Southampton Physics and Astronomy Achievement Scholarship

This is a competitive process and not all applications will be successful.

We will score and rank all eligible applicants' essays and their interview performances. We will ask you questions on your essay as part of your interview so that we can be sure you've written it yourself.

The top scoring 5 applicants will be awarded a scholarship.

The remaining 5 scholarships will be awarded to the next highest ranking applicants who meet the widening participation criteria.

Applications will be assessed against this criteria individually and compared against all applications received for this scholarship. The decision of the Head of School is final.

Successful applicants will have a stipend of £5,000 paid into their UK bank account in quarterly instalments. Continuation of the scholarship from year 2 onwards is subject to maintaining first-class performance (70%) each year. If first-class performance is maintained, the scholarship maybe received each year for the duration of the course, up to a maximum of 4 years.

Five scholarships will be awarded automatically based on merit, and the remaining 5 will be awarded to next high-ranking applicants who meet the contextual admissions criteria.

To be eligible for this scholarship you must:

have submitted your application to study on an undergraduate programme in Physics and Astronomy by the UCAS equal consideration date, 6pm on Wednesday 14 January 2026

have a conditional or unconditional offer from the University of Southampton

book an online or in-person interview with the School of Physics and Astronomy

be paying your fees yourself

not be in receipt of any external sponsorship if you are an international student.