How to apply for a scholarship, step by step
Most people apply for scholarships in the wrong order — award first, course second. Pick your deadline below and get the dates to hit. Scholarships are lost to a missing transcript far more often than to a weak application.
Dates marked “around” are the end of that award’s usual closing month — it sets the exact day each year, so confirm on the official page.
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1
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Work out what you are aiming at
Shortlist courses and the scholarships that fund them. Write every deadline in one place — they do not move for you.
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2
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Start the university applications
Most fully funded awards want proof of a place, or at least an application under way. Chevening asks for three courses.
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3
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Ask your referees
Six months is not too early. A professor who taught you two years ago needs reminding who you are, and time to write properly.
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4
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Order transcripts and translations
Certified translation takes one to three weeks, and universities are slow to release documents. This is what delays most applications.
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5
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Write the first draft
Bad and finished beats good and unstarted. You will rewrite it four times, so start early enough to.
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6
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Sit the English test
IELTS, TOEFL or PTE. Results take up to two weeks, and you may want to resit — leave room for both.
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7
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Final draft, and chase the referees
Give it to someone who will be honest. Remind referees politely; most have simply forgotten.
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8
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Submit
Not on the last day. Application portals fall over on deadline day, every single year.
Questions about applying
Where do I apply for scholarship to study abroad?
Course first, scholarship second. Almost every fully funded award wants proof you have a university place, or an application under way, so applying for scholarships before you have applied to courses gets the order wrong.
After that: references, transcripts, English test, essay, submit. The planner on page one turns your deadline into the dates for each of those.
You apply for scholarships directly with the body giving the money — the government, the university or the foundation. There is no central form, nobody can register for scholarship money on your behalf, and any agent claiming otherwise wants a fee.
How to apply for scholarships in practice: pick the course, then the award that funds it, then work backwards from the deadline.
When should I start?
Twelve months before the deadline if you can, six at the absolute minimum. Referees need six weeks. Certified translations take one to three. English test results take two, and you may want to resit.
None of that is the hard part. It is just slow, and it cannot be rushed at the end.