Scholarships and fees

Scholarships, loans and discounts are available for postgraduate study.

On

Department Scholarships

Scholarships of up to £3000 are available on the basis of academic excellence and Access and Participation criteria. The amount awarded will be determined by the number of criteria you meet and your application statement. The scholarship will be paid directly to you so you can use it towards fees or living expenses – the choice is yours.

Eligibility criteria

To apply for a scholarship you have to meet the following criteria:

Be a UK/EU student for fee purposes.
Be applying for any Masters course in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering.
Hold, or are predicted to obtain, a first class undergraduate degree or you meet one or more of the Access and Participation criteria listed below.

How to apply

To apply for a scholarship, please complete this form. Your statement should be no more than 750 words and explain how receipt of this scholarship will benefit you. Particular attention will be given to:

Achievements to date.
Clearly articulated future ambitions. These goals relate to the postgraduate degree you have applied for, and they should involve appropriate and credible contributions from which others will benefit.
Why the particular course is the best route to help you achieve these goals.
How the course will help you build on your current skills and abilities and the benefits of this.

Access and Participation criteria

You have been in care as a looked-after child for at least 13 weeks since the age of 14 and be aged under 25 on the first day of your course. You have a disability.
You are estranged from your parents and are aged under 25 on the first day of your course.
You are a carer for an ill or disabled family member.
As an undergraduate student you were/are in receipt of support from the Student Loans Company which indicates that your household income was assessed as £40,000 or less.
You were/are in receipt of a Maintenance Grant as an undergraduate (if you started your undergraduate course after August 2016 you will need to provide evidence from the Student Loans Company to confirm your household income was assessed as £40,000 or less).
You are from a black or minority ethnic group.
You are a woman applying for a postgraduate taught course in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering.
You come from one of the most deprived areas of the country as defined by the government's IMD (Indices of Multiple Deprivation) database. If your postcode IMD value is 16,250 or less, you meet this criteria. You can check your postcode ranking using the IMD website. You should check the postcode for the address you lived at during your last year of school or college. Please note this criteria only applies to students who live in England.
You come from an area where it is unusual for people to go to university. This is defined by the government's classification called Polar 3, to meet this criteria your address must fall into quintile 1 or 2 in the young participation quintile or the Adult HE qualification quintile. You can check your postcode quintile using the POLAR search tool. You should check the postcode for the address you lived at during your last year of school or college. Please note this criteria only applies to students from the UK.

Fees and funding

It's important to find out how much the fees are for your course and get advice on funding your studies.

We recommend using the University's online support:

Guidance on postgraduate taught tuition fees 2019/2020:

Sheffield is one of the top 10 most affordable university cities in the UK. It is estimated living in Sheffield for 12 months (September to August) will cost £12,180. Below is a suggested outline of how this will be spent:

Accommodation and food
Books and equipment
Insurance
Local transport costs

Students with dependents will need to budget for additional expenses. You should budget £680 per month for each dependent (spouse or child).

Further information on living costs can be found here: www.sheffield.ac.uk/ssid/finance

Postgraduate masters loans

Loans of up to £10,906 are available to students studying eligible taught masters courses from October 2019. There is no minimum loan request amount and you can amend the amount of loan requested up to one month before the end of the academic year.

Are you eligible?

You must be under 60 years old
You must not already hold a masters qualification, an equivalent level qualification or a higher level qualification
You must have been resident in England for three years on the first day of your course and be a UK national, or have settled status in the UK

How will the loans be paid?

The Student Loans Company will pay your loan directly to you in three instalments per year of study
Repayments will be calculated as 6% of income above £21,000
The loans will attract interest of RPI+3%. This interest will accrue from the date of the first loan instalment

For further information and to apply visit postgraduate loans.

Sheffield Postgraduate Scholarships (SPS)

If you're a UK/EU student starting a postgraduate masters course in 2020, you could receive one of 100 postgraduate scholarships worth £10,000.

To be eligible you must meet all the set criteria, including:

Studying a taught postgraduate course full-time or part-time for a maximum of four years
Domiciled in the UK or European Union (EU) and not charged international rate fees
Not already qualified at masters level, or higher
Must be self-funding - courses fully funded by the NHS or the Initial Teacher Training bursary, or courses that are eligible for undergraduate funding such as integrated masters are not eligible

Applications for the SPS are now closed. For more information information about the SPS scheme, please click here.

Scholarships for international students

The department has been attracting high calibre international students for many years and, along with the University, we are committed to rewarding applicants of exceptional promise and high academic standing.

Just select your home country from the following list to see which scholarships are available to international postgraduate taught course students.

Guillermo Zavala (MMet Advanced Metallurgy student) was awarded a Postgraduate Merit Scholarship. Read more about GuillermoMaria Graciela Vazques García (MSc(Eng) Aerospace Materials) was awarded a British Chevening Scholarship.