Funding and Admissions FAQs

Any individual beginning a new graduate degree as a member of King’s College and the University of Cambridge is eligible to apply for funding.

Applications are made via the Cambridge University Applicant Portal.  Simply tick ‘Yes - I wish to apply for funding' in the funding section of the Applicant Portal. This will mean that you will be automatically considered for some funding (e.g. most Cambridge Trust funds, Research Council awards, etc.) You will also be presented with any other funds that you are eligible for, allowing you to choose which ones you wish to apply for and answer any necessary questions. Note that you need to apply by the published course funding deadlines, unless shown otherwise.

For details on how to apply to Cambridge University, see the How Do I Apply? pages, and for deadline dates for course applications, see the relevant course details.

The Cambridge University website has details of funding sources at www.graduate.study.cam.ac.uk/finance/funding

No, it is not necessary to meet with anyone at King’s regarding your application for funding. Interviews are not part of the selection process.

You apply for a King’s studentship at the same time as you apply to Cambridge, prior to the course funding deadlines. See the relevant course details for course closing dates.

Applicants are assessed in competition with all other applicants who have applied for funding. Academic achievements to date and potential for academic excellence in future research, will play a key part in any decisions. For some King's studentships, we will also take into account other factors, such as applicants who have been disadvantaged in their studies.

We strongly advise potential applicants to choose King's as their first choice College. By doing so, it offers you a better chance of being offered membership here, without which you would not be eligible for funding from King’s.

Yes, you must have been offered membership to King’s via the University Application system, in order to receive a King's studentship.

Most offers are made in the period between April and late June. If you haven't been notified that you have been awarded a studentship by the end of July, then, unfortunately, you should assume that your application for funding has been unsuccessful. Due to the number of applications received, we will be unable to provide any specific feedback to unsuccessful applicants. 

The number of studentships that we are able to award varies from year to year, depending upon the amount of funding that we have available. We hope to be able to make around 20 new awards annually.

This number varies from year to year. The majority of students who apply to King's also apply to be considered for funding. With an annual intake of around 120 new graduate students, most of these will then be eligible for consideration.

Competition for studentships is strong, as you will be able to ascertain from some of the answers above – see the replies to the two questions immediately above to give you an idea of how likely you are to receive an award from King’s.

In most cases, no subject is given priority for funding over any other subject and the majority of studentships will be open to all graduate students. Applications are primarily assessed on academic achievement and potential, regardless of the subject. We have a few subject-specific studentships, and these are shown in the details under "Other Studentships's at King's" on this page.

When you apply for funding, you are considered for all eligible funding that King’s has available. Therefore, if your application is not successful, there is no other funding that you can apply to directly from King’s, in order to fund your course.  

If you become a member of King’s, however, you may apply for funding for conferences, travel, research expenses and, in certain circumstances, other ad hoc expenses. You will be notified about this, and the application procedures, once you have started at King's.

There is no fixed sum for a King’s studentship award. Some applicants may already have been offered some funding from elsewhere, so only partial funding would be required. A full award will cover the University Composition Fee and maintenance (living expenses) at the rate advertised in the Course Fees information on the University web site. Partial awards may cover one or more of these elements.

You cannot be considered again for the same course. However, if you are starting a new course, e.g. a PhD after completing an MPhil, you can apply again for a King’s studentship.

We usually close in March for courses starting in October of that year.

Your application for College membership must get to us before we close for graduate admissions, which is usually in March, for an October start. Therefore, we would advise that you apply as early as you can, as the application process can be lengthy. If you are concerned at any time about your College application not getting to King’s on time, you can track its progress on your self-service page on CamSIS and, if necessary, depending where your application is up to, contact the Department or the University's Postgraduate Admissions Office to check on its progress.

Yes, the studentship competition is open to all individuals applying for a new graduate degree at the University of Cambridge and King’s College, regardless of nationality, subject, gender, religion, etc.

At King's, we do everything possible to contextualise all applications, including for financial circumstances. Therefore, we ask you to let us know your situation as part of the application process, for this to be considered.

Please refer to the University Applicant Portal regarding what supporting information is required.

Please refer to the University Applicant Portal regarding what supporting information is required.

If you have nominated King's College as your preferred College, once we are notified that you have received an offer to study at Cambridge, your application will come to us for review. We aim to review your application and make a decision within two weeks. However, this can take longer for a number of reasons, particularly from the middle of January to early March, when we receive the most applications for consideration. 

If you have not heard back within three weeks of your application reaching King's, please feel free to contact us for an update.

In a few instances, our studentships can be applied for by students who are applying to, or have been offered admission by, another College. Specifically, these are the King's-Yale Fellowship, The Quantedge-Cambridge Refugee Masters Scholarship, The Fielder Studentship and The Douton Studentship. Potential recipients of these studentships can usually transfer to King's, provided that the other College is in agreement. Colleges understand that sometimes students will be in this position and we endeavour to work together to allow students to switch Colleges when funding is a factor.

Should an offer be made for a full studentship, the University Composition Fee will be covered for the overseas rate. However, in some cases, depending on how much funding is available to offer, a set figure may be offered towards the University Composition Fee which may not cover the overseas rate in full.

If you ticked ‘Yes - I wish to apply for funding' on your University application form, applied before the course funding deadlines, and you have been offered membership at King’s, you will be considered for funding from both King’s and the University Shared Funding Scheme.

Please email graduate.admissions@kings.cam.ac.uk and we will do our best to get back to you as soon as possible.