please indicate the gross annual income of your household (HHI) for the 2024-25 tax year*.  Income streams that should be considered include salaries, wages, dividends, tax credits, pension payments (both state and private pension providers), Carers Allowance, PIP living allowance, and investment returns. If you are not sure whether something should be considered as income, please get in touch with the Student Funding Office.  Do not include the following as income: Any Government benefits such as Unemployment Benefits (or similar), Housing Benefits (or similar), Disability Benefits (or similar).

For the purposes of HHI, the household should consist of all earning members whose income goes towards supporting general costs such as rent, bills, food, etc. Members of the household who work part-time for spending money that is not contributed to general household support should not be included (e.g a younger sibling with a part-time job while still at school).  Your own income should always be included.  E.g:

• I live with my parent(s) and/or partner and have a job - we would expect you to include all two/three incomes.
• I live alone (or in a shared house) but am financially assisted by my parent(s) and/or partner - we would still expect you to include all two/three incomes.
• I live alone (or in a shared house) and am completely financially independent - we would only expect you to include your own income.

Please be aware that if you are shortlisted for the 2nd round of the scholarship selection in May, we will require evidence of this such as; tax returns or official tax documentation from a Government Office; payslips, bank statements; letters from employers etc. If you put 0 as your income, we will require evidence of the alternative income you have such as Government Benefits etc.

Humanitarian Scholarship applicants: If you are shortlisted we recognise that evidence may be more difficult to obtain if you have been displaced, and this will be taken into consideration.

*  Or the appropriate last completed tax year of your country, as we are aware that tax years can differ from the UK's April-March (e.g if the tax year is the calendar year, then it is the 2024 tax year we require). If there has been a significant change in your circumstance since April 2025, you can additionally include a more contemporary estimate in Q15, and will need to provide additional documents if shortlisted to show the income in both years.

Q5. [Mandatory] How many peoples incomes does the answer at Q4 include?

Please provide a figure for the number of peoples incomes you have included in your total.

Q6. [Mandatory] What is the income of the highest earner in the last completed tax year (you must convert this into UK £ sterling)?

Based on your answer to Q4, please provide the figure of the gross income of the highest earner in your household for that tax year.

Q7. [Mandatory] What is the income of the 2nd highest earner in the last completed tax year (you must convert this into UK £ sterling)?

Based on your answer to Q4, please provide the figure of the gross income of the 2nd highest earner in your household for that tax year.  If there is no 2nd earner, put 0.

Q8. [Mandatory] What is the income of the 3rd highest earner in the last completed tax year (you must convert this into UK £ sterling).

Based on your answer to Q4, please provide the figure of the gross income of the 3rd highest earner in your household for that tax year.  If there is no 3rd earner, put 0.

Q9. [Mandatory] Please select the most appropriate employment category for your household's highest earner.

Please select the employment category* that best fits the main income earner in the household. Some examples are provided in this document (https://www.ucl.ac.uk/scholarships/sites/scholarships/files/job_categories_-_isco-2008.pdf), and are also given in the dropdown to offer guidance as to what each category includes. Please try and pick the category you feel most closely resembles the main earner’s occupational level. We will check this with additional information provided. If the primary household earner has now retired, please select the category that best represents their job prior to retirement. 

*   These broad categorisations are based on the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO-08) (2008).

Q10. [Mandatory] Please give the occupation of the household's highest earner.

Please give the occupation (i.e. Secondary School Teacher) of the highest earner indicated in Q9. If the highest earner has retired, you should give the last occupation of that individual but you can include the word "retired" in the answer.

Q11. If you would like to provide any additional information on your household income, please do so here (optional) (500 characters max.)

Include here any additional details about your household income that you would like to make us aware of, or would like us to take into account when assessing your financial need, that are not immediately obvious from the numerical value above.

e.g. if a portion of your state benefits are explicitly to cover disability or other medical costs, this should be noted here.  If there are more than 3 earners included in your household income at Q3. please list their incomes here.

