MMarshall Aid Commemoration Commission (UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Fully funded
Marshall Scholarships
Marshall Aid Commemoration Commission (UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office), United Kingdom
Scholarship overview
Marshall Scholarships fund young Americans of high ability to study for a postgraduate degree in the United Kingdom. Established by a 1953 Act of Parliament in gratitude for the Marshall Plan, they are primarily funded by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and overseen by the Marshall Aid Commemoration Commission, a UK government body.
The scholarships aim to let intellectually distinguished young Americans study in the UK, gain an understanding of contemporary Britain, advance knowledge at UK centres of excellence and act as lifelong ambassadors strengthening British-American understanding.
Awards are tenable at any British university in almost any discipline, for one or two years of master's study, or up to three years where doctoral study is included. Up to 50 scholarships are offered in the 2027 competition, a proportion in STEM-related fields. The Commission particularly welcomes applications to partner universities and to universities other than Oxford, Cambridge and London institutions. Partnership Marshall Scholarships and NIH Marshall Scholarships (PhD in bioscience and medicine at Oxford or Cambridge, jointly funded with the US National Institutes of Health) are awarded through the same competition.
Award Information
- Be a citizen of the United States of America at the time of application.
- Hold a first undergraduate degree from an accredited four-year college or university in the United States by September 2027.
- Have an undergraduate GPA of at least 3.7 (on a 4.0 scale) at the time of application; rounded GPAs are not accepted.
- Have graduated from your first undergraduate institution after April 2024.
- Not have studied for or hold a degree or degree-equivalent qualification from a UK university, and not have taken GCSEs or A Levels in the UK.
- Apply for only one pathway (one-year or two-year, including doctoral) and in only one region; applying for more leads to disqualification.
- Applicants living outside the United States for study or work may apply.
Courses not funded
- Second undergraduate degrees, postgraduate diplomas and certificates, and courses leading to a certificate of completion rather than a degree.
- Professional degrees in medicine, dentistry, veterinary science and law.
- Distance learning, part-time, and courses with long periods away from the university or the UK, including joint degrees with non-UK universities.
- Supervised research not leading to a degree.
- MBA and MSc/MFE Financial Economics at any university; the Oxford MPP is limited to one Marshall Scholar a year.
- Courses starting in January or mid-year, master's courses longer than 12 or 24 months, one-year pathway courses under 10 months and two-year pathway master's courses under 9 months.
- A first-choice course at Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial, King's College London, LSE or UCL cannot be paired with a second choice at any of these in the same year.
- Tuition fees.
- Personal allowance (stipend) for accommodation and living costs, set by the UK government and reviewed annually: £1,452 per month outside London and £1,781 per month in London (2025-26 rates), paid quarterly.
- Economy fares from your US home to your UK university at the start of tenure (including travel to Washington DC for orientation) and return fares at the end.
- UK visa fees and the Immigration Health Surcharge, giving access to the National Health Service.
- Additional allowances to support ambassadorial engagement.
- At the Commission's discretion: initial fares for dependants holding dependant visas, a shipping allowance and a settling-in allowance (no partner allowance or dependant visa costs).
- Third-year funding for scholars who start a PhD in year one; limited extensions for those starting a PhD in year two.
Other scholarships or income may not exceed £10,000 in total, and scholars cannot receive other UK government funding.
2027 competition (study from September 2027):
- 29 September 2026, 5:00pm (endorsing institution's time zone): applicants submit the online application and recommenders submit their letters.
- 1 October 2026, 5:00pm: endorsing institution submits the final application with three recommendation letters and its endorsement letter.
- Early to mid-November 2026: shortlisted candidates notified; interviews held in November 2026.
- Shortly after interviews: offers made; candidates must accept or decline in writing within 5 days. Confirmation letters follow in early to mid-December.
- Check eligibility and choose a pathway: one-year, or two-year (including the 1+1, two-year master's and doctoral options).
- Research UK courses using the Marshall course search and choose first- and second-choice courses for each projected year, following the course rules.
- Contact your US undergraduate institution's Marshall adviser early; institutions may set earlier internal deadlines and may endorse up to 24 applications.
- Complete the online application, including personal statements (and a 300-word statement for the one-year pathway), official transcripts and three recommendation letters, by 29 September 2026. AI tools must not be used to write essays or answers.
- Your institution reviews, endorses (President, Provost or Academic Dean) and submits the application by 1 October 2026.
- If shortlisted, attend an interview with one of eight regional panels in November 2026 (virtual interviews are available if you are overseas).
- If selected, accept within 5 days and apply to your first-choice UK course for Year 1. For Oxford and Cambridge, wait for the Commission to assign your college before submitting, unless course deadlines fall earlier.
Official links
Documents you will need
- Online application form, including course choices for each year and any other scholarships applied for.
- Personal statements; one-year pathway applicants add a statement of up to 300 words on meeting the programme's aims in one year.
- PDF copies of official academic transcripts (scanned copies accepted; unofficial transcripts may make the application ineligible).
- Three letters of recommendation.
- Letter of endorsement from your undergraduate institution.
- At interview: evidence of date of birth and US citizenship (such as a passport) and copies of original transcripts.
How selection works
- Applications are reviewed at eight US regional centres (Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and Washington DC).
- Core criteria: academic merit, leadership potential and ambassadorial potential. University and course choices and award pathway are also considered, to widen the spread of scholars across UK nations and regions.
- Academic merit covers the coherence of the programme of study, the fit of courses and supervisors, the academic record, and the quality of recommendations.
- Shortlisted candidates are interviewed in November; travel costs for in-person interviews may be reimbursed.
- All awards depend on receiving an offer from a UK university.
