Applicant Guidance

How to apply for a scholarship

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Preparation

Prepare Early

We strongly recommend preparing both your course and scholarship applications well in advance of the deadline. These applications take time to complete thoroughly, and early preparation ensures you can submit high-quality materials.

You only need to submit one application. You will automatically be considered for all scholarships for which you are eligible—no need to apply separately.

Contact Your Supervisor

Before applying, contact your potential supervisor or academic department to discuss:

Your course application
Your scholarship application

This conversation can help clarify expectations and strengthen your application.

Tips for Success

Start early and give yourself time to gather documents.
Reach out to your supervisor with clear questions.
Review scholarship criteria to understand eligibility.

Course application

Submit Your Course Application

You must submit your course application via the Universal Admissions System before you can access the scholarship application.
When prompted for scholarship or funder contact information, enter:
Doctoral College Doctoralcollege@warwick.ac.ukLink opens in a new window
If you’ve already submitted your course application without this, don’t worry—it is not essential.

ITS Account Setup

After submitting your course application:

You’ll receive an email within 48 hours containing:
Your 7-digit student ID
Instructions to register your ITS applicant account
Once registered, you’ll be able to access the scholarship application system.

Need Help?

For ITS issues, contact: helpdesk@warwick.ac.uk, +44 24765 73737

Scholarship application

Starting Your Scholarship Application

Begin Your Application

Start your Scholarship Application [opening 15 October 2025].
You will be taken to the ‘Select Scholarship’ page where you can review your details and qualifications. The information here has been taken from your course application so that you do not need to enter it again.
You will need to select the course your scholarship application will be linked to. It is very important that you select the correct course, if you select a course which you later withdraw from or decline, this will also withdraw your scholarship application

Application Questions

Departments and Faculty Assessors responsible for the assessment of your application will follow the Postgraduate Research Ranking CriteriaLink opens in a new window in their evaluation.

In 300 words or less, describe how best you meet the person and preparedness descriptors. You may wish to consider your academic history, skills and expertise, professional experience, and awards or publications.

In 500 words or less, describe how best you meet the project and place descriptors. You may wish to consider the significance of your project, and it’s fit with your proposed supervisors and department(s), including how the multiple groups complement each other if you are applying for an interdisciplinary or joint programme. How will you and/or your project contribute to Warwick’s commitment to excellence in research and education through advancement of diversity, equity, and inclusion?

Research question/title (20 words)

In 500 words or less, briefly describe the general area and fundamental open problems that motivate you to pursue the topic provide a summary of your research proposal. This will be reviewed by assessors who do not have access to your course application and who may not be from your disciplinary background, so descriptions should be in plain English and jargon free. A bibliography is not required.

If you would like to be considered for an Interdisciplinary Chancellor’s Scholarship, in 300 words or less, please describe which Research Spotlight and/or Research Centre it aligns to and how it will be co-supervised across multiple areas of research expertise/interests.

If you would like to be considered for a SJTU-UoW or MWA Joint Scholarship, in 300 words or less please identify the specific joint programme and describe value you will gain from undertaking a joint programme over a single degree at either institution.

If you would like to be considered for a Pathway Scholarship, in 300 words or less please describe how you meet the Pathways Programme criteria.

We will automatically consider you for all funding streams where you meet the eligibility criteria. Are there any eligible funding streams for which you do not wish to be considered?

Your references, degree certificates and transcripts will automatically import from your course application. However, some funding streams require additional supporting documents to be uploaded. Please include the following if you wish to be considered for:

SJTU or MWA Joint scholarships: Joint supervision statement
Doctoral Access (Sanctuary): Evidence of Home Office Status

In 300 words or less, please let us know if there is if there is anything else about your application or personal circumstances that we should be aware, such as a need for reasonable adjustments relating to a disability. This statement will not be used to assess your application and is to help us understand how best to support you.

Note: Faculty Assessors will not have access to your course application including your full research proposal.

Submitting your scholarship application

You will be able to review your application before submitting. The system will prevent you from submitting your application if you have not completed your application properly and will notify you of any issues. Please be aware that you will not be able to amend your application once it has been submitted. You will be sent a confirmation of submission email containing a URL which will take you directly to your application. We would recommend that you bookmark this page so you can visit it directly.

Supporting documents

Supporting Documents

Please do not upload documents (e.g. transcripts, references) directly to your scholarship application.

Except for the following scholarships:

Doctoral Access Scholarship: please upload evidence of one of the following UK Government statuses:

Asylum Seeker:
- - A scanned copy of your ARC (Application Registration Card)
  - Your most recent Bail 201 letter

Humanitarian Protection, Discretionary Leave to Remain, or Limited Leave to Remain:
- - A scanned copy of your current visa
  - A copy of the Home Office decision on your asylum application, or evidence that your visa resulted from an asylum claim

SJTU-Warwick or Monash-Warwick Alliance Joint PhD Scholarship: Please upload your joint supervision statement.

China Scholarship Council (CSC) Funding: If you're a current student, you may upload new degree certificates or transcripts that were not included in your original course application. You can also add new referees in the next section.

All other supporting documents are imported from your course application.
Make sure you upload all required documents to your course application by the supporting document deadline.

In some cases, the message "There was a problem loading this PDF" will show next to an imported supporting document on your scholarship application. Please do not worry about this, it will have no impact on the assessment of your scholarship application.

Document Queries

For any questions about documents, contact:

Postgraduate Admissions
pgadmissions@warwick.ac.ukLink opens in a new window

The Doctoral College cannot upload or accept documents via email.

Next steps

Assessment Process

Warwick operates transparent ranking criteria that enables candidates to understand how their application will be assessed. Refer to the PGR Ranking CriteriaLink opens in a new window. Competition for awards is very high and scholarship offers will be made to those who are able to demonstrate academic excellence and the potential to be an outstanding research student, up to the specified number of awards available.

Once the scholarship deadline has passed, your application will be assessed in the following way:

Departments are asked to nominate their strongest applications and provide a nomination statement. The nomination statement will contextualise your application and references and will outline your strengths and fit within the department. Due to the limited number of awards available, departments are allocated a specific number of nominations
Faculty PGR Scholarship Management Groups will discuss all nominated applications and approve the award allocations. It is the Faculty PGR Scholarship Management Groups' responsibility to ensure that university processes and policies are free, fair, and transparent.

The Doctoral College will contact all applicants by the date noted above. Please do not contact the Doctoral College in advance of this date to enquire about the result.
Due to the number of applications received each year, we regret being unable to provide feedback to unsuccessful applicants.

Frequently asked questions:

Once I have submitted my scholarship application, can I make any changes? Can I receive a scholarship offer if I haven’t received an admission offer? I’m updating my CV, where do I upload it? My fee status is incorrect, how do I get this changed?

We are building this page. If you have a query that is not covered in the information and FAQs here, please let us know.