Developing Solutions is our flagship master’s scholarship, founded in 2001, for students from African, South Asian, and other selected Commonwealth countries. This scholarship programme is designed for international students who want to make a difference to the development of key economic, environmental, structural, social, or political structures in their home country.

The University of Nottingham is offering scholarships covering 50% or 100% of full-time masters tuition fees. These one-year scholarships are available to support innovative and passionate students who can successfully demonstrate their ingenuity for developing solutions that will impact their home countries and incite change.

To apply for this scholarship, you must:

• be domiciled in Africa, India or one of the selected Commonwealth countries listed below
• be classed as an overseas student for fee purposes
• hold an offer to start a full-time masters (including MRes) for 2026/27 at the University of Nottingham UK, studying in the Faculty of Engineering, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Faculty of Science or Faculty of Social Sciences

Important

You are not eligible for this scholarship if you:

• are a current student or graduate of the University of Nottingham
• have studied and been awarded an undergraduate or postgraduate degree outside of your home country*
• are currently studying in the UK

Eligible countries

Africa (all nations), Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Brunei, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Falkland Islands, Fiji, Gibraltar, Grenada, Guyana, India, Jamaica, Kiribati, Malaysia, Maldives, Montserrat, Nauru, Nepal, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Pitcairn Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, St Helena, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tristan da Cunha, Turks and Caicos Islands, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.

* Where study has been undertaken in a country listed as an eligible Developing Solutions country, applications will be considered on a case by case basis.

You must apply for and receive an offer to study a full-time masters (including MRes) at the University of Nottingham for 2026/27 before applying for this scholarship. Search for courses and find out how to apply.

The University requires an application fee for our postgraduate taught course applications. Please be aware that your academic application will not be assessed until the application fee has been paid and processed.

When you have received your offer to study with us, you can apply through the scholarships section of our application system, NottinghamHub.

If you have an offer for an MRes course, email the scholarships team on scholarship-assistant@nottingham.ac.uk for instructions on how to apply.

If you have applied for a full-time two-year master’s course, you can apply for this scholarship. However, the scholarship is awarded for one year only. If successful, the scholarship would only be applied to the first year’s tuition fees. You would need to ensure that you have the means to cover any balance in tuition fees.

Application criteria

Applicants will be assessed first and foremost on how they can demonstrate their vision, and tangible plan for developing a specific solution that will positively contribute to key economic, environmental, structural, social, or political challenges within in their home country. Strong applicants will be able to link this to the learning outcomes of their course of study, and how this will facilitate their efforts. Where the ethos of Developing Solutions has been clearly evidenced, applications will then be looked at in line with more traditional scholarship criteria, including your reasons for studying at Nottingham and noteworthy achievements.

Make sure you have enough time to prepare strong answers. We will assess your responses and academic merit when making scholarship decisions.

Please note that there is a strict word count limit for all questions, which is outlined at the end of each question. The system does not automatically limit this, so you would be encouraged to check your application before you submit. Any responses submitted that exceed the outlined word count may not be reviewed.