Scholarships and fees
Scholarships, loans and discounts are available for postgraduate study.

Faculty and 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 student.
- 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
Deadline to apply for the scholarship is 13:00 (UK time) on Friday 3rd September 2021.
All applicants will be contacted by Friday 24th September 2021
Selection Process
This is a competitive process and not all applications will be successful. When reviewing your application, senior members of faculty staff will give regard to the following:
- Applicant has detailed their strengths and weaknesses and why they would be a good recipient of this scholarship.
- Applicant has provided a clear rationale for applying for a postgraduate course at the University of Sheffield.
- Applicant has clearly articulated future ambitions; these goals relate to the postgraduate degree he/she has applied for.
- Access and Participation criteria
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- 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.
Alumni Rewards
Our graduates may be eligible for up to a 20% tuition fee discount for their PGT programme, thanks to our Postgraduate Taught Alumni Loyalty Award (capped at £1,500) and Alumni Excellence Scholarships (capped at £2,500). Our graduates who move on to postgraduate research may be eligible for a 10% tuition fee discount (capped at £1,500).
Find out more about Alumni Rewards
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:
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 £11,222 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.
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.