This new scheme helps students from low-income Scottish households undertake Masters programmes of study at Scottish universities. It helps to cover the cost of tuition fees and, in some cases, will offer additional support for study costs.
The scheme aims to:
- Support people from low-income backgrounds who want to return to higher education to upskill or reskill to change career
- Increase the numbers of low-income students undertaking postgraduate study in Scotland
- Equip graduates with the skills and expertise to meet current and emerging skills gaps in Scotland.
This grant will provide a contribution towards the cost of Home-rate tuition fees for Masters programmes up to £10,000 (full-time) or £5,000 per year (part-time).
In some cases, a Carnegie Masters Grant can also help with the additional costs of study, such as travel, childcare, or equipment costs.
The application for this grant opens on 1 May 2026 and closes 31 July 2026.
Eligibility
To be eligible for this grant:
- You must be ordinarily resident in Scotland
- You must have a meaningful connection to Scotland:
- As well as having a permanent home in Scotland, you must be able to demonstrate a meaningful connection to the country, meaning you must either have: Completed two years full-time at a Scottish secondary school or college OR A substantial connection to Scotland through: residency (not including time at university); earlier education; family life; work life. If applying on the basis of a “substantial connection” please contact the Carnegie Education Fund directly before applying.
- You live in a lower income household: grants are for students whose household income falls within the following thresholds:
|
Dependents
|
Single person household
|
Couples
|
|
No children
|
£30,000
|
£35,000
|
|
1 child
|
£35,000
|
£40,000
|
|
2 children
|
£40,000
|
£45,000
|
|
3 children
|
£45,000
|
£50,000
|
|
Per additional child
|
£5,000
|
£5,000
|
- You have secured an offer (conditional or unconditional) on an eligible taught or research Masters programme
- You do not already have a Masters qualification, such as a Masters (taught or research), MPhil or PhD. If you hold a postgraduate Certificate or Diploma qualification, then you are still eligible to apply
Eligible courses
If you meet the criteria above, you can apply for a Carnegie Masters grant for any Masters programme awarded by Edinburgh Napier University.
The following courses are not eligible for support:
- Postgraduate courses leading solely to a Certificate or Diploma qualification (e.g. PGDip, PGCert, PGCE, PGDE)
- Masters of Business Administration (MBA) courses MPhil or PhD programmes.
- Programmes that are the postgraduate component of an undergraduate Architecture programme (i.e. MArch)
Applicants may hold an offer to study on a full-time, part-time (minimum of 0.5 FTE) or distance learning basis.
Application Procedure
The scheme will open for applications on 1 May 2026 and will close on 31 July 2026.
To apply for the grant, you first need to apply for a postgraduate tuition fee loan, worth up to £7,000, through the Student Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS). You can then apply to Carnegie Education Fund for the remaining costs of your tuition fee.
You can apply using an online application form on The Carnegie Education Fund’s website. This will ask you for information about you, your financial circumstances, education and work history and your chosen course of study.
For further information about applying for the Carnegie Masters Grant and to download the application guide, please see the Carnegie Masters Grant page.
To contact the Carnegie Trust Fund directly, please contact grants@carnegie-trust.org