CLMCE Erasmus Mundus 2027 — Children's Literature MA
Fully funded Master scholarship in United Kingdom for All international students students 2027
Glasgow-led joint master's on children's and YA literature, media adaptation and cultural entrepreneurship. Scholarship applications close 22 January 2027.
Eligibility
- A good bachelor's degree in literature, education, media, publishing, languages or a related field
- English language proficiency under University of Glasgow postgraduate rules
- A personal statement addressing the literature, media and entrepreneurship strands
- Academic or professional referees contacted through the online form
- Open to applicants of all nationalities; separate self-funded deadlines apply
- No previous Erasmus Mundus joint master's scholarship for funded consideration
Children's books are now a licensing business before they are a literary one. A middle-grade novel is optioned for screen before it is published, a picture book becomes an animated series, and the author is expected to understand contracts, platforms and audience analytics as well as narrative. CLMCE, the Erasmus Mundus International Master in Children's Literature, Media and Cultural Entrepreneurship, was designed around that shift, and applications for September 2027 entry are open now.
The programme is led by the University of Glasgow and delivered by a European consortium, which means the degree is awarded jointly rather than by one institution. Two years, taught in English, with a focus on how texts for children and young adults move between print, screen, games and merchandising — and on who owns what when they do.
What it covers
The core of the degree is the relationship between children's and young adult texts and the media they become. That covers picture books and illustrated fiction, YA novels, film and television adaptation, games and digital products, and the cultural policy questions that sit underneath: what counts as age-appropriate, how translation changes a text, how a small national market sustains a publishing industry.
The entrepreneurship strand is the part that separates CLMCE from a literature master's. You are assessed on business models, audience development and cultural project design, not only on close reading. Graduates tend to move into publishing, literary agencies, children's media production, cultural programming and arts funding rather than into academic research, and the curriculum is honest about that.
Funding comes through the Erasmus Mundus Joint Master scheme. A scholarship covers tuition and participation costs and includes a monthly living allowance for the duration of the programme. The consortium does not publish the monthly figure on the 2027 entry page, so treat any specific number you see on an aggregator as unverified and read the two-year cost from the university's own tuition page instead.
Who can apply
CLMCE is open to international applicants with a good bachelor's degree, and the admissions decision rests on the fit between your academic background and the programme's three strands — literature, media and entrepreneurship. Applicants come from English, education, media studies, publishing, modern languages and business backgrounds; the committee is looking for a coherent reason to combine them rather than for one specific degree title.
English proficiency is required, and the level is set by the University of Glasgow's postgraduate admissions rules for international students. If your first degree was taught in English in a recognised majority-English country you are normally exempt, but the exemption is assessed on documents rather than assumed.
Self-check before you write the application. Can I name three children's or YA texts and say something about their media trajectory that a general reader would not know? Have I ever built or sold something — a magazine, a festival, a small press, a channel — even at