Grants and Writing Resources for the University of St Andrews

Two St Andrews postgraduate researchers, one in the School of Psychology and Neuroscience and one in the School of Classics, won the Watson-Arnott Award for Research Excellence in its Postgraduate Researcher Achievement category, taking the Science and Medicine and the Arts and Divinity fields. The Graduate School announced the 2026 winners on 25 September 2026. Two more researchers, in Chemistry and Modern Languages, were highly commended.

Doctoral Scholarships

The St Leonard's College World-Leading Doctoral Scholarships each combine a full tuition fee award and a stipend, for 3.5 years full-time or seven years part-time. The stipend rate for 2026-2027 is £20,467. Research expenses are not included.

For students starting in 2027-2028 there are up to twelve of these scholarships for new UK, EU and international doctoral students: up to six on supervisor-led projects and up to six student-led. In the student-led competition the applicant proposes the project and confirms supervision and resources with the School, and must not already hold a doctorate or be enrolled in one.

Undergraduate Funding and Paid Research

The St Andrews Access Award is for undergraduates with Home or Rest of UK fee status. A household income below £34,000 brings guaranteed maintenance funding, set by income band, along with a sports membership discount; incomes below £24,000 also receive a guaranteed accommodation award. It is paid every year of the degree. Applicants for 2027 entry can apply through My Application before receiving an offer. Care-experienced and estranged students, carers, and applicants seeking asylum or with refugee status are especially welcome.

Undergraduates and taught postgraduates can work on faculty research through the St Andrews Research Internship Scheme. Each School recruits interns separately, so students ask their Director of Research. Interns are paid per completed five-hour block, and the internship is recorded on the student's HEAR once both student and supervisor have filed a short report.

Student Journals

Two undergraduate journals sit on the Library's Journal Hosting Service. Ethnographic Encounters, student-led since 2011, publishes work by undergraduates in Social Anthropology, including fieldwork essays from second-year projects and autoethnographic writing. Its editorial staff make every review and publication decision, and articles are open access under CC BY.

Aporia, published by the University of St Andrews Philosophy Society since 2007, takes analytic philosophy by undergraduates anywhere in the world. Submissions are read blind and refereed anonymously, and the journal appears once a year.

Study Skills, Proofreading and Thesis Submission

The International Education and Lifelong Learning Institute helps with study skills, study support and maths, through themed sessions during the year and one-to-one appointments. The same page tells students they can have someone proofread their assignments, provided they follow the policy on language correction.

That policy sits in the Policy on Good Academic Practice, version 9.5 for 2026/27. Its section on language correction software and services permits tools that correct spelling, punctuation and typographical errors, which it calls routine editorial support. Using software or services to paraphrase or summarise sources, substantively rewrite passages, or translate a draft written in another language is not permitted unless the assessment brief explicitly authorises it. Where an assessment tests language or communication, a School may ban language correction outright. Undergraduates and taught postgraduates state in their declaration whether and how they used any language correction software or service.

Research students follow the Guidance for submission of theses (version 5.0, December 2025). The thesis declaration asks whether anyone other than the supervisors helped with the writing; a student who answers yes names the person and the area of help, from language, grammar, spelling and syntax. Doctoral theses other than the MD run to 80,000 words at most, excluding bibliography and appendices, with a 300-word abstract. Examination copies go in electronically through Moodle, and the final copy is deposited in the St Andrews Research Repository, open access unless an embargo applies.

Our editors keep to what the University's policy calls routine editorial support, fixing spelling, punctuation and typographical errors in St Andrews essays and theses and leaving sources, argument and wording to you. Declare the help as your declaration asks, and check your assessment brief first where language is assessed. See our University of St Andrews dissertation and thesis editing and University of St Andrews essay editing pages, or write to editors@editorsforstudents.com.

From Our Writing Guides

• How to Write a Critical Essay: Mastering Academic Critique
• ESL Academic Writing: Overcoming Common Grammar Habits
• Writing the Abstract and Title: First Impressions Matter