Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine LSTM Humanitarian Scholarship 2026

There’s a particular kind of scholarship that exists because a university looked honestly at who gets shut out of postgraduate education and decided to build something specifically for them not a general hardship fund, but an award built around the exact circumstances of war, conflict, and forced displacement.

That’s what LSTM’s Humanitarian Scholarship is, and it sits alongside the school’s broader Future Leaders Scholarship as one of two flagship LSTM awards sharing the same 700-word personal statement structure but built for entirely different applicant profiles. Worth flagging as you read on: the 2026 application deadline, 9am on 15 April, has already passed, and LSTM’s own funding pages describe multiple awards being available, not just the single scholarship sometimes reported elsewhere.

This guide covers exactly who qualifies, what the £30,000 award actually funds, the personal statement requirements that carry real weight given the sensitivity of what applicants are asked to describe, and where to look next if this deadline has already passed you by.

About the LSTM Humanitarian Scholarship

Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine has trained global health leaders since 1898, and among its genuinely comprehensive scholarship portfolio, it offers the Humanitarian Scholarship specifically to support applicants who face risks in their home country because of armed conflict or war or who have been internally displaced or forced to leave their country within the last three years because of conflict.

Unlike scholarships tied to a specific country or region, this award is open to applicants from any country, provided their circumstances fit this specific humanitarian criterion. The scholarship challenges the assumption that displacement automatically ends a person’s academic and professional trajectory by funding a full-time, on-campus Master’s degree at LSTM or covering the tuition fees for the part-time distance-learning MSc Global Health when relocating to Liverpool is not a realistic option for you.

LSTM Humanitarian Scholarship Summary

What The LSTM Humanitarian Scholarship Covers

• £30,000, which can be applied toward both tuition fees and living costs for full-time, on-campus Master’s courses
• For the part-time distance learning MSc Global Health specifically, the award covers tuition fees only, rather than the combined tuition-and-living-costs structure available to on-campus students

This distinction matters if you’re weighing the on-campus versus distance learning route: the on-campus award is genuinely comprehensive, covering your cost of living in the UK as well as your fees, while the distance learning version is narrower by design, reflecting that you wouldn’t be relocating and incurring UK living costs in the first place.

What Makes You Eligible for This Scholarship

• You need to be at risk due to armed conflict or war in your home country
• You may qualify either as someone internally displaced within your own country, or as someone forced to leave your country within the last three years specifically because of conflict
• You need to be applying for a Master’s course at LSTM
• You need to already hold a conditional offer from LSTM before you can access the scholarship application
• You need to be a self-funding student, meaning you’re not already receiving funding from another source to cover your studies

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Required Documents

• A completed Humanitarian Scholarship application form
• Your conditional offer letter from LSTM
• A personal statement, capped at a maximum of 700 words

The personal statement here asks something genuinely different from most scholarship statements, and LSTM is specific about what needs to come through within the word limit:

• Conflict-Related Circumstances: Explain the risks you have faced as a result of armed conflict or war and, where applicable, describe whether conflict has displaced you within your own country or forced you to leave it within the last three years.
• Your academic goals or research interests, tied clearly to the specific LSTM course you’ve applied for
• The expected impact of your studies on your career development, on reducing health inequality, and on your growth as a health leader

Writing about displacement or conflict for a funding application is genuinely difficult, and LSTM doesn’t require you to relive every detail the statement needs to establish your circumstances clearly enough for the panel to understand your eligibility, while giving equal, genuine weight to your academic goals and the impact you intend to have. A statement that’s entirely about hardship, without a clear sense of what you intend to study and why, is just as incomplete as one that skips the eligibility context altogether.

What the Application Process Requires

1. Apply for a Master’s programme at LSTM through the standard admissions process
2. Secure a conditional offer for your chosen course, this needs to be in place before you can access the scholarship application
3. Once the university confirms your offer, it will email you a link to the live scholarship application form.
4. If scholarship applications open while you are still applying for admission, the university will include the scholarship form link directly in your Conditional Offer letter when it sends the letter to you.
5. Complete the scholarship application form in full, including your 700-word statement covering both your circumstances and your academic goals
6. Submit before the deadline for this cycle, that was 9am on Wednesday 15 April 2026

What the Deadline and Selection Timeline Look Like

• 2026 application deadline: 9am, Wednesday 15 April 2026, now closed
• LSTM’s key intakes across the year fall in January, February, and September, though this particular scholarship’s application cycle runs on its own annual timeline rather than tracking every individual intake separately
• Next expected cycle: Based on LSTM’s typical annual pattern, expect this scholarship to reopen for the September 2027 intake, with a deadline likely falling again in mid-April 2027, confirm exact dates directly on LSTM’s official funding pages as the period approaches

What Else Is Worth Knowing at LSTM

LSTM runs one of the more extensive scholarship portfolios among UK institutions offering global health study, and if the Humanitarian Scholarship’s specific criteria don’t fit your circumstances, several sibling awards are worth checking directly:

• The LSTM Future Leaders Scholarship, for LMIC nationals intending to return home, worth £8,000
• The LSTM Future Leaders Scholarship (UK and Ireland), worth £8,000, for UK and Irish applicants specifically
• The Allan and Nesta Ferguson Charitable Trust Scholarship, covering tuition, living expenses, airfare, and visa fees for LMIC applicants to specific full-time Master’s programmes
• The Northern Futures Bursary, reducing tuition fees for applicants from, or based in, the north of England

Each of these runs its own separate eligibility criteria, application form, and deadline, so it’s worth reviewing LSTM’s full funding page directly rather than assuming only one scholarship might apply to your situation.

What to Do Before the Next Cycle Opens

• If your circumstances fit this scholarship’s criteria, start your LSTM course application early, since a conditional offer is a prerequisite before you can even access the scholarship form
• Begin drafting your 700-word statement well ahead of any deadline, giving genuine, balanced attention to both your circumstances and your specific academic goals and intended impact
• Review LSTM’s full scholarship portfolio, since several other awards may fit your background more precisely depending on your nationality, region, or specialism
• Watch LSTM’s official funding pages directly from later in the year, since application windows for the following September intake typically open several months in advance
• If your circumstances involve details that are difficult to write about, consider working with a trusted mentor, counsellor, or support organisation while drafting your statement, rather than tackling it entirely alone under deadline pressure

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the LSTM Humanitarian Scholarship still open for 2026?

No. The deadline was 9am on Wednesday 15 April 2026. Based on LSTM’s typical pattern, it’s expected to reopen for the September 2027 intake around a similar time next year.

How many awards are actually available?

LSTM’s own funding page describes multiple awards as available, rather than a single scholarship, though the exact number awarded each cycle isn’t published publicly.

Do I need a course offer before applying for this scholarship?

Yes. You need a conditional offer from LSTM for your chosen Master’s programme before you can access the scholarship application form.

Does this scholarship cover the online MSc Global Health programme?

Yes, but with narrower coverage — for the part-time distance learning MSc Global Health specifically, the award covers tuition fees only, not living costs.

What if my circumstances don’t exactly match “armed conflict or displacement” but I still need support?

LSTM runs several other scholarships with different eligibility criteria, including awards for LMIC nationals, UK and Irish applicants, and regionally specific bursaries — it’s worth reviewing the full funding page for a better fit.

Disclaimer: All scholarship details and figures in this post are verified from official LSTM sources as of July 2026. Information is subject to change without notice. Always confirm the latest details directly on LSTM’s official funding pages (lstmed.ac.uk) before applying. ScholarWaka is not affiliated with the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine.

Official Application Portal