Non-Scottish UK and Republic of Ireland students starting in 2026 could be entitled to half the total value of scholarships as those who start in 2025, as the University cuts awards.
One award being discontinued after September 2025 is the Undergraduate Merit scholarship, which awards a total of £3,000 cash across the first three years to students who achieve the equivalent of AAB at A-Level.
The other two are the Stirling Welcome scholarship, which awards £1,000 in cash in the first year, and the Honours Year Scholarship, which fully waivers tuition fees in the final year of study.
These three awards are available to non-Scottish UK and Republic of Ireland students and currently have a combined value of £13,535 – although increasing tuition fees may push this up.
In 2026, they are being replaced with the Stirling Success scholarship, which awards £2,500 cash in the first year, alongside £500 credit for campus eateries and sports membership. There is then another £2,000 cash award in the fourth year, giving a total scholarship value of £5,000.
The changes were agreed in November and posted to the scholarship section of the University’s website in December. No press release or public statement accompanied the changes.
It constitutes a 63 per cent cut in maximum scholarship value for those who would’ve been eligible for all three awards, and half for those not eligible for the Merit award.
It also removes any tuition fee waivers, and although the Stirling Success award will be compatible with sports scholarships, which typically offer waivers, this is still a huge blow to formerly eligible students.
A University of Stirling spokesperson told Brig that the changes were made “in line with the sector” and that students who started or will start prior to September 2026 will still be entitled to their current awards.
They also said that scholarship information can be found on the University website, the upcoming prospectuses, and offer letters for relevant students.
These cuts have happened amidst a much documented 40 per cent pay rise for University Principal Professor Sir Gerry McCormac over the last two years.
McCormac, who earned £295,000 in 2022, now boasts a salary of £414,000, or double that of the Scottish First Minister.
It is also equivalent to almost 14 times the calculated savings per eligible student that these scholarship changes will produce.
This said, the changes are largely echoed by other higher education institutions in Scotland, which have regularly cited funding shortfalls as the reason for cuts.
Take the University of Dundee, for example, which in early March cut 20 per cent of its workforce and blamed a UK higher education sector funding crisis.
Much of this is due to a recent drop in international student applications across UK universities, who typically pay higher tuition fees in the region of £10,000 to £40,000 per year.
While the data for Stirling is not available, Dundee experienced almost a 30 per cent drop in international student applications between 2023 and 2024.
A Students’ Union spokesperson told Brig that the Union was not made aware of the changes and will be ‘taking the time to assess the impact’ they will have on their members.
They encouraged students who are concerned about whether they’d be affected by the changes to contact the Students’ Union Advice & Help Teams.
Featured Image Credit: University of Stirling/ Leonie MacLeod Canva.
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