What Are Good MBA Scholarships for Women

If you are a woman considering an MBA at a top European business school, the funding landscape is stronger than most applicants realise. Schools including INSEAD, London Business School, Oxford Saïd, Cambridge Judge, HEC Paris, and Imperial all offer dedicated scholarships for women — some covering 50% of tuition or more. As an INSEAD alumna who won a merit scholarship myself, I know these awards are not a nice-to-have: they shape which schools you target, when you apply, and how you position your application. This guide covers the strongest MBA scholarships for women in Europe, what they are worth, and how to win one.

Quick Comparison: Top MBA Scholarships for Women in Europe

School	Scholarship	Value	Separate Application?
INSEAD	INSEAD Women's Scholarships	Varies; several awards per class	Via scholarship portal (select up to 4)
INSEAD	Judith Connelly Delouvrier Endowed Scholarship	~US$15,000	Essay required
London Business School	Laidlaw Women's Leadership Fund	£20,000 up to full tuition	Yes — by invitation at interview stage
London Business School	The 30% Club Scholarship	Up to 50% of tuition	Considered after offer
Oxford Saïd	Forté Fellowships for Women	Up to £30,000 (up to three awards)	No — automatic on MBA application
Oxford Saïd	Laidlaw Scholarships	Full or partial funding	Yes — additional application
Cambridge Judge	Forté Foundation Fellows Scholarship	Up to £32,000	Via MBA application
HEC Paris	Forté Foundation Scholarship	Significant partial awards	Yes — 1,500-word essay with application
HEC Paris	Laidlaw Scholarship	Substantial; cannot be combined with other HEC awards	Assessed after admission
Imperial College	Forté Fellowships	Up to 50% of tuition for some fellows	Rounds 1–2; video assessment after offer

Values and availability change each cycle. Always verify on the school's official funding page before you apply.

The 2 Names You Will See Everywhere: Forté and Laidlaw

Two organisations dominate women's MBA funding in Europe, and understanding them will save you hours of research.

The Forté Foundation

It is a non-profit consortium of leading companies and top business schools working to launch women into significant business careers. Its partner schools in Europe include London Business School, HEC Paris, INSEAD, Oxford Saïd, Cambridge Judge, and Imperial. In most cases, women admitted to a partner school are automatically considered for a Forté Fellowship, and schools nominate their own recipients. This is one more reason to apply in an early round, when the fellowship pool is deepest. The value goes well beyond money: Forté Fellows join a network of over 100,000 women, attend the annual Forté MBA Women's Leadership Conference, and gain direct introductions to Forté sponsor companies.

The Laidlaw Foundation

It funds women who might not otherwise be able to afford a top-tier business education, with an explicit focus on demonstrable financial need. Its Women's Business Education programme now spans London Business School, Oxford Saïd, HEC Paris, IE, and — from September 2026 — IESE, where it will fund 13 full-tuition MBA scholarships. Laidlaw awards are among the most generous available, ranging from partial support to full tuition, but they typically require a separate application with essays on your financial background.

The strategic distinction matters: Forté rewards leadership and commitment to advancing women in business; Laidlaw rewards the same qualities plus financial need. If you have a genuine financial-need story, Laidlaw should be a priority target. If not, focus your energy on Forté and the school-specific merit awards below.

School-by-School Scholarship Guide

INSEAD

INSEAD's Women's Scholarships support talented women worldwide, with several awards made per class based on the quality of the admission application. Beyond the umbrella women's scholarships, INSEAD offers named awards including the Judith Connelly Delouvrier Endowed Scholarship (between €20,000–€25,000, awarded to one woman per class based on merit, with an essay on including women in business), the Groupe Galeries Lafayette Endowed Scholarship for women with an affinity for the donor's values, and the L'Oréal Scholarship for Women in Leadership.

The mechanics matter here: after submitting your MBA application, you access INSEAD's scholarship portal and can select up to four scholarships to apply for. Choose deliberately. A focused, well-argued application to three relevant awards beats a scattergun approach. With tuition for the 2026/27 intakes at €109,860, even a mid-sized award meaningfully changes your financing picture. For the full process, see my INSEAD scholarships application guide.

London Business School

LBS states openly that it is working towards 51% female representation across its degree programmes, and its funding reflects that ambition. The Laidlaw Women's Leadership Fund is the flagship: awards range from £20,000 to full tuition, targeting women with academic merit, leadership potential and demonstrable financial need. Eligible candidates who reach the interview stage for the MBA, EMBA or Masters in Management are invited to apply, with three 250-word essays on financial background and future impact.

Alongside Laidlaw, LBS offers the 30% Club Scholarship (up to 50% of tuition for a woman expected to make a significant impact in business and society), dedicated LBS MBA Scholarships for Women, and Forté Fellowships. With 2026 tuition at £123,950, these awards are worth serious preparation — I've covered the wider funding strategy in my guides to LBS MBA scholarships and the full cost of the LBS MBA.

Oxford Saïd Business School

Oxford Saïd has partnered with Forté since 2013 and offers up to three Forté Fellowships for Women per MBA cohort, worth up to £30,000 each. No additional application is required — eligible offer-holders are considered automatically after each admissions deadline, though the school cannot guarantee availability in later stages. Every female scholar who wins any Saïd Business School Foundation Scholarship or Award also receives the Forté designation and network access.

