The Bristol Think Big Scholarships are tuition fee discounts from the University of Bristol for international students starting a full-time undergraduate or master’s degree in September 2027. Undergraduates can receive £3,000, £6,500 or £13,000 a year for up to four years. Master’s students can receive £6,500, £13,000 or £26,000, for the first year. Bristol says it has put up to £5 million into Think Big awards for the 2027 intake.
Applications open at 10:00 UK time on 27 October 2026, and the deadline is 1:00pm UK time on 19 March 2027. You need a Bristol application ID before you start the scholarship form, and you must hold a Bristol offer by 19 March 2027. The award is open to students from any country who pay overseas fees. I checked the details below on the University of Bristol scholarship pages and the 2027/28 Think Big terms on 25 October 2026.
Bristol Think Big Scholarships 2027 at a glance
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| University | University of Bristol, England, UK |
| Intake | September 2027 only |
| Undergraduate values | £3,000, £6,500 or £13,000 per year, for up to four years |
| Master’s values | £6,500, £13,000 or £26,000, first year only |
| Total budget | Up to £5 million for 2027 entry |
| Who can apply | Overseas fee payers from any country, on a full-time, in-person course |
| Form | One online form, three questions of up to 1,000 characters each |
| Applications open | 27 October 2026, 10:00 UK time |
| Deadline | 19 March 2027, 1:00pm UK time (13:00 GMT) |
| Outcomes | Early May 2027 |
| Acceptance deadline | End of May 2027 |
The 2026 round, for September 2026 entry, closed at 10am UK time on 10 April 2026. The 2027 deadline is three weeks earlier in the calendar, so do not plan around last year’s date.
How much the Think Big Scholarships are worth
Every Think Big award is a discount on your tuition fee. Bristol takes it off your fee at enrolment and pays nothing in cash. The value you get depends on the level you study and the band the panel places you in.
| Level | Award bands | How long it lasts | Condition to keep it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Undergraduate | £3,000, £6,500 or £13,000 a year | Each year you pay full fees, up to four years | An average above 50% each year |
| Master’s | £6,500, £13,000 or £26,000 | First year of study only | Enrol on the course you applied for |
For an undergraduate, the £13,000 band over a four-year degree adds up to £52,000. For a one-year master’s, the £26,000 band will cover a large share of the fee on many programmes. The terms say the discount can never be more than the tuition you owe, so it will not create a refund.
Bristol also runs named awards inside the scheme, such as “Think Big about” a subject area, Think Big Career Accelerator and Think Big about Research, plus linked bursaries like the Michael Wong Pakshong Bursary. The same form considers you for all the awards you qualify for. Bristol says more undergraduate and postgraduate awards will be added by the end of November 2026. Bursaries are paid into a UK bank account in the first year after you enrol, and you can hold a bursary or a living cost stipend alongside a Think Big scholarship.
Think Big Scholarships eligibility
There is no country list. If Bristol classes you as an overseas student for fee purposes, your nationality does not matter. The 2027/28 terms set these conditions:
- Fee status: you must be classed as an overseas student. Your fee status appears in your offer.
- Course: a full-time, in-person undergraduate or master’s course at Bristol starting in September 2027. Online and part-time study do not qualify.
- Application ID: you must have applied to Bristol and received an application ID (Student ID, Kaplan ID or UCAS ID) before you open the scholarship form.
- Offer: you must have received a Bristol offer before 19 March 2027. Bristol withdraws scholarship applications from people with no offer by then.
- Entry requirements: undergraduates must meet or beat the conditions in their UCAS offer by 31 August 2027 and make Bristol their UCAS firm choice. Master’s applicants must meet the published entry requirements.
Edge cases worth checking
- Several Bristol offers: you must choose one offer for your scholarship application by the deadline, or the application may be ruled ineligible.
- Deferral: the award is for September 2027 entry only. If you defer to 2028, you have to apply again, with no promise of success.
- Two-year master’s: the postgraduate discount still applies to the first year only.
- Placement or study abroad years: the undergraduate discount continues in years spent away from Bristol, as long as you pay full fees for that year.
- Changing course: Bristol looks at each case and does not guarantee you keep the award.
- Repeat years and suspension: no funding for a repeated year, supplementary study or a period of suspension.
