Road and red-brick university buildings on the University of Manchester campus.

United Kingdom Check current round

Lancaster University International Scholarships

Lancaster is a consistently top-fifteen UK university with a campus a few miles outside the city in the north-west of England, and it operates one of the clearer scholarship ladders in British higher education. At undergraduate level, the Excellence Scholarship for international students is worth £3,000 as a tuition fee reduction every year of study, and it goes to high-achieving applicants who make Lancaster their firm UCAS choice with A*AA or equivalent. A parallel International Regional Scholarship, also £3,000 a year, is awarded on an average grade at first-class or upper second-class level. Students progressing from the Lancaster International Study Centre with at least 75 per cent overall receive a £3,000 fee reduction. At postgraduate level the headline number is larger — an International Regional Scholarship worth £10,000 off a taught Master's — but read the terms carefully, because it is offered to international students from a defined list of around fourteen under-represented countries rather than to all internationals. Whether Sri Lanka appears on that list varies by cycle and it is the single thing to confirm with admissions before you build a plan around the figure. Students moving up from a Pre-Master's programme can also receive percentage reductions of up to twenty per cent in the Management School and up to thirty per cent in Science and Technology. You are automatically considered for Lancaster's major scholarships when you apply, and you must be classed as an Overseas or International fee-paying student for the duration of your studies. As always, these are tuition reductions rather than living costs, and the UK Student visa requires you to evidence maintenance funds separately.

Awards are run for each September intake, with values and country lists reissued annually. The postgraduate regional scholarship applies to taught courses starting in the named year — confirm the current country list on lancaster.ac.uk

Lancaster University

University-funded

emoji_events Award Overview

school

Undergraduate

£3,000 fee reduction each year (LKR ~1.2M a year)

workspace_premium

Postgraduate Regional

£10,000 fee reduction — restricted country list

task_alt

Application

Automatic consideration when you apply

info How this award actually works

account_balance

Who awards it

Lancaster 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 a Year Off an Undergraduate Degree (LKR ~1.2M); up to £10,000 Off a Taught Master's for Eligible Countries. 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

public

Overseas Fee Status Required Throughout

You must be classed as an Overseas or International fee-paying student for the whole of your studies. A change in fee status during the degree can end the award.

warning

The £10,000 Postgraduate Award Is Country-Restricted

The Postgraduate International Regional Scholarship is offered to students from a defined list of around fourteen under-represented countries. Do not assume Sri Lanka is included — email Lancaster admissions and get the current list in writing before treating this figure as available to you.

trending_up

A*AA for the Undergraduate Excellence Award

The Undergraduate Excellence Scholarship requires A*AA or above at A level or equivalent, and you must make Lancaster your firm UCAS choice. Sri Lankan applicants with strong Cambridge or Edexcel A Level results are the natural fit; local A/L results need a conversion check with admissions.

trending_up

First or 2:1 Standard for the Regional Awards

The regional scholarships are assessed on an average grade at first-class or upper second-class level, or the equivalent classification in your own system. For Sri Lankan graduates that means a Second Class Upper or better.

task_alt

No Separate Application for Major Awards

Students are automatically considered for Lancaster's major scholarships when they apply for admission. This means the completeness of your admission file, including final transcripts, determines the outcome.

block

Reductions Do Not Necessarily Stack

Check with admissions whether an Excellence Scholarship and a Regional Scholarship can be held together, or whether one replaces the other. Ask for your net annual fee in pounds before converting to rupees.

account_tree Application Process

Apply for admission and make Lancaster your firm choice

The Undergraduate Excellence Scholarship requires Lancaster to be your firm UCAS choice, so decide before the UCAS reply deadline rather than after.

Confirm which awards you actually qualify for

Email admissions with your nationality, qualification and intended programme and ask which specific scholarships are open to you. This one email prevents the most common disappointment, which is discovering the £10,000 award is region-restricted after accepting an offer.

Submit complete final transcripts

Automatic assessment relies on your documented record. Provisional results can put you in a lower band or leave you unassessed.

Check the offer letter for the award and its duration

Verify the annual value, whether it applies to every year of a multi-year degree, and any progression conditions attached.

Plan the balance and Lancaster living costs

Lancaster is a campus university with substantial on-site accommodation and living costs well below London. Budget rent, food, transport into the city and the health surcharge in pounds, then convert at 400 rupees.

Apply for the UK Student visa

Use the CAS from Lancaster, pay the Immigration Health Surcharge and evidence the maintenance amount required for study outside London for the full qualifying period. Biometrics are given in Colombo.

Why Lancaster?

Lancaster is a collegiate campus university, so like Durham you join a college with its own accommodation and community from day one — a meaningful difference for an international student arriving alone. Its Management School holds triple accreditation and its physics, environmental science, computing and linguistics departments are strong. The campus is self-contained with shops, sports facilities and a bus link into the city, and the north-west of England is among the cheaper parts of the UK to live in. For Sri Lankan students the calculation is usually that a modest scholarship plus low living costs at Lancaster beats a larger nominal discount at a university in an expensive city.

£3,000

Undergraduate award, every year of study

£10,000

Postgraduate regional award, restricted countries

Collegiate

College membership on a self-contained campus

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