Vice-Chancellor's Future Leaders Award (postgraduate)
This prestigious award recognises academic excellence and offers a £7,500 fee waiver that is awarded to selected postgraduate students, who understand social responsibility and demonstrate the potential to be future leaders.
About
Key information
| Study level | Postgraduate |
|---|---|
| Student | International |
| Based on | Fee status (Home/UK or Overseas), First-year student / Year of study, Nationality or country of domicile, Self-funded |
| Amount | £7,500 off tuition fees |
This scholarship is awarded as a £7,500 fee waiver. It is open to self-funded international fee-paying students domiciled in specific countries.
The scheme is application based and awards are decided by a scholarship awards panel. The panel will assess previous academic performance, predicted grades (if applicable) and the personal statement to make their decision.
These awards must be allocated before a CAS is issued. We are not able to consider applications if your CAS has already been issued. Please apply early.
Eligibility criteria
To be eligible applicants must:
- Hold an offer to study a full-time masters degree programme* at Surrey
- Be self-funded (you must be paying for your studies independently rather than being sponsored or in receipt of another scholarship)
- Apply for a scholarship before a Confirmation of Acceptance Studies (CAS) is issued. The award cannot be applied post CAS.
- Be an overseas fee-paying student domiciled in one of the following countries:
- Algeria
- Brazil
- Botswana
- Bulgaria
- Colombia
- Chile
- Ecuador
- Egypt
- Indonesia
- Italy
- Jordan
- Kazakhstan
- Kenya
- Lebanon
- Mauritius
- Mexico
- Mongolia
- Morocco
- Nepal
- Oman
- Peru
- Poland
- Portugal
- South Africa
- Sri Lanka
- Tanzania
- Uganda
- Vietnam
- Zimbabwe.
Don't see your country or region on the list? Our £5,000 International Excellence Award is open to self-funded international fee-paying students.
*This scholarship is not open to students from the Surrey International Study Centre (SISC) or applicants wishing to study part-time and distance-learning courses, MSc Artificial Intelligence (Conversion), MSc Applied Analytical Chemistry, MSc Biotechnology, MSc Food Science, MSc Human Nutrition, MSc Pharmaceutical Sciences and the MBA course.
Please note:
- For two-year postgraduate courses, the scholarship award is valid for the first year only
- Applicants in receipt of the Future Leaders scholarship will not be eligible for any other Surrey scholarship
- This scholarship cannot be combined with the alumni discount or early payment discount
- The award is not deferrable (if applicants are deferring, they will need to reapply for the award. This will also be subject to the award availability).
How to apply
Applications will be reviewed monthly.
You must:
- Have an offer from the University to complete the scholarship application form. Applications without a valid student ID and offer will not be assessed.
- Apply for a scholarship before a Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) is issued. The award cannot be applied post-CAS.
Our scholarship awards are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. Please apply early.
Deadlines
- September 2026 applications will close on 3 August 2026
- February 2027 applications will close on 8 January 2027.
Contact details
For all enquiries regarding this scholarship, please contact international@surrey.ac.uk.
Scholarships and bursaries
There is a range of support available to help finance your studies.