Scholarship deadline calendar: when the big international awards close

A strong essay can't help if the deadline has passed, and the big scholarships close far earlier than most people expect. Many of the awards below closed 9 to 12 months before their scholars' first day of class. If you start looking the summer before you want to travel, the best-known awards have usually gone.

This calendar shows when each big award closed in its most recent round, month by month. Every date comes from the award's official page, as recorded on ScholarHarbor and checked in October 2026. Dates move by a few days each year, so read them as "around this time" and open each award for the current date. For awards closing in the next few weeks, see scholarships closing soon.

June to August: the early closers

• DAAD Helmut-Schmidt Programme (Germany, master's in public policy and good governance): the round for 2027 entry closed on 31 July 2026.
• McCall MacBain Scholarships (Canada, master's at McGill): if your current university is outside Canada and the US, the deadline was 19 August 2026; applicants at Canadian or US universities, and Canadians abroad, had until 23 September.
• UQ Graduate Research School Scholarships (Australia, PhD and research master's): closed on 31 August 2026, with every document in.

September and October: the busiest months

This is when the biggest names close. If you only diarise one stretch of the year, make it this one.

• Sydney RTP International (Australia, research degrees): the main round for a 2027 start closed on 11 September 2026. The round for 2028 closes on 10 September 2027.
• Chevening (UK, one-year master's): closed at 12:00 UK time on 6 October 2026 for 2027/28. You also need an unconditional offer from one of your three course choices by a later Chevening date.
• Knight-Hennessy Scholars (US, graduate study at Stanford): 13:00 Pacific time on 6 October 2026. The Stanford degree application is separate and due by its own deadline or 1 December, whichever is earlier.
• Gates Cambridge (UK, postgraduate): US citizens applied by 14 October 2026. Applicants from every other country apply by the December funding deadline for their Cambridge course.
• Commonwealth Master's and Commonwealth PhD (UK): the Commission's deadline was 16:00 UK time on 20 October 2026, but you apply through a national nominating agency, and it can close weeks earlier. Check your agency's date first.
• KAIST undergraduate admission (South Korea): the early round for autumn 2027 closed on 22 October 2026; the scholarship follows the admission application.
• Lester B. Pearson International Scholarship (Canada, University of Toronto undergraduate): your school had to nominate you by 9 October 2026, the admission application was due on 16 October and the scholarship application on 6 November.
• UNSW International Scientia Coursework Scholarship (Australia, bachelor's and master's): closed at 11:59 pm Sydney time on 30 October 2026.

November and December

• Imperial President's PhD Scholarships (UK): three rounds for 2027–28 entry, closing on 2 November 2026, 11 January 2027 and 1 March 2027. You need a supervisor who has agreed to take you on before you apply.
• Warwick postgraduate research scholarships (UK, PhD): course application by 7 December, scholarship application by 10 December 2026, references by 21 December.
• Sydney RTP International: a second round, for students starting later in 2027, closes on 18 December 2026.
• Oxford's December deadlines: for many Oxford graduate courses, the December course deadline is also the scholarship deadline. Clarendon considers you automatically, with no separate form, so a missed course deadline means a missed scholarship. Weidenfeld-Hoffmann and the Oxford Clarendon International Scholarship need you to select them in the same course application.

January and February

• Oxford's January deadlines: the rest of Oxford's graduate courses, including the courses for the Ertegun Scholarship in the humanities (early January). The Oxford-Pershing Square Scholarship closes on 6 January 2027.
• KAIST undergraduate admission: the regular round closes on 14 January 2027.
• Reach Oxford (UK, undergraduate, for students from lower-income countries): the scholarship deadline is 26 January 2027, after you've applied to Oxford for a place.
• Türkiye Scholarships (Türkiye, all levels): open from 10 January to 20 February every year.
• Monash Graduate Research Scholarships (Australia): the international round for July–December 2027 enrolment closes on 28 February 2027, a month earlier than before.

March to May

• Imperial President's PhD Scholarships: the last 2027–28 round closes on 1 March 2027.
• Australia Awards (Australia, bachelor's and master's, for people from developing countries): for courses starting in 2027, most countries' rounds closed on 30 April 2026. Palau closed on 30 June. Each country has its own date.
• UCL Global Undergraduate Scholarship: the 2026/27 round closed on 27 April 2026; the next round hasn't been published yet.
• UCL Global Master's Scholarship: the 2026/27 round closed on 7 May 2026.
• MEXT (Japan, embassy route): the Japanese embassy or consulate in your country sets the deadline, and the first screening runs from May to July. Watch your embassy's website from early spring.

Dates set by your country or your course

Some awards don't have one deadline. Look up your own:

• Global Korea Scholarship: the dates differ by track (embassy or university) and by embassy or university. The current announcement is on Study in Korea.
• Fulbright Foreign Student Program: set by the Fulbright Commission or US embassy in your country.
• Rhodes Scholarship: deadlines differ by country group. Applications reopen in 2027 for 2028 entry.
• DAAD EPOS: you apply to the course itself, so the deadline depends on the course on DAAD's list.

How to use this calendar

1. Count back from your start date. For September 2028, your busy months are roughly August 2027 to February 2028.
2. Write down two dates for every award: the university's course deadline and the scholarship deadline. They're often different, and for automatic awards like Clarendon the course deadline is the only one.
3. Find the earlier date. Nominating agencies (Commonwealth), embassies (MEXT, Global Korea) and Fulbright commissions often close before the date the scholarship advertises.
4. Set a reminder a month before each one. References, transcripts and translations take weeks. Our documents checklist explains how long each usually takes.
5. Check the month pages. The deadlines for each month and our country lists show every award we track, not just the famous ones.

How we write guides: we read scholars' and applicants' own accounts, the programmes' official rules and the award records in our catalogue, which we check against each official page (how we verify). Rules and amounts change every year, so confirm the details on the provider's website before you apply.