Alphawood Scholarships: MA History of Art and Archaeology

The scholarship will provide:

• Tuition fees: scholars’ SOAS tuition fees will be paid in full for the SOAS-Alphawood Postgraduate Diploma (online) programme and the cost of any English language support.
• Maintenance: an allowance of £18,700 per annum (pro rata) will be paid to the scholar to cover costs of living and studying in central London.
• Travel: the cost of economy flights to and from the UK at the start and end of the MA/Diploma programme will be paid by the scholarship for those studying in London.
• Visa and other costs: the costs of any visa, requisite health checks and Immigration Health Surcharge costs required for visa purposes, will be reimbursed to those scholars studying in London. 

Eligibility criteria

Applicants must:

• Normally be resident in one of the following countries: Brunei, Cambodia, East Timor, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar/Burma, Singapore, Thailand or Vietnam.
  • Applications will be considered from candidates who are not normally resident in these countries, provided you can demonstrate your intention and capacity to return or relocate to the region to pursue employment, teaching, further study or to otherwise make a direct and positive impact in the countries listed above regarding the objectives of the remit given above. Please include evidence of this in your personal statement.
• Have received an offer for the appropriate programme of study from SOAS.

English language requirements: direct entry 

For direct entry to the programme, candidates must meet SOAS’s minimum requirements and provide evidence of their English Language proficiency at the point of application. This could be either:

• An approved English Language test result (IELTS for UKVI or equivalent) together with the date the test was taken (within the last 2 years).
• An overall IELTS score of 6.5 (minimum of 6.0 in all sub-scores) or equivalent
• Evidence of prior undergraduate study, at an English-language university where possible .

Details of SOAS requirements are available on the English language requirements page.

English language support  

Successful applicants who do not meet the minimum English-language threshold for direct entry onto the programme may be offered online English language training depending on your individual needs. Preference for training may be given to applicants that can evidence their proficiency in English Language within the last 2 years – as indicated by an IELTS or equivalent test result.

If you are not able to provide such evidence, please give a reason in the relevant section of your application form.

Step one

Apply for the MA History of Art and Archaeology.  Please read the relevant guidance on the SOAS site before you start your application.  

As it may take several weeks to assess applications for admission and to offer a place in the relevant programme, we strongly recommended that applicants should complete and submit applications for admission to SOAS as early as possible – by 15 February 2026 if possible.   

Step two

Apply for an Alphawood Scholarship.

After submitting an application for admission to the programme of study, applicants should then apply for an Alphawood scholarship through the Alphawood Scholarship Application Form. The deadline for applications for an Alphawood scholarship is 21 February 2026. 

Please note that applicants should complete and submit this Application Form in one sitting. It is not possible to save drafts of this form, nor to return to a partially complete form at a later date for revision.

As such, all applicants are recommended to make note of the questions and work on responses in a separate document until fully satisfied with the responses. Applicants may then return to the Online Application Form to input and submit these final responses. 

Applicants should use the Personal Statement section in their scholarship Application to demonstrate their interest in the objectives specified in the Alphawood remit, as defined above. They should also demonstrate their intention to pursue employment, teaching, further study, research or to otherwise make a positive impact in areas of the remit after studying at SOAS.

Candidate assessment 

Applications for award are assessed by a Selection Panel comprised of members of SOAS staff with pertinent academic and professional experience and convened as a function of the SOAS-Alphawood Specialist Scholarships Panel.  

The panel will assess candidates on the information provided in both the application for admission to the programme (academic references, transcripts, personal statements and other relevant information) and that contained in the Alphawood scholarships application.  

The panel will assess applicants on the basis of the following criteria: 

• Previous degree and experience in Southeast Asian Buddhist and Hindu art and architecture from ancient to pre-modern times, including study of the built environment, sculpture, painting, illustrated texts, textiles and other tangible or visual representations, along with the written word related to these, and archaeological, museum and cultural heritage studies.
• Interest in (and engagement with) the objectives of the programme of study.
• Potential for personal growth and development with the scholarship award.
• Intentions following completion of their studies at SOAS.
• Interest in (and engagement with) the objectives of the Alphawood remit.
• Perceived potential for direct and positive impact in the field and in the region.
• The potential for of advancing the field of study within the remit.
• In consideration of expressed financial need for a scholarship to support Diploma study at SOAS.

Use of AI and LLMs

Applicants for both the programme and the scholarship should produce an original text of which they are the sole author. Use of AI or Large Language Models (such as ChatGPT) in preparing your application will be detrimental to your application. Please be aware that all applications will be run through an AI detection tool.   

In the past, we have received several applications that used AI that were generic and uninspiring, and told us little if anything about the individual applicants. If you make obvious use of AI and LLMs to write your scholarship application we will reject your applications and ask you to reapply in a future year. We want to hear your voice and engage with your ideas, reflections and proposals. 

• 15 February 2026: candidates must submit their complete application for admission to the MA History of Art and Archaeology.
• 21 February 2026: candidates must submit their complete application for a scholarship through the Alphawood Scholarship Application Form by this date.
• February 2026: the Alphawood Scholarships Selection Panel and SOAS-Alphawood Group agree the successful applicant/s for award to support study commencing within the 2026/27 academic year.
• March 2026: SOAS will contact all applicants to inform them of the outcome of their application.
• September 2026: online study at SOAS begins. 

For more information about the Alphawood scholarships at SOAS, please email alphawoodscholarships@soas.ac.uk.