Allan and Nesta Ferguson Charitable Trust Masters Scholarships

The University of Sheffield is delighted to offer 3 Allan and Nesta Ferguson Charitable Trust masters scholarships for eligible overseas fee-paying students starting their studies in September 2026.

The University of Sheffield has a strong commitment to international development. One of the themes of its strategy is ‘celebrating, promoting and increasing the volume of the work that it does to improve the lives of others through its international relationships, locally and abroad.

Building on this commitment, the University, in collaboration with the Allan and Nesta Ferguson Charitable Trust and the Sheffield Institute for International Development, is able to offer scholarships for international students from developing countries including India for a number of courses that are affiliated with the Sheffield Institute for International Development.

There are three scholarships available in 2026 to academically strong individuals from developing countries. Each scholarship offers the following:

• A full tuition fee waiver
• A £12,500 maintenance stipend

Eligibility criteria for 2026

1.To be eligible to apply, applicants must hold an offer for one of the following courses to study at the University of Sheffield in the 2026-27 academic year by Friday 8th May 2026:

• International Development MSc
• International Law and Global Justice LLM (a selected pathway of the Sheffield LLM course)
• International Political Economy MA
• Global Journalism MA
• International Public and Political Communication MA

2.Applicants must be classified as overseas for tuition fee purposes.

3.Applicants  must not already hold a qualification that is of an equivalent or higher level to the course they are applying for.
4.Applicants must not have previously studied outside of their country of residence.
5.Applicants must be self-funded to receive this award, i.e. not funded by a research council, government, private enterprise, charity or any similar organisation.
6.This scholarship cannot be awarded in conjunction with any other funding awards, either from the University of Sheffield or external sources.
7. Applicants mode of attendance must be full-time.
8. Applicants  must begin their studies at the University of Sheffield in 2026. This scholarship cannot be deferred.
9. Receipt of the scholarship is subject to successfully meeting any condition(s) attached to their offer before the deadline provided by the Admissions Service.
10.Receipt of the scholarship is subject to successfully receiving a visa to study at the University in September 2026.
11 .Applicants must be permanently domiciled in India , in one of the countries or territories listed. These are countries that are classified as low or lower middle income countries by the World Bank in 2025.
12.Successful applicants will be asked to accept their course offer and evidence their visa application by set dates. These dates will be confirmed as part of the award notification.

How to apply
Shortlisted applicants will be invited to apply. If applicants have not been contacted by the end of the day on Friday 15th May 2026 they  have not been selected.

Applicants will be sent an application form to complete by 1pm (UK time) on Monday 1st June 2026. Applications will not be accepted after this time.

All scholarship applicants will be contacted regarding the outcome of their application before the end of the day on Friday 5th July 2026.  

Selection process
This is a competitive process and not all applications will be successful.

Shortlisted applicants will be chosen based on their course application. A panel of senior members of staff will select the strongest applications and will be looking to see that applicants have:

• a strong academic profile
• provided a clear rationale for applying for a postgraduate course at the University of Sheffield;
• outlined examples of work experience in the field of International Development;
• clearly articulated future ambitions; these goals relate to the postgraduate degree you have applied for, and how your learning may benefit others.
• where applications are of equal standing priority will be given to under represented group