Online Learning Scholarships

The University will offer PhD scholarships for students starting their PhD research at the University in the 2026-2027 academic session.

The Commonwealth Distance Learning Scholarships are funded by the Commonwealth Scholarships Commission (CSC), dependent from the UK government's Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office.

They are aimed at candidates from low and middle-income who would like to undertake part-time, distance learning study on eligible postgraduate programmes offered at universities in the UK.

Gaining an Online Masters is an excellent way to earn a qualification which is equivalent to on-campus study, while at the same time continuing to work flexibly and live at home. Online postgraduate qualifications through the University of Edinburgh are fully equivalent to postgraduate degrees taught on campus.

Three scholarships are available for eligible postgraduate programmes offered by the University in the 2026-2027 academic session.

The University of Edinburgh’s MSc Internal Medicine will offer 5 scholarships that will cover 66% of tuition fee costs. Scholarships are available for one year to support continuing and new students and continuing students in the 2026-2027 academic year.

There are a number of scholarships available which includes full tuition fees with contribution towards cost of internet access. Applicants must be a national and resident in eligible country.

Edinburgh Surgery Online will offer bursaries to support ASiT members undertaking the MSc in Surgical Sciences and the MSc in Patient Safety and Clinical Human Factors online learning programmes.

The details of the award for 2026-2027 are yet to be confirmed. This webpage will update once it is open for applications.

There are a number of scholarships available which includes the cover of the full tuition fee. In this case, applicants must be national and resident in Africa, South Asia, Caribbean Islands, Pacific Islands or Central and South America.
Applicants need to be nationals and residents of an eligible country for the entirety of their studies. Applicants must inform the scholarship team in case they have moved to a different country immediately, because this might affect their eligibility for the scholarship.

There are also a number of bursaries, each worth £1500 annually, available to all applicants for the MSc in Patient Safety and Clinical Human Factors.
Students will be required to meet the cost of the balance of the annual tuition fees. Furthermore, the bursary award is credited towards the settlement of the fees and not paid directly to students.

The Polish School of Medicine Memorial Fund supports a thriving scholarship programme that enables successful Polish medical doctor/scientist applicants to undertake a period of further study or research at The University of Edinburgh Medical School and related institutions.

The Boloz-Kulesza Trust Fund enables a successful Polish medical doctor/scientist to undertake the MSc in Clinical Education. This is an online part-time three-year programme at The University of Edinburgh.

The Prof Dr T and Dr A Sokolowska Scholarship enables successful Polish medical doctor/scientist applicants to undertake a period of further study or research at The University of Edinburgh Medical School and related institutions.

The online Introduction to High Performance Computing scholarship aims to support professional development in the HPC space by making this introductory course more accessible. The recipients are expected to continue their studies up to the level of postgraduate certificate or higher.

The EPCC online Dissertation Scholarships aim to support the dissertation stage of the online MSc in HPC and HPC with Data Science programmes. We hope receiving the help to cover the course fees will reduce the financial burden and help the students to fully engage with their dissertation projects.

The Garden Scholarship is open to Postgraduate Certificate (PgCert) in Surgical Writing and Evidence Based Practice applicants or students currently enrolled on the Postgraduate Professional Development (PgProfDev) Surgical Writing and Evidence Based Practice programme.