Kingsbury Scholarship

Eligibility criteria

The Kingsbury Scholarship is a highly prestigious engineering scholarship and one of the most valuable available to Home/UK students anywhere in the UK. This scholarship is aimed at bright and dynamic students who intend to ultimately seek employment as a graduate in a UK engineering industry*. As such, the applicants must complete work experience in the engineering sector either before or during their course.

(*UK engineering industry: Any company or organisation operating in the UK whose primary activities involve the application of scientific principles to the design or development of structures, machines, apparatus, or manufacturing processes.)

 

Eligibility:

The Kingsbury Scholarship is awarded to one outstanding candidate each year who has not undertaken undergraduate study before. Eligible candidates must agree to complete one or more internship or placement working in a UK engineering industry, either before their start at Imperial, as part of their course or in two or more summer breaks.

 

To be eligible, candidates must have attained the conditions below by 11:59 pm (UK local time), Friday 30th May 2025:

• Have an offer to study a 4-year MEng or MSci course (or a 5-year MEng or MSci course with a Year in Industry**) in Imperial’s Faculty of Engineering excluding MEng Design Engineering.  (**For students on a five-year full-time degree course with a Year in Industry, the scholarship will be for a maximum of 4 years and will be suspended during the year in industry);
• Be a Home/UK student who has been assessed for financial support through Student Finance England (SFE) (or equivalent funding authority), with a SFE verified household income of less than £70,000 per annum;
• Agree to one of the industry placements or internships listed in the ‘Working in Industry’ section below;
• Submit a statement explaining how and why you intend to seek employment in a UK engineering industry upon graduation (see section "How to Apply" below)

Please note that this scholarship is not applicable for courses which include a year abroad.

 

Working in Industry

 To be eligible for the Kingsbury Scholarship candidates must fulfil one of the three following work commitments:

• Undertake at least nine months of paid work in a UK engineering industry before starting their course. We recommend The Year in Industry (YINI) organisation {https://www.etrust.org.uk/the-year-in-industry}, but other internships will also be considered.

OR

• Undertake two summer placements in a UK engineering industry, each of at least eight weeks, after the second and third years of a 4-year MEng/MSci course.

OR

• Hold a firm offer for one of the courses listed in the additional information section that includes credit-bearing work placements or internships as options or requirements. If the placement is less than a full academic year there will be an additional internship requirement, as detailed- in the additional information section. 

Application process

How to Apply

To apply for the Kingsbury Scholarship please submit a written statement of no more than 250 words that describes "how and why you intend to seek employment in the UK engineering industry after you graduate". You can submit your Kingsbury Scholarship application using the form here.

If you have worked for a year in industry before starting at Imperial, please supply written confirmation of your placement from your employer.  If your placement was arranged through The Year in Industry (YINI) organisation please inform us and we will obtain confirmation on your behalf. For candidates taking internships and placements during a course, proof of completing the work commitment will be required. Please contact us at student.funding@imperial.ac.uk if you have any questions.

Selection Process

The Department that you have applied to within the Faculty of Engineering will assess your academic merit from your predicted or confirmed A-Level results, your UCAS form and your 250-word statement. Applicants will be ranked by Departments and the final selection from the shortlist will be made by the Dean of the Faculty of Engineering.

Please note that if the merit of multiple candidates is considered equal, preference will be given to candidates who take a year in industry before their course starts.                                                                                                                                                                                                    

Value and Number of Awards

There is one scholarship. The successful Scholar will receive a cash bursary of £12,500 and Tuition Fee waiver of £9,535 per annum subject to satisfactory academic progress. The award is for a maximum of 4 years, excluding repeat periods of study. (For students on a five-year full-time degree course with a Year in Industry, the scholarship will be for a maximum of 4 years and will be suspended during the year in industry)

Outcome of the Award

The successful candidate will be notified by email no later than 31st July 2025.  If you have not heard from us by this date please assume you have been unsuccessful in your application.

Please note the successful scholar may be expected to meet informally with the donors on occasions, participate in events surrounding this scholarship, or required to submit a short statement of progress each year that will be shared with the donors.

This award is for students starting in the academic year 2025-26 and cannot be deferred.  All scholarships are awarded subject to students accepting award Terms and Conditions.

If you have any queries regarding this scholarship please contact us at student.funding@imperial.ac.uk

Additional information

Below is a list of the working in industry requirement per Department. The undergraduate programme placement and the additional internship requirements are listed below:

Aeronautics

Four-month placement during final year (Feb-May) 

Summer internship of at least 8-weeks after year-2

Bioengineering 

MEng Biomedical Engineering with a Year in Industry

No additional internship required

Chemical Engineering 

Credit-bearing summer placement after year-3 of MEng degree

Summer internship of at least 8-weeks after year 2

Civil & Environmental Engineering

No programme placement

Summer internships in consulting and/or contracting after years-2 and year-3

Computing

Six month placement compulsory for year-3 MEng students (April-Sept); four month option for joint Mathematics & Computing students (June-Sept)

Summer internship of at least 8-weeks after year-2

Earth Science & Engineering

Internships lasting up to six weeks during summer of year 3

Summer internship of at least 8 weeks after year 2

Electrical & Electronic Engineering

Optional six month placement for year 3 MEng students (April-Sep)

Summer internship of at least 8 weeks after year 2

Materials

Summer placement compulsory between year-3 and year-4 of MEng

Summer internship of at least 8-weeks after year-2

Mechanical Engineering

Year in industry degree, normally taken as year-3 of a 5-year MEng degree

No additional internship required

 

Please note:

Applicants who become eligible for the scholarship through opting for two summer internships, or by taking a course from the above list, will be responsible for ensuring they secure and complete their internships. They will risk losing the scholarship if they do not fulfil their internship requirements. Such candidates will also be required to confirm through a letter from their employer that they have completed their internship(s).    

Contact

If you have any additional questions, please contact us at student.funding@imperial.ac.uk.