At Lancaster, we are investing in the future of our students by enabling access to a world-class education. We believe that funding concerns should not stop any student with the talent to thrive. There are various scholarships, bursaries and funding opportunities for Linguistics Master's and PhD students.
For “1+3” applications (MA followed by PhD), you must apply for the PhD programme AT LEAST one month before the funding application deadline in order to allow time for your application to be processed.
Please note that unless clearly stated, for all awards, you must have already applied for and accepted an offer of a place on one of the relevant programmes.
MA level Scholarships and bursaries accordion
Lancaster University forms part of the ESRC's North West Social Science Doctoral Training Partnership (NWSSDTP). Each year, around 60 studentships are awarded across the four institutions that make up the partnership for research in areas covered by the ESRC.
Apply for a place on a programme by Monday 13 January 2025
AND submit a NWSSDTP Funding Application by Monday 3 February 2025 (5pm)
The Lancaster Master's Scholarship offers a scholarship for high-achieving postgraduate taught students eligible for home fee status.
How to apply: You will be automatically considered for this funding when you apply
Eligibility: Home students
Schemes: Postgraduate taught students
The Department offers one 'fees-only' bursary for students wishing to study for a Master's on any of our MA programmes, including both campus-based and by-distance programmes. The recipient will need to meet their general living expenses themselves.
Award criteria: The scholarships will be awarded on a competitive basis. Candidates for a scholarship will be ranked based on the following criteria:
Academic ability (as evidenced by academic record and references)
Suitability for the programme applied for
Commitment to scholarship in the relevant field(s)
Potential for contribution to scholarship and society more generally
To encourage the academic and professional development of promising university graduates and promote greater diversity in the language testing community in the UK, the British Council is offering two fixed-term apprenticeships in language assessment. Candidates with legal residency in the UK are eligible to apply. As part of the British Council’s commitment to addressing underrepresentation in the field of language assessment within the UK, we particularly encourage applications from Black, Asian and other ethnic minorities.
The opportunity to work full-time for two years as an apprentice with the British Council in the UK is offered in collaboration with Lancaster University. While working, each apprentice will also study part-time on the internationally renowned online MA programme in Language Testing at Lancaster University. This also takes two years, with five taught modules and a concluding dissertation project.
At the British Council, the apprentices will spend their first year working “hands on” with the team responsible for the development and delivery of English language tests. In the second year, they will join the team with responsibility for British Council language testing research. This experience will support their dissertation project, completed in the final six months of the academic programme at Lancaster University.
The working location for apprentices can be flexible (by agreement) but they should be able to attend one of the British Council offices in the UK on request (in London, Manchester, Edinburgh, Cardiff or Belfast). The MA programme is delivered fully online.
The apprenticeship scheme is not taking new apprentices to start this year (from September 2025). Information about the application process for apprenticeships starting in September 2026 will be available here from early 2026.
The British Council is offering two scholarships to eligible applicants who live in and are citizens of or legally resident in sub-Saharan African countries. This is to encourage the academic and professional development of promising graduates in sub-Saharan Africa and to promote diversity in the language testing profession at a global level.
The scholarships are offered in collaboration with Lancaster University. Each scholarship covers programme fees. The online MA programme in Language Testing at Lancaster University is run over two years, with five taught modules and a concluding dissertation project.
Most students undertaking the MA programme are in full or part time employment and the programme is designed to be taken alongside work and other commitments. It is ideally suited to those working in education or assessment environments, allowing their work and studies to complement each other. This is an excellent opportunity to become part of an exciting global network of professionals.
How to apply
To apply for the scholarship, please complete and submit the application form. This form will be available from mid-March 2025. The deadline to submit your Expression of Interest (EOI) is Monday, 12 May 2025 (midnight, UK time).
The selection process
The EoIs will be evaluated by a panel, and criteria will include eligibility in terms of citizenship or residency, as well as whether the Lancaster University MA programme admission criteria will be met. Applicants may be asked to provide documents to demonstrate both eligibility and programme admission suitability. Shortlisted candidates will be invited for a brief interview (conducted online). We aim to notify the shortlisted candidates by Friday, 23 May 2025. The provisional date for the interviews is Tuesday,27 May 2025.
This scholarship for MA study was originally set up by the Department of Linguistics and English Language at Lancaster to mark the retirement of Professor Geoffrey Leech, who sadly died in August 2014. The scholarship continues thanks to a bequeathment left by Professor Leech. Geoff Leech was one of our most eminent and long-serving colleagues and was internationally renowned for his pioneering work in modern English grammar, stylistics, pragmatics and corpus linguistics. As co-author of the Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language and the Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English, he was and remains one of the foremost authorities on the English language. The scholarship is for study on any of our MA programmes, both campus-based and by distance. The recipient will need to meet their general living expenses themselves.
The Lancaster Global Scholarship is for international applicants with a first-class (or equivalent) degree. The scholarship is awarded as a tuition fee waiver for Postgraduate Taught programmes (excluding MBA programmes) and will be automatically awarded if students meet the eligibility criteria and terms and conditions.
Eligibility: International students
The Peel Trust Studentship is unique to Lancaster, and is reserved for applicants aged 21 or over on the first day of the first term for which they are seeking assistance. You can apply in any year of study. Both UK and international students may apply, with applications assessed on the basis of academic merit and financial need.
The Alumni Loyalty Scholarship will offer a reduction in tuition fees to all taught master's programmes for eligible applicants, determined by the level of undergraduate or postgraduate award achieved.
You do not need to apply for this scholarship, you will qualify automatically if you meet the eligibility criteria and the course entry requirements.
In November 2015 the UK Government introduced a postgraduate loan scheme. A Postgraduate Master's Loan can help with course fees and living costs while you study a postgraduate master’s course.
