Scotland Student Grants: Carnegie Masters Grants

The Carnegie Masters Grant helps you cover home-rate tuition fees for a Masters course at a Scottish university. The maximum amount you can be awarded is £10,000 for full-time study and £5,000 for part-time study. You can usually only use this grant to cover any remaining fees after the £7,000 Scottish Masters Loan contribution. You may also be eligible for an additional study cost stipend depending on your circumstances.

If your Scottish Masters tuition fees are higher than the £7,000 you can borrow through the government loans, the Carnegie Masters Grant is one way you can close that gap! It’s there to help cover the difference and this guide has everything you need to know!

You need to meet all these criteria to be eligible for a Carnegie Masters Grant:

• Ordinarily resident in Scotland: Scotland must be your permanent home, and you can’t have moved there just to study.
• Meaningful connection to Scotland: You must have either completed two years of full-time study at a Scottish secondary school or college or show a ‘substantial connection’ to the country. This can be through residency, earlier education, family life or work life. If you plan to apply on the basis of ‘substantial connection’, you must contact the Foundation before you apply.
• Lower-income household: Depending on your circumstances, your household income must fall below the following thresholds:

Dependents	Single person household	Couple
No children	£30,000	£35,000
1 child	£35,000	£40,000
2 children	£40,000	£45,000
3 children	£45,000	£50,000
Per additional child	£5,000	£5,000

• Secured place on an eligible course: You must have a conditional or unconditional offer for a place on an eligible taught or research Masters course (more on that later!).
• No existing Masters level qualification: You can’t have already completed a Masters, MPhil or PhD. You’re still eligible if you hold a PG Certificate or Diploma.

Eligible courses

You can get a Carnegie Masters Grant for any Masters programme at select Scottish universities. You can find the full list on the Carnegie Masters Grant Applicant Guide. As you’ll see, most of the well-known ones are on the list.

The grants are not available for PG Certificates and Diplomas, MBA courses, MPhils, PhDs and integrated undergraduate courses.

You can study full-time, part-time (at least twice the length of the full-time equivalent) or through distance learning.

Applications are currently open and close on 31 July 2026 for the 2026/27 academic year.

You must apply via the Carnegie Foundation website, where you’ll need to fill out an online application form and submit these documents:

• ID proof (passport or driving license)
• Proof of Scottish connection
• Scottish Masters loan award notice which shows you’ve borrowed the full amount
• University offer letter

You’ll also need to answer three questions around your professionals goals, academic history and contribution to Scottish society in around 500 words each.

Tips from the author

The Carnegie Masters Grant targets a real problem: the gap between what the government loan covers and what top Scottish universities actually charge. If your fees land above £7,000, this is worth pursuing seriously.

The thing worth knowing is that this grant is designed to stack with the Scottish Masters Loan. You're expected to take the loan first and the grant covers what's left (up to a certain amount!). However, not all postgraduate funding works this way. Always check the small print before assuming two sources of funding will add up to more money in your pocket.

Frequently Asked Questions