Q12. If you would like to provide any additional information on exceptional household expenditure (e.g. medical bills, significant debts), please do so here (optional) (500 characters max.)

Include here any significant and exceptional costs that impact on your household situation e.g. large medical bills, repayments on sizeable debts etc.

Q13. If you would like to provide any additional information on your household employment situation, please do so here (optional) (500 characters max.)

If there are any additional details about your household employment situation that you would like us to consider (e.g. impending redundancy, reduced shifts) please include them here.

Q14. [Mandatory] Please specify the number of people in the household who are fully dependent on the combined income stated above, including yourself (include earners and non-earners).

This should include all members of the household who are fully dependent on the amount indicated in Q4. This should include the money earners themselves, and anyone else who lives in the house and is dependent on those earnings in some way. This should also include yourself.

Q15. If you would like to provide any additional information on the number of dependants in your household, please do so here (optional) (500 characters max.)

If you do not feel that simply noting the number of dependants in the household fairly reflects your situation, please outline additional information here (e.g. a dependent who is unable to work etc)

Q16. [Mandatory] Please provide a rough estimated figure for your household's gross annual income during your upcoming year of study (you must convert this into UK £ sterling - numerical values only).

Using the same household criteria as defined in Q4, please provide a figure for the estimated total gross income for your upcoming year of academic study.

Q17. If the income in Question 16 is different from Question 4, please explain the reason for the change (500 characters max.)

This could be reasons such as, you were the main income earner in the 2024/25 tax year, but will be stopping work/reducing your hours when you begin your study.  An income earner is retiring/has been made redundant etc.

18. Funding Details:

Q20-36. [Mandatory]  Please specify in UK £ Sterling the amount of funding you expect to have access to for use during your programme from the following sources.

In this section of the application, we are looking for an honest appraisal of your financial situation beyond what you may receive through this scholarship application. As these are partial scholarships, it is important that accurate information is provided as to how you will be intending to cover the remainder of costs while at UCL, even if you are awarded one of our scholarships.

All values should be the overall total for all the academic years of your course (e.g if part-time or on a 2 year full-time programme, provide combined estimates for the 2 years as a single total for each question).  The amounts given will be considered to be in UK£ Sterling. Please use numerical values only (e.g. 1500, no commas or symbols) - if a particular funding option is not applicable or available to you, please simply enter 0. You can find a useful currency converter at xe.com. For clarification on the types of funding details requested, see below.

Q20. Government Loans – any funding you intend to apply for from a government postgraduate loans scheme (outside UK).

Q21. Other Loans (private loans, etc.) – any other loans that you may be intending to take for your year of study whether from banks or other sources. If you are attempting to secure some other form of loan, please provide details in question 22.

Q23. Part-time employment – any money you hope to earn by working part-time during the duration of your programme. We are aware this is unlikely to be secured funding, but please provide an estimate based on whether you are intending to work alongside your studies, and how much you estimate you will earn from this part-time work. Please note that most part-time employment in industries such as retail and service will be paid near the minimum wage.

Q24. Scholarships/Awards/Bursaries – any scholarships, awards, bursaries, or similar that you intend to apply for, have applied for, or have secured for your studies. This should not include funding that you have applied for from one of the funds listed above, but any other scholarships. If you include a number other than 0 in this field, please provide details in question 25 including the provider of the funding, and whether or not it is secured or only applied for and awaiting selection.

Q26. Family/household contribution – this should include any monetary support or loan provided by your family or household for the duration of your studies. Other ‘in kind’ support such as rent-free accommodation should be highlighted in the any other funding section, or in the household expenditure section as a reason for lower overall costs, rather than estimated here as a monetary contribution.

Q27. Personal savings – any of your own personal savings you have access to for use during your studies.

Q28. State benefits – any Government benefits you will be in continued receipt of during your studies.

Q29. Any other funding – this is a place to declare any other funding you may have access to for your studies which you do not feel was appropriate to include in any of the categories listed above. If you include a number other than 0 in this field, please provide details in question 30.

31. Additional Details

Q32. [Mandatory]  Are you the first member of your family to attend university at any level?

