Most Imperial scholarship pages ask for essays, income evidence, or a second form. The Widening Participation Postgraduate Scholarship does not.
For the 2027/2028 academic year, Imperial’s Department of Bioengineering will give five new full-time MRes students a one-off cash payment of £4,999. You do not apply for the money on its own. If your course application arrives by Wednesday 17 March 2027, a department panel reviews you on academic merit and research potential. That is the whole process.
The name is easy to misread. “Widening participation” at Imperial usually means extra support for UK students from underrepresented backgrounds. This particular award is different: it is a Bioengineering MRes cash bursary, and the official wording still says it is open to students regardless of country of origin. The overview box on the 2027/28 page lists Home fee status. Read both lines, then email the department if your status is Overseas. Do not assume.
Scholarship Summary
- Host Country: UK
- Host University: Imperial College London (Department of Bioengineering)
- Scholarship Type: MSC Scholarships
- Eligible Countries: All Countries
- Scholarship Benefits: Partial tuition fee, etc.
What the Widening Participation Postgraduate Scholarship actually pays
This is not a tuition-fee waiver.
- Value: £4,999, paid once
- How it is paid: cash bursary
- What it cannot do: it is not applied to tuition fees
- Number of awards: 5
- Year: 2027/2028
- Study mode: full-time only
- Who can receive it: prospective / new entrants only
- Who cannot: students already on the course
Imperial states this clearly: successful applicants receive a one-off cash bursary of £4,999 that is not used against fees.
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Treat it as living-cost or research-cost support. London rent, a deposit, a laptop, conference travel, or the gap between a Master’s loan and real monthly costs are the realistic uses. It will not make an Imperial MRes “free.”
As a guide, Bioengineering postgraduate fees for 2026/27 were about £19,400 (Home) and £45,000 (Overseas) for full-time study. 2027/28 fees were not yet set when those course pages were published, and fees usually rise. Budget from the latest published figures, not from this bursary.
Eligible Programmes for Imperial College London Widening Participation Postgraduate Scholarship
The award sits in one department: Bioengineering.
On the previous cycle, and in Imperial’s own course notes for this scheme, the eligible programmes were:
These are one-year full-time (or two-year part-time) research master’s degrees, with a large project rather than a mainly taught MSc structure. The scholarship itself is listed for full-time study only. Part-time applicants should not assume they are in the pool.
Typical entry standard is a 2:1 (or equivalent) in engineering, physical sciences, mathematics, life sciences, biomedical science, or a related quantitative field, depending on the course. Imperial also accepts a wide range of international qualifications. Check the specific course page, not a generic “Master’s at Imperial” article.
Applications for 2027 Bioengineering MRes courses are scheduled to open on Wednesday 30 September 2026.
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Eligibility in Plain Language
Use the official page as the source of truth, because two lines on that page do not match perfectly.
You are in the intended pool if all of the following apply:
- You are applying as a new student for 2027/2028
- You apply for a full-time Bioengineering Master’s research (MRes) programme
- Your course application is received by 17 March 2027
- You meet the academic standard for the course
- You have Home fee status according to the 2027/28 overview box, or you fall within the department sentence that says the scholarships are “open to all students regardless of country of origin”
You are not eligible if:
- You are already enrolled on the course
- You miss the 17 March 2027 consideration date
- You are applying for a different department
- You need a part-time award (the listing is full-time)
The 2026/27 version of the same scholarship listed both Home and Overseas in the overview. The 2027/28 overview lists Home only, while the eligibility paragraph still uses the “regardless of country of origin” sentence. That is an official inconsistency, not a blog error. Email be.ugadmissions@imperial.ac.uk with your nationality and fee-status question before you plan around an Overseas award.
Why “no separate application” is the Real Advantage
Most UK postgraduate funding fails because applicants miss a second deadline. This scheme removes that step.
Imperial’s process is:
- Apply for an eligible Bioengineering MRes through the normal Imperial postgraduate application portal.
- Submit a complete, competitive application by 17 March 2027.
- Do nothing else for this bursary.
- The department panel ranks applicants on academic merit and research prospect.
- Five people receive £4,999 in cash.
That is also the risk. There is no extra personal statement where you explain financial need. The panel is reading the same materials used for admission: transcript, references, research fit, and the quality of your proposed project or supervisor match.
If you want this money, treat the course application as the scholarship application.
How to Make the Automatic Review Work in Your Favour
Imperial Bioengineering MRes applications are project-led. Students are expected to name a project or potential supervisor in the personal statement. Project lists are published by the department, and places are considered in rounds. Applying late can mean your first-choice project is already taken.
A strong file for this award usually includes:
- A clear first-choice project (and a backup)
- Evidence you can do the methods the lab uses: coding, imaging, wet lab, modelling, or device design
- References that comment on research potential, not only exam performance
- A personal statement that shows why that lab, why that problem, and why an MRes rather than an MSc
- Early submission, not a 16 March upload
Selection language on the official page is short: “academic merit and prospect.” Prospect, in a research master’s, means the panel can picture you finishing a serious project.
What this Award is Not
Do not confuse it with Imperial’s larger widening-participation master’s scheme in the same department.
The separate Bioengineering Master’s Widening Participation Scholarship is a different product: Home-domiciled students, underrepresentation criteria, a separate form, interviews, and a tuition top-up plus a UKRI-rate stipend. That scheme is the one that matches the everyday meaning of “widening participation.”
This 2027/28 “Widening Participation Postgraduate Scholarship” is the £4,999 automatic cash bursary for Bioengineering MRes applicants.
Other Imperial funding worth checking in the same search:
- Imperial scholarships search
- UK Master’s Loan (Home students)
- Department and faculty awards that do require a separate form
- External funders if you are an international applicant covering the Overseas fee
Stacking is not guaranteed. Ask the department whether receiving this £4,999 bursary affects other Imperial awards.
Timeline that Actually Matters
| Date | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| 30 September 2026 | 2027 Bioengineering MRes applications open |
| Autumn 2026 | Best window to contact supervisors and choose a project |
| Early 2027 | Strong applications should already be in |
| 17 March 2027 | Last date for automatic scholarship consideration |
| After the panel review | Five bursaries awarded; Imperial does not publish a public results date on the scholarship page |
| October 2027 | Typical MRes start |
The scholarship deadline is a consideration cut-off, not necessarily the final date Imperial will accept MRes applications. If you apply after 17 March 2027 you may still get a place. You should not expect this bursary.
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Who Should Chase this, and Who Should Not
Worth targeting if:
- You already want one of the three Bioengineering MRes degrees
- You can submit a polished research application before mid-March 2027
- A nearly £5,000 cash payment would materially change your first months in London
- Your academic record can stand on merit without a hardship essay
Not a primary plan if:
- You need full tuition coverage
- You are applying outside Bioengineering
- You are a continuing student
- You cannot confirm Home fee status and the department will not confirm Overseas eligibility in writing
Five awards across an entire MRes intake is a narrow funnel. Write the application as if the scholarship does not exist. If the bursary arrives, it is a bonus on a place you already wanted.
Official links readers should use
- Scholarship page: Widening Participation Postgraduate Scholarship 2027/2028
- All Imperial awards: Search our scholarships
- Department: Imperial Bioengineering
- Courses: MRes Bioengineering, MRes Neurotechnology, MRes Cancer Technology
- Questions: be.ugadmissions@imperial.ac.uk
If a blog, aggregator, or agent tells you there is a separate “Widening Participation Postgraduate Scholarship form,” ignore it. Imperial’s own page says there is not.
Bottom Line
The Imperial College London Widening Participation Postgraduate Scholarship for 2027/2028 is a small, automatic, merit-based cash award: five students, £4,999 each, Bioengineering MRes only, deadline 17 March 2027. It will not pay an Imperial fee on its own. It can still be the difference between a strained year in London and a year in which you can focus on the lab.
Apply for the course early. Name a real project. Make the academic case obvious. Then let the panel do the only extra work this scholarship requires.