Which courses qualify
Bristol publishes a list of eligible undergraduate and postgraduate courses on its Think Big page, and in the 2026 round courses marked with an asterisk had more than one award. Older listings, including Scholars4Dev, say Medicine, Dentistry and Veterinary Science are left out. The 2027/28 terms I read do not name excluded subjects, so look for your exact course on the list before you write anything. If it is not there, the award is not open to you.
Think Big Scholarships deadline and key dates
| Stage | Date (UK time) |
|---|---|
| Scholarship form opens | 27 October 2026, 10:00 |
| New named awards added | By the end of November 2026 |
| Last day to hold a Bristol offer | 19 March 2027 |
| Deadline | 19 March 2027, 1:00pm |
| Outcomes shared | Early May 2027 |
| Offer holders accept the scholarship | End of May 2027 |
| Award letters sent | July 2027 |
| Undergraduate conditions must be met | 31 August 2027 |
| Course starts | September 2027 |
Apply early
The terms say Bristol may give priority to applicants who apply earlier in the year. Your offer must also arrive before 19 March 2027, so send your course application in the autumn, not in March.
UK clocks move to summer time on 28 March 2027, after the deadline, so 1:00pm UK time on 19 March is 13:00 GMT. That is 2:00pm in Lagos, 4:00pm in Nairobi and 6:30pm in New Delhi.
How to apply for the Bristol Think Big Scholarships
- Find your course on the eligible list: open the Think Big page on bristol.ac.uk and confirm your exact programme name.
- Apply to Bristol: undergraduates apply through UCAS; master’s applicants use Bristol’s online postgraduate application. Some students come through Kaplan’s international college route, which also gives an ID.
- Note your application ID: you will type it into the scholarship form so Bristol can match the two applications.
- Draft your three answers offline: write them in a document, count characters including spaces, and keep each one under 1,000.
- Complete the online form: section one asks for personal details, which must match your course application exactly. Section two holds the three questions. Section three asks you to accept the data statement, the terms and an academic integrity statement. You can save and come back.
- Submit and check your email: you cannot edit after submitting. A confirmation email follows; look in junk mail if it does not arrive.
- Get your offer by 19 March 2027: if you hold several, pick the one your scholarship application is tied to.
- Accept by the end of May: if you are successful in early May, accept the scholarship before the end of May 2027. Undergraduates must also firm Bristol on UCAS.
For questions about the form, Bristol’s international scholarships team answers at international-scholarships@bristol.ac.uk.
How to answer the three Think Big questions
One thousand characters is roughly 150 to 180 words. That is short, so every sentence needs a fact in it. Bristol’s guidance names the three themes:
| Question theme | What it asks | What to put in |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Achievements | Special skills or achievements outside your academic studies that show ambition and how you made a difference | One or two results with numbers: a project you started, a competition placing, money raised, people reached |
| 2. Ambassadorial potential | How you could benefit your community, or how you have built relationships and networks | A group you led or joined, what you did for it, and what you would do in the Bristol community |
| 3. Studies and future plans | What drew you to Bristol and your long-term career goals | Named modules, research groups or facilities, then a specific job or field you are aiming for |
Here is an example opening for question one: “In 2025 I started a free coding club at my secondary school with two borrowed laptops. Within a year, 46 students had joined and four built apps for local shops.” It states what you did, when, and the result, and leaves room for one more sentence on what you learned.
Watch the AI rule. The terms treat using AI or translation tools to write a scholarship application as cheating, and the application can be ruled ineligible. Bristol allows only checking spelling and basic grammar, or generating an occasional short phrase inside a sentence. Write in your own voice, even if your English is plain. Recipients also join as university ambassadors and are invited into the Think Big Development Programme, so question two carries real weight.
Common mistakes that cost applicants the award
- Waiting until March to apply for the course, then missing the 19 March offer cut-off.
- Using a different spelling of your name or a different email on the scholarship form, so Bristol cannot match it to your course application.
- Going over 1,000 characters. Count spaces too.
- Pasting a generic personal statement that could be about any university.
- Drafting with an AI chatbot, which breaks the academic integrity statement you sign.
- Putting Bristol as your UCAS insurance choice instead of your firm choice.
- Assuming the master’s award repeats in year two of a two-year course.