This should include your immediate family, including parent(s), spouse and sibling(s) who have studied at undergraduate or postgraduate level at any university.

Q33. If you have any further information that you would like to provide on your household situation, please do so here (optional)

If you feel some factors about your household income are not captured above, please provide these here.

Q34. [Mandatory]  Are you registered as having a disability?

This should be marked ‘Yes’ if you are recognised as disabled. Please note that we will need to verify this information and would expect you to register with UCL’s Disability Services department.

Q35. [Mandatory]  Are you a single parent?

Please indicate whether you are a single parent.

Q36. [Mandatory]  Are you currently in receipt of state benefits?

Please indicate if you are currently in receipt of any state benefits from your local government including any that would stop as the result of your studies. Please note that you will be asked to provide evidence of this if your application is successful.

Humanitarian Scholarship Questions - please check the eligibility criteria for this award before proceeding

Q37. [Mandatory] Do you wish to be considered for the Humanitarian Scholarship

Yes/No:

• if you answer No, you do not need to enter any further questions in this section.
• if you answer Yes, the following questions 38-43, plus the statement upload, are mandatory

Q38. Have you been displaced internally within your home country, or to another country, as a result of armed conflict within the last 3 years

Please indicate if you have been displaced. Displacement also covers a situation where you left your home country for work/education purposes, but are now unable to return as planned due to armed conflict. 

If you are shortlisted for the 2nd round of the scholarship selection in May, we will request evidence of this displacement.  As it may not be easy for you to access documentation, it could be a good idea to prepare your documentation in advance.  Evidence we will require is: Evidence of refugee status, or Humanitarian Protection as recognised by the 1951 UN Convention on the Status of Refugees provided by UNHCR, the country in which you are taking refuge, or a recognised aid agency.  We would also accept a signed reference from your place of residence stating when you arrived, and where you arrived from.

Q39. Have you not been displaced, but are at risk due to armed conflict in your home country?

Please indicate if you are at risk.

Q40. Please provide your current location.  If you have been displaced, please advise where you displaced from and when, along with your current location

If you have not been displaced, just provide your current location.  If you have been displaced, please advise where you were displaced from, when this occurred, and your current location.

Displacement also covers a situation where you left your home country for work/education purposes, but are now unable to return as planned due to armed conflict.  In this situation please provide information around your current situation (e.g. still under an employment contract/ still in study under a student visa/ not in work or study but holding refugee status etc).

Q41. Do you currently hold valid travel documents? 

Please indicate if you hold a valid passport or UN Refugee Travel Document.

Q42. If the answer to Q41. was 'No', do you anticipate having the required documents by May 2026?

To be considered for the Humanitarian Scholarship, you must have a valid passport or UN Refugee Travel Document by the time of the scholarship selection so you can apply for your student visa if selected for an award. Please indicate if you anticipate holding a valid travel document by May 2026.

Q43. [Optional] If you would like to provide any additional information about your current living situation, please do so here (optional) (500 characters max.)

If you would like to provide more information about your current living situation, you can include this here.

Humanitarian and GREAT Scholarship uploads (this should be submitted for the Humanitarian Scholarship or GREAT Scholarship only) - please check the eligibility criteria for these awards before writing 

Eligible students wishing to be considered for the Humanitarian Scholarship or GREAT Scholarship are also required to provide an uploaded Word document or PDF at the end of the application answering the 3 questions below.

Questions

1. Please demonstrate how you are passionate about your field of study (work experience / accomplishments).
2. Please give an example of when you have contributed to your community.
3. How will you use what you learn at UCL for change in your country.

200 words maximum per question (please include a word count after each answer) and please upload your document as a Word document or PDF only.

Your form is complete:

Once you have confirmed the Data Protection Statement, Declaration, and selected Submit.  At this stage you will receive an email receipt confirming your application was submitted successfully.

 Thank you for taking the time to complete your application for the International Masters Awards for 2026/27.

If you have any further questions not answered above, please feel free to contact Student Funding.