St Leonard's Widening Access PhD Scholarship

Value of award (per year)

Home tuition fees at UKRI rate (£4,786 in 2024-2025)

Annual maintenance paid monthly at UKRI rates (£19,237 in 2024-2025)

Duration of award

The scholarships will be paid for up to 3.5 years of full-time study, or up to 7 years of part-time study. It does not include the continuation or any extension period.

At what stage of my course application can I apply for this scholarship?

Apply after you have submitted your application for a place at the University of St Andrews. You do not need to wait until you have received an offer of a place before applying for the award.

Additional criteria

You must have applied for a PhD programme.

Applicants must meet at least one of the following criteria:

• been awarded a University of St Andrews financial needs-based scholarship at undergraduate or postgraduate taught level.
• been part of a widening access initiative* at the University of St Andrews (such as a Sutton Trust Summer School).
• attended another university for their undergraduate study and participated in a widening access scheme*.
• previously spent a period of time in care (e.g. residential care, foster care, kinship care).**

*Evidence of your attendance at this scheme must be submitted to pgscholarships@st-andrews.ac.uk by the scholarship application deadline.

**Evidence of care experience must be submitted to pgscholarships@st-andrews.ac.uk by the scholarship application deadline.

Household income

We recommend using the funding financial profile to help calculate your household income before you apply for any needs-based scholarships. You can find the funding financial profile in Scholarships and Funding, "Create my funding financial profile". Applicants must also articulate a need for support through a personal financial statement. 

Household Income evidence must total the value stated in your scholarship application as "total household income". Provide all relevant forms of income for the current or most recent full year.

Acceptable documents include: employment, wages, salary statements (most recent three months), tax certificates or returns, confirmation letters from department of work and pensions, letters from local government, FAFSA, Council Tax statement, Tax credits, PIP, DLA, dividends, pension, annuity. Where evidence is not available please provide bank statements or e-statements (most recent three months) to show receipt of income. Documents must be PDF or similar small file size format (maximum 2MB) and in English.

Sources for socio-economically disadvantaged areas: Scotland, England, London.

How to apply

This scholarship is available through the St Leonard's Widening Access PhD Scholarship application in the Scholarships and Funding catalogue, in the Scholarships and Funding section of My Application.

• After you have applied for your chosen Postgraduate Research course (PhD) for the 2025-26 academic year, you must allow at least three working days for processing and issue of your log in details before you can apply for this scholarship.
• If you are a current student at St Andrews, you can access Scholarships and Funding through MySaint. However, you should wait until after you have applied for your intended postgraduate programme before doing so, to ensure that the scholarship application is linked to the correct course.

Scholarship application form guidance

We recommend using the funding financial profile to help calculate your household income before you apply for any needs-based scholarships. You can find the funding financial profile in Scholarships and Funding, "Create my funding financial profile".

Terms and conditions

Please read the University of St Andrews scholarships terms and conditions (opens in new tab)

If you apply to this scholarship, details from your course application may be passed to the selection panel solely for the purpose of merit-based assessment.

When will I know the outcome?

The outcome of your scholarship application will be available on "View my applications" in the Scholarships and Funding section of My Application by April 2025.