University of Aberdeen Funding Questions Thread

Welcome to the University of Aberdeen's thread for advice and questions on funding!

We understand that the financial elements of university life can be an unknown for those going to study for the first time and it can be hard to know where to start. Over the coming weeks we will be putting up posts here with information on where to start with your student finance organisation, what steps are good to be aware of, and resources for managing your finances during your time as a student.

This is also a space to ask questions you may have about funding or discuss anything you're unsure or concerned about. We're a long way off from the September 2025 intake and so there's no need to be concerned at this stage, but if there's anything you're wanting straightened out at this stage I'll do my best to get you started in the right direction.

- Matthew, Enquiry Team

Reply 1

UoA Enquiry Team

Official Rep

Funding Bodies for Scottish and RUK Students

To kick this thread off I felt it might be good to share the student funding organisations many of you will be using. The support your funding bodies offer can take several different forms depending on what your eligible for and what they are able to provide. This can vary from tuition fee coverage to loans requiring repayment and there can also be additional funds for support with living or travel expenses. You can go on the website for your funding body (linked below) to find out the steps for signing up and what sort of support you may be eligible for.
Please be assured that there is still plenty of time to sign up, with most funding providers looking for you to apply sometime after the January UCAS deadline.
Most courses that universities offer will have a few different fee statuses listed, with those coming from Scotland classed as Home fees, and students from the rest of the UK or the Republic of Ireland classed as RUK fees (this is due to an agreement between the Irish and UK governments).

You can find some advice for Scottish (Home) students on our website here: https://www.abdn.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/scottish-and-nonuk-eu-students-279.php
And some advice for students from the rest of the UK or the Republic of Ireland (RUK) here: https://www.abdn.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/ruk.php
We would highly recommend seeking advice on applying for student finance from any guidance teachers you may have access to at school. You can also find links to your funding bodies below.

Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS): https://www.saas.gov.uk/
Student Finance England: https://www.gov.uk/student-finance-register-login
Student Finance Northern Ireland: https://www.studentfinanceni.co.uk/
Student Finance Wales: https://www.studentfinancewales.co.uk/
Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI): https://www.susi.ie/

- Matthew, Enquiry Team

(edited 1 month ago)

Reply 2

UoA Enquiry Team

Official Rep

Funding for International Students

For international students the sources of funding available to you will vary depending on your country and what opportunities for studying abroad are offered. I would first recommend exploring what is offered by government in terms of student finance, as many countries will have student funding bodies (through funding for studies abroad can be more difficult). Non-governmental bodies, including educational charities, who provide financial assistance to a diversity of students seeking education overseas are also an option. You can approach commercial and industrial companies in the fields related to your specialisation.
It can be a lot of research to find the funding support which is right for you but it is worth exploring around for what

The University of Aberdeen itself has a number of funding opportunities and scholarships available, and you can use our Funding Database in which you can filter by programme, level of study and country to find out what is available for you: http://www.abdn.ac.uk/funding/
Clicking on a specific funding opportunity or scholarship will take you to details of eligibility and how to apply, and you will usually need to apply for a course first. Most of the time you can only receive one of the scholarships we have on offer. We are unfortunately not able to offer full scholarships but try to provide funding support and advice where we can.

One we would like to make people aware of is our Aberdeen Global Scholarship which is offered to all eligible applicants. It acts as a tuition fee discount to self-funded students and does not require an application, we will assess your eligibility from your application. You can find more details on the Undergraduate option here: https://www.abdn.ac.uk/study/funding/645
And Postgraduate option here: https://www.abdn.ac.uk/study/funding/644

Additionally, we have some resources and advice for both Undergraduate and Postgraduate international students looking for funding on our website which you can look through here: https://www.abdn.ac.uk/study/international/finance.php
We provide some information about estimated cost of living here: https://www.abdn.ac.uk/study/international/tuition-fees-and-living-costs-287.php
And the UK government also lists what fund you need to have for a student visa here: https://www.gov.uk/student-visa/money

I realise this covers a lot of ground, so please do get in contact with us directly by emailing [email protected] if you have questions about any of our scholarships or your country specifically!

- Matthew, Enquiry Team