What happens after you apply
A panel reviews the answers after the deadline and Bristol shares outcomes in early May 2027. If you win, you accept by the end of May, and a formal award letter follows in July. The discount is applied to your fee when you enrol in September. Allocations are final, and Bristol does not hear requests outside its standard process.
If you also win another Bristol fee discount, you keep the higher one; the Alumni Discount is the only one applied on top. External funding is allowed alongside Think Big, as long as the total does not go past your fee. If an outside sponsor pays your full tuition, you lose eligibility for Think Big, and you must tell Bristol about any other university scholarship you receive.
Costs the Think Big Scholarship does not cover
Even the £26,000 band is partial funding for most students. Plan for these costs before you accept:
- The rest of your tuition after the discount, and any deposit Bristol asks for to confirm your place
- Rent, food and transport in Bristol for the whole year
- The Student visa fee, which UK universities quote at £524 for 2026
- The Immigration Health Surcharge, quoted at £776 per year of visa leave
- Flights, English tests, transcripts and courier fees
For the visa, you show the rest of your first-year fees plus living costs held for 28 days. Swansea University’s September 2026 visa guidance gives the living cost figure outside London as £1,171 a month (£10,539 for nine months) for applications before 30 November 2026, rising to £1,203 a month (£10,827) after that date. Bristol is outside London, so the higher figure applies to anyone applying for a 2027 visa. Check GOV.UK before you move money, because UKVI sets these amounts.
Who should apply, and who should not
Apply if you pay overseas fees, have a course on the eligible list, and can show where the remaining money comes from. Undergraduates gain the most, because the discount runs for up to four years as long as you average above 50%. It is also a good fit for master’s applicants with a strong record outside the classroom, since two of the three questions are about what you have done beyond your grades.
Look elsewhere first if you need full funding with a stipend, want a PhD, or plan to start in January. Students from eligible Commonwealth countries should also look at Commonwealth Shared Scholarships, which Bristol hosts on a handful of one-year master’s courses, with tuition, flights and a monthly allowance paid.
How Think Big compares with similar UK scholarships
| Scholarship | Value | Level | Deadline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bristol Think Big | £3,000 to £13,000 a year (UG); £6,500 to £26,000 (PG) | Bachelor’s, master’s | 19 March 2027 |
| Manchester Global Futures Scholarship | £10,000 to £36,000 off tuition | Bachelor’s, master’s (23 countries) | Varies by region |
| Cardiff International Excellence Scholarship | £10,000 off year one | Bachelor’s | 2 April 2027 |
| Commonwealth Shared Scholarships | Full tuition, flights, monthly stipend | One-year master’s | 8 December 2026 |
For options outside the UK, our list of scholarships in Europe covers government and university awards across the continent.
FAQs on the Bristol Think Big Scholarships
Is the Bristol Think Big Scholarship fully funded?
No. It is a tuition discount of £3,000 to £13,000 a year for undergraduates or £6,500 to £26,000 for master’s students. You pay the rest of the fee and your living costs.
When is the Think Big Scholarship deadline for 2027?
The deadline is 1:00pm UK time on 19 March 2027. You must also hold a Bristol offer by that date.
Do I need an offer before applying for Think Big?
You need a Bristol application ID to start the form, and you must receive an offer before 19 March 2027. Applications from people with no offer by then are withdrawn.
Can I use AI to write my Think Big application?
No. Bristol treats AI or translation tools in a scholarship application as cheating, apart from spelling and grammar checks and the occasional short phrase. Write the answers yourself.
Sources and updates
The 2027 award values, the £5 million budget and the timeline come from the University of Bristol scholarships for international students page. Eligibility, renewal, stacking, deferral and the AI rule come from the Think Big terms and conditions for 2027/28, and the form structure and 1,000-character limit come from Bristol’s Think Big application guidance. The 10 April 2026 closing date comes from Bristol’s 2026 Think Big page. Visa cost figures are from Swansea University’s September 2026 visa finance guidance; confirm them on GOV.UK. Checked on 25 October 2026. I will update this page when Bristol adds the new named awards in November.
I am Jude Chinecherem, a final-year MBBS student at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. I know what it feels like to want an education your family cannot afford. When my parents could not pay for my schooling, I had to learn how to find scholarships and work the system out on my own, with nobody to guide me. I came out the other side, and now I share everything I learned so the next student does not have to figure it out alone. This is the advice I wish someone had given me back then.
