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

United Kingdom Run for each September intake, with published scholarship application deadlines — for 2026/27 entry these fell on 26 February 2026 and 2 April 2026. Country lists and values are reissued annually

Newcastle Vice-Chancellor's International Scholarship

Newcastle is a Russell Group university in the north-east of England, and its Vice-Chancellor's International Scholarships are worth knowing about for one specific reason: Sri Lanka appears by name on the eligible-country list. That is not universal. Several UK universities restrict their largest regional awards to a handful of markets and leave Sri Lankan applicants outside them, so a scheme that names Sri Lanka alongside India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, Malaysia, Singapore, the UAE and around thirty other countries is worth prioritising. The values are meaningful rather than token: £7,000 per academic year towards tuition fees for undergraduate students, and £8,000 credited to the tuition fee account for postgraduate students. At 400 rupees to the pound that is about LKR 2.8 million a year at undergraduate level — across a three-year degree, roughly LKR 8.4 million. The conditions are straightforward. You must have been offered a place on an eligible degree course at the university's Newcastle city centre campus for the relevant academic year, and you must be assessed as international for fee purposes. Eligible undergraduate applicants are considered automatically, and applications are submitted through the Apply to Newcastle Portal under the scholarship applications section, with published deadlines — for 2026/27 entry, 26 February 2026 and 2 April 2026. Newcastle also runs Vice-Chancellor's Excellence Scholarships and Future Leaders Scholarships with their own separate regulations, so check which of the three you actually qualify for rather than assuming they are one scheme. As with every UK university award, this reduces tuition and does nothing for living costs or the maintenance funds the Student visa requires.

Newcastle University

University-funded

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Undergraduate

£7,000 per academic year (LKR ~2.8M a year)

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Postgraduate

£8,000 credited to the tuition fee account (LKR ~3.2M)

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Sri Lanka

Named on the eligible-country list

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You Must Be Domiciled in an Eligible Country

Sri Lanka is on the published list alongside India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, Malaysia, Singapore, the UAE, Kenya, Nigeria and around thirty others. Country lists are reissued each cycle, so confirm Sri Lanka's presence on the current one before you rely on it.

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An Offer for an Eligible Course

You need an offer to study an eligible degree at the university's Newcastle city centre campus for the relevant academic year. Courses at partner or satellite locations, and some professional programmes, may be excluded — check the regulations for your course.

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International Fee Status

You must be assessed as international for fee purposes. Sri Lankan applicants applying from Sri Lanka are, but a change of fee status during your studies can affect the award.

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Automatic Consideration at Undergraduate Level

Eligible undergraduate applicants are considered automatically for these awards. Even so, check whether a scholarship submission through the Apply to Newcastle Portal is required for your level and course — the postgraduate schemes have their own regulations.

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Two Published Deadlines Each Cycle

For 2026/27 entry the scholarship deadlines fell on 26 February 2026 and 2 April 2026. Missing both means waiting for the next intake, so build your admission timeline backwards from the earlier date.

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Three Separate Schemes, Not One

Newcastle also runs Vice-Chancellor's Excellence Scholarships and Vice-Chancellor's Future Leaders Scholarships, each with its own regulations document. Read the one matching your level and course rather than assuming a single set of rules.

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Apply for admission early

Apply through UCAS for undergraduate study or directly for postgraduate taught programmes, giving yourself time to hold an offer before the February scholarship deadline.

Confirm Sri Lanka is on the current list

Download the regulations for your level and cycle and check the country list. This takes two minutes and prevents the most common wasted application.

Submit through the Apply to Newcastle Portal

Scholarship applications are made in the portal under the scholarship applications section. Note which of the two published deadlines applies to your course and level.

Check whether the schemes can be combined

Ask admissions whether a Vice-Chancellor's International Scholarship can be held alongside an Excellence or Future Leaders award, or whether one replaces the other, and get your net annual fee in pounds.

Budget north-east living costs

Newcastle has among the lowest student living costs of any major UK city with a Russell Group university. Budget rent, food, transport and the health surcharge in pounds and convert at 400 rupees.

Apply for the UK Student visa

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

Why Newcastle?

Newcastle University is a Russell Group institution with a city-centre campus and long-standing strength in medicine, dentistry, marine and offshore engineering, computing, agriculture and business. The north-east of England is one of the cheaper regions in the country for students, and Newcastle itself is compact enough that most students walk to campus — which removes the transport cost that quietly inflates budgets in London and the south-east. For Sri Lankan applicants, the combination of a university that names Sri Lanka on its scholarship country list, a mid-five-figure annual fee reduction and low living costs often produces a lower total outlay than a nominally similar university further south.