Leiden University Excellence Scholarship (LExS): Funding Tiers and Application Process (2027/2028)

The Leiden University Excellence Scholarship, known as LExS, offers a meaningful tuition fee contribution to outstanding Master’s applicants at Leiden University in the Netherlands. It is important to understand from the outset that LExS is not a full scholarship. It reduces your tuition cost significantly, but it does not cover your full cost of study, so plan your finances with this in mind from the very beginning.

Who can apply

LExS carries more specific exclusions than most scholarships, so read every condition carefully before assuming your programme qualifies, and each point below is worth checking carefully against your own documents and plans before you move any further:

• You must be applying to a full time Leiden Master’s programme starting in September. Programmes with a February start date are excluded from LExS.
• The LLM, non advanced track, and MSc programmes at Leiden Law School are excluded from this scholarship.
• You generally need a non EEA and non EFTA passport, and you must not be eligible for Dutch student finance, known locally as studiefinanciering. Two specific exceptions drop the nationality restriction entirely: all Advanced LLM programmes, and the MSc in International Relations and Diplomacy.
• UK applicants can apply, unless they were already registered in a Dutch municipality’s population register before 1 January 2021.
• You need excellent academic results in your relevant prior study, broadly within the top 10% of your graduating cohort, though you are not required to provide formal proof of this ranking.
• If you already hold a Leiden Master’s degree, you are generally excluded from applying again, except in cases where a prior Master’s degree or specific work experience is itself a mandatory entry requirement for your new chosen programme.
• LExS cannot be combined with a full scholarship from an external provider, so if you already hold or expect to receive full funding elsewhere, this specific scholarship is not for you.

The funding tiers

Rather than one fixed scholarship amount, LExS awards a specific tuition fee contribution for your entire programme, set at one of several tiers: €10,000, €15,000, €17,500, €18,500, or €19,000. Roughly 25 awards are available each year across the entire university, and whichever tier you are awarded is final and cannot be negotiated upward afterward.

How to apply, step by step

Follow these steps in order, since skipping one can delay or derail your application, so read through each item below slowly and tick off the ones that already apply to your own situation:

1. Apply online for admission to your chosen Leiden Master’s programme first, and pay the application fee if one applies to your situation. Allow up to three working days for this initial step to process.
2. Once your admission application is submitted, return to the online Apply screen and click through to the Scholarships section. The LExS option will only appear here if the system determines you are eligible based on your programme and nationality.
3. Confirm that you want to apply for LExS, then upload a motivation letter as a PDF document, kept to 500 words or fewer.
4. Submit your LExS application before the stated deadline. No changes are possible after submission, and late applications are not considered under any circumstances.
5. If you are applying to more than one Leiden programme, submit a fully separate LExS application and motivation letter within each individual admission application, since one scholarship submission does not automatically cover multiple programme applications.

The selection timeline

Faculty committees review and nominate LExS recipients within ten weeks of the application deadline. All applicants, successful or not, are notified by email before the end of March, so you have a reasonably clear window for when to expect an outcome rather than an open ended wait.

Documents to prepare

Gather these well ahead of time, since scrambling for documents at the last minute causes most avoidable delays, and working through the list below in order will save you from the most common and avoidable setbacks:

1. Your completed online admission application to your chosen Leiden Master’s programme.
2. A motivation letter specifically for your LExS application, within the 500 word limit, as a separate document from any personal statement you submitted for admission itself.
3. Academic transcripts and degree certificates, as part of your standard admission application.
4. A valid passport confirming your nationality.

Why your motivation letter carries real weight

Because LExS is awarded at different funding tiers rather than as a flat amount, and only around 25 awards exist across the whole university each year, your 500 word motivation letter is one of the clearest places where you can distinguish yourself beyond your grades alone. Use it to explain specifically why this particular programme at Leiden matters for your academic and career path, rather than writing a generic statement about wanting to study in Europe.

Common mistakes to avoid

A number of applicants lose otherwise strong chances to simple, avoidable errors, and each point below is worth checking carefully against your own documents and plans before you move any further:

• Assuming LExS is a full scholarship, when it is specifically a tuition fee contribution that still leaves a real cost for you to cover.
• Missing the distinction between September and February intakes, since only September starting programmes are eligible.
• Submitting one generic motivation letter across multiple programme applications, rather than a tailored letter for each separate LExS application.
• Waiting past the admission application’s processing time before checking for the Scholarships option, since the LExS link only appears once your eligibility has been determined.

Conclusion

The Leiden University Excellence Scholarship rewards strong applicants who understand it is a meaningful tuition contribution rather than full funding, and who use their 500 word motivation letter to make a genuinely specific case for their chosen programme. Apply for admission to your September intake Leiden Master’s programme first, watch for the Scholarships option once your eligibility is determined, write a tailored and specific motivation letter for each separate programme application, and submit everything well before the stated deadline since no late submissions are considered.