A historic UK university courtyard with stone buildings.

United Kingdom Check current round

Cardiff University Vice-Chancellor's International Scholarship

Cardiff University's Vice-Chancellor's International Scholarship is a tuition discount of £3,000 to £5,000 for high-achieving international students joining most undergraduate and postgraduate taught programmes. Cardiff is a Russell Group university, sitting in the top 25 in the UK, and offers strong programmes in journalism, dentistry, biosciences, and engineering. Sri Lankan applicants increasingly choose Cardiff for its lower cost of living compared to London, while retaining Russell-Group prestige.

2026 entry round closed June 2026 — 2027 round opens December 2026

Cardiff University

University-funded

emoji_events Award Overview

savings

Value

£3,000 UG / £5,000 PG

school

Duration

First Year of Study

groups

Awards

Around 60 per Cycle

info How this award actually works

account_balance

Who awards it

Cardiff University — not Lanka Scholar. We are not the awarding body and cannot grant, reserve or guarantee this award.

how_to_reg

How you are considered

Through your admission application. Awards like this are usually assessed automatically from the application you already submit — there is typically no separate scholarship form to fill in.

payments

What it covers

£3,000 – £5,000 Tuition Discount. This is a reduction in tuition, not a full ride. You still fund the remainder, plus living costs and the balance your visa requires you to show.

handshake

Where we come in

We make the admission application strong enough to be competitive — course choice, documents, references and deadlines. The funder makes the decision.

fact_check Eligibility Criteria

school

Offer for an Eligible Cardiff Programme

Hold an offer for a full-time undergraduate or postgraduate taught programme at Cardiff. Most programmes are included; some clinical medicine and dentistry programmes are excluded — check the Cardiff scholarship page for the current list.

public

International Fee Status

Open only to overseas fee-paying students. Sri Lankan citizens applying from Sri Lanka are eligible; UK home-fee students are not.

work

Strong Academic Record

Awards are merit-based. Sri Lankan undergraduate applicants typically need 3 As at A/L; Master's applicants need a first-class or strong upper second-class Bachelor's degree.

translate

English Proficiency

Meet Cardiff's standard English requirement for your programme — typically IELTS 6.5 with no element below 6.0 for most courses; some clinical and dentistry courses require higher.

account_tree Application Process

Apply to Cardiff first

Submit your UCAS undergraduate application or direct postgraduate application via Cardiff's online portal. Scholarship consideration requires you to hold an offer.

Complete the scholarship form

After receiving your offer, submit the Vice-Chancellor's International Scholarship form — a short personal statement (around 500 words) on why you've chosen Cardiff and your future plans.

Selection on merit

The Cardiff scholarship committee reviews applications in rounds through the spring and early summer. Outcomes are usually issued within four to six weeks of submission.

Accept and enrol

Successful applicants must accept the scholarship and confirm enrolment by the published deadline. The tuition discount is applied automatically to your first-year fee invoice.

Why Cardiff University?

Cardiff is a Russell Group university and Wales's capital-city campus, founded in 1883. Strong in journalism, medicine, dentistry, biosciences, and engineering. Cost of living in Cardiff runs around 40% lower than central London, making it a practical mid-cost option for Sri Lankan families.

#188

QS World Ranking 2026

Russell

Russell Group Member

~60

Awards per Cycle

Looking for a scholarship because of the cost?

Then start here instead. Scholarships are competitive, usually partial, and decided by someone else — they are the least reliable way to make studying abroad affordable. Your destination and course choice move the number far more, and both are entirely within your control.

calculate