A historic UK university courtyard with stone buildings.

United Kingdom Offered for Master's courses starting in September. Loughborough publishes each cycle's scholarship list and deadlines on lboro.ac.uk — values and availability change between intakes

Loughborough Global Impact Scholarship

Loughborough invests more than £1 million a year in scholarships for international students, and the Global Impact Scholarship sits at the top of that structure: a 100 per cent tuition fee waiver for one year of Master's study for courses starting in September. On a Loughborough international Master's fee that is worth in the region of LKR 10 million or more, which puts it in a different category from the fee discounts most UK universities offer. Below it sits a tier of substantial but partial awards — the Future Leaders Scholarship at £10,000 off tuition for applicants who demonstrate leadership potential, a London Global Excellence Scholarship for the university's London campus, and at undergraduate level an International Excellence Scholarship of £3,000 applied across all years for international fee-payers who make Loughborough their firm UCAS choice. Understanding the whole ladder matters, because most applicants who apply for the Global Impact award end up considered for the others. The honest limitation is the same one that applies to every full-tuition university scholarship: it covers fees, not life. A Sri Lankan awardee still needs accommodation, food, transport and the maintenance funds the UK Student visa requires you to evidence separately — for a year outside London that is a substantial sum that must sit in an account for the required period. A full fee waiver makes a UK Master's possible for a middle-income Sri Lankan family; it does not make it free. Loughborough's academic profile skews towards engineering, sport science, design, business and social sciences, and it consistently ranks at or near the top of UK student satisfaction surveys.

Loughborough University

University-funded

emoji_events Award Overview

savings

Global Impact

100% tuition for one year of Master's study

workspace_premium

Future Leaders

£10,000 tuition discount (LKR ~4M)

school

Undergraduate Tier

£3,000 International Excellence Scholarship, all years

fact_check Eligibility Criteria

public

International Fee-Paying Applicants

Open to international students paying overseas tuition fees. Sri Lankan applicants qualify on nationality with no quota or nomination requirement.

campaign

Impact Is the Selection Criterion

This is a donor-funded award and the selection turns on the difference you will make. Write about a specific problem and a specific plan — a sector in Sri Lanka, an organisation, a measurable outcome — rather than about personal ambition.

account_balance_wallet

Self-Funded and Not Otherwise Sponsored

Loughborough's international awards generally require you to be self-funded and not in receipt of another university award or external sponsorship. Holding a government or employer sponsorship usually makes you ineligible.

warning

Tuition Only — Living Costs Are Yours

A 100 per cent fee waiver does not cover accommodation, food or travel, and the UK Student visa requires separate evidence of maintenance funds. Work out the twelve-month living budget in rupees before treating this as a fully funded offer.

groups

Very Limited Numbers

Full-fee awards at any UK university are made in small numbers. Apply for it, but plan your finances against the more likely outcome of a partial award such as Future Leaders, or none at all.

event

Firm Choice and Deadlines Matter

At undergraduate level the International Excellence Scholarship requires Loughborough to be your firm UCAS choice; foundation programmes are excluded. At postgraduate level the scholarship deadlines run separately from admission deadlines — check both.

account_tree Application Process

Apply for admission to a Master's programme

Secure or progress your application for a taught Master's starting in September. Most Loughborough scholarships require you to hold an offer, or at least an application in progress, before the scholarship form opens.

Read the current scholarship list, not last year's

Loughborough revises its scholarship portfolio each cycle. Confirm on lboro.ac.uk that the Global Impact Scholarship is open for your intake and course before you build a plan around it.

Write the impact statement with evidence

Panels look for a track record, not just intentions. Reference work you have already done in Sri Lanka — a job, a volunteer role, a community project, a research contribution — and connect it to what the Loughborough programme adds.

Apply for the partial awards in parallel

Where the rules allow, put yourself forward for Future Leaders and any faculty-level award as well. A £10,000 reduction is a realistic outcome and materially changes the rupee arithmetic.

Confirm the award in writing before committing

Check the scholarship letter states the exact percentage or amount, the year it applies to, and any progression conditions. Do not pay a deposit or book flights before this.

UK Student visa from Colombo

Apply online, pay the Immigration Health Surcharge and give biometrics in Colombo. With a full fee waiver your CAS will show zero or reduced fees, but you must still evidence the maintenance amount for study outside London for the required period.

Why Loughborough?

Loughborough is a campus university in the East Midlands with an unusually strong record in engineering, design, sport and exercise science, business and communications, and it repeatedly places at or near the top of UK student experience surveys. The single-site campus makes life simpler and cheaper for an international student than a city university does: accommodation, teaching, sport and the students' union are all within walking distance, and East Midlands living costs are far below London's. For Sri Lankan applicants in engineering and sport-related fields in particular, it is one of the better-value UK destinations once the scholarship is factored in.