Not a full scholarship, and Leiden says so directly
Leiden is upfront that this scholarship won’t cover your degree: the award tops out at €19,000 toward tuition specifically, in one of five fixed amounts (€10,000, €15,000, €17,500, €18,500 or €19,000), and the university’s own page states plainly it “does not cover the full cost of your studies.” Living costs, travel, and insurance stay entirely on you, and you’ll still need to show proof of sufficient funds for a Dutch visa regardless of the award.
How the application actually works
Competition is real: Leiden funds around 25 of these a year against more than a thousand applications, and the bar is set at roughly the top 10% of academic performance. There’s no separate scholarship portal; you apply for the master’s programme itself online first, and only once that application is submitted does a Scholarships tab appear where you can indicate you want to apply for LExS and upload the 500-word motivation letter. If you’re applying to more than one Leiden programme and want to be considered for LExS at each, you need a separate LExS application inside each one, and nothing can be changed once your scholarship application is submitted.
UK students are eligible, with one specific exception
One nationality wrinkle worth flagging: the usual non-EEA/EFTA requirement doesn’t apply to Advanced LLM programmes or the MSc in International Relations and Diplomacy, both of which are open regardless of nationality. Everywhere else, EEA and EFTA nationals aren’t eligible at all, since they already qualify for Dutch government student finance instead. UK students specifically are eligible, since the UK counts as non-EEA post-Brexit, with one carve-out: it doesn’t apply to UK nationals who were already living in the Netherlands and registered with their Dutch municipality before 1 January 2021.
Two exclusions worth checking before you apply
Two further exclusions are easy to miss. LExS isn’t awarded to applicants who already hold a Leiden University master’s degree, unless the specific programme you’re applying for requires that prior master’s or equivalent work experience, as with the Advanced LLM programmes. And it’s only available for programmes starting in September; a February intake isn’t eligible at all. On combining funding: LExS can’t be paired with a full scholarship from another provider, and recipients must notify Leiden if they receive one, though pairing it with a partial scholarship from elsewhere is sometimes possible, worth confirming directly with the Scholarships Team rather than assuming either way. For a wider view of funding, visas and living costs in the Netherlands beyond this one award, see the guide to studying in the Netherlands.