The Laidlaw Scholarships at Oxford are the bigger prize: full or partial funding for women passionate about gender equality, with roughly ten scholars in a recent cycle — but they require a separate application. On the Executive MBA, Oxford offers up to four Forté Fellowships of £37,500 and up to two 30% Club scholarships covering 50% of course fees per intake. I've written a dedicated guide to Oxford MBA scholarships and the Oxford EMBA's full cost if either programme is on your shortlist.

Cambridge Judge Business School

Cambridge Judge offers the Forté Foundation Fellows Scholarship for women, worth up to £40,000 — a substantial dent in the £80,000 tuition for September 2026 entry. Judge's scholarship portfolio also includes merit bursaries and awards for regional and professional diversity, all highly competitive and awarded in recognition of outstanding achievement. Notably, women already make up 47% of recent Cambridge MBA cohorts, so the school's commitment to gender balance is visible in the classroom, not just the funding page.

HEC Paris

HEC Paris runs one of the broadest women's funding portfolios in Europe. Through its Forté partnership, the school offers significant scholarships to exceptional women; candidates must submit a 1,500-word essay — "why you should be the Forté Scholar at the HEC MBA Program" — at the same time as their MBA application, so this one cannot be left until after admission. The Laidlaw Scholarship at HEC targets exceptional women with strong leadership potential who face demonstrable financial constraints; note that if awarded, it cannot be combined with other HEC scholarships. HEC also participates in the 30% Club scholarship programme and offers the L'Oréal Scholarship, which likewise requires an essay at application stage.

One structural detail to plan around: the combination of HEC Excellence, Forté, ARD and Paris Saclay scholarships cannot exceed 50% of tuition fees, and candidates sponsored by an employer or government for more than 50% of fees are ineligible.

Imperial College Business School

Imperial offers Forté Fellowships to exceptional women joining the Full-Time MBA. Candidates who apply in admission rounds one or two and receive an offer can apply, with a required video assessment detailed in the offer email. Awards are limited and made throughout the cycle, so early application is genuinely advantageous — and for some fellows, the award has covered as much as 50% of tuition. Imperial also runs the Inspiring Women Scholarship on the Executive MBA.

External Awards Worth Knowing

The 30% Club partners with multiple business schools and institutions to offer scholarships of up to 50% to women across MBA, EMBA and Masters programmes — recipients are also invited to mentoring events run by its partner Moving Ahead. PWN Global, a professional women's networking organisation, has offered merit-based scholarships to INSEAD's Global Executive MBA. And organisations such as the Zonta Women in Business Leadership Award offer international awards for younger women demonstrating exceptional leadership. These external routes rarely cover full tuition, but they stack meaningfully alongside school awards where the rules permit.

How to Actually Win a Scholarship: 5 Principles

Apply early. This is the single most consistent rule across every school above. Scholarship pools are finite, Forté nominations are deepest in Round 1, and several schools explicitly warn they cannot guarantee availability in later stages.

Treat the scholarship essay as a leadership document, not a hardship letter. Committees fund future impact. Explaining financial constraints is necessary for need-based awards like Laidlaw, but the winning applications show how funding will amplify what you can do for other women in business — through mentorship, community involvement, or the roles you intend to take.

Know which awards need action at application stage. HEC's Forté and L'Oréal essays must go in with your MBA application. Oxford's Laidlaw requires a separate application. LBS's Laidlaw is triggered at interview stage. Missing one of these windows cannot be fixed later.

Check the combination rules. HEC caps combined awards at 50% of tuition and excludes heavily sponsored candidates; HEC's Laidlaw cannot be stacked with other HEC awards. Read the fine print before deciding which awards to prioritise.

Position your whole application, not just the scholarship form. Most awards are decided substantially on the strength of your MBA application itself, your essays, interviews, test scores and leadership narrative. A scholarship strategy is really an admissions strategy with a funding lens.

At Leadearly, we help women position their applications to win both admission and funding at Europe's top business schools: from INSEAD and LBS to Oxford, Cambridge, HEC Paris and Imperial. Book a free consultation to discuss your scholarship strategy.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. Do I need a separate application for women's MBA scholarships? It depends on the award. Forté Fellowships at Oxford and Cambridge are automatic on your MBA application; HEC's Forté award requires an essay submitted with your application; Laidlaw awards typically require a dedicated application with financial-need essays.

Q. Can international candidates win these scholarships? Yes. All the awards above are open to women of any nationality unless a specific award states otherwise. European schools deliberately build international cohorts.

Q. How much can these scholarships realistically cover? Most fall between roughly £20,000 and 50% of tuition. Laidlaw awards at LBS, Oxford and (from 2026) IESE can reach full tuition for candidates with demonstrable financial need.

Q. Does applying for a scholarship hurt my admission chances? No. At Oxford, for example, the scholarship supporting statement is explicitly not used in the admissions process. Schools want to fund the candidates they admit.

Q. Can I hold more than one scholarship? Sometimes. INSEAD allows up to two INSEAD scholarships; HEC caps certain combinations at 50% of tuition and voids other HEC awards if you take Laidlaw. Always check each school's combination rules.