British Council France - British Council France

What the British Council France offers

The British Council in France provides information to French students on funding opportunities for Master’s degree programmes in the United Kingdom. Two scholarships are awarded, each worth about 11,500 EUR for one academic year:

• GREAT Scholarships (France): 10,000 GBP (approximately 11,500 EUR) discount on your tuition fees for a one-year on-campus Master’s programme. You will also take part in welcome and networking events with other GREAT scholarship holders. The programme is jointly funded by the UK Government, the British Council and the participating UK universities.
• Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer - Cercle Montesquieu law scholarship: 10,000 euros for a one-year LLM (Master of Laws) programme at a British university. Funded by the law firm Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer. This grant cannot be renewed.

Who can apply

• Where you go: Both scholarships are intended for a one-year, full-time Master’s programme at a British university.
• Nationality and residence: To be eligible for the GREAT scholarship, you must hold a French passport and be a permanent resident of France. To apply for the Law Scholarship, you must be a French national or hold a French qualification at the ‘bac+3’ or ‘bac+4’ level (three or four years of higher education).
• Degree so far: You already have a bachelor’s degree.
• Field of study: The GREAT Scholarship is open to a wide range of disciplines. The law scholarship is intended exclusively for legal specialisms, such as commercial law, banking and finance law, intellectual property law, employment law, tax law, EU law or international law, as well as arbitration.
• English: You meet the university’s English language requirements. For the law scholarship, this means an IELTS score of at least 6.5.
• University place: To study law, you will need a confirmed offer or a conditional offer from a UK university.
• Willing to take part: Leading scientists have agreed to take part in networking events and to represent the programme.

How to apply

To apply for the GREAT Scholarship, you should apply directly to one of the participating UK universities, including Cardiff, Durham, Imperial College London, King’s Business School, Lancaster, Southampton, St Andrews and Warwick. Application deadlines vary depending on the university, so please apply well in advance. To apply for the scholarship in the field of law, you must apply via the British Council France; however, the 2026 round is currently closed.

How realistic are your chances?

The number of GREAT scholarships available is limited: for France, only a handful of specifically named universities take part, and each offers only a few places. Consequently, a strong applicant with clear academic aptitude who applies early has good prospects. The scholarship for law is awarded on a one-off basis to French law students wishing to pursue an LLM programme. This keeps the pool of applicants small, but competition is very fierce, and the application deadline for 2026 has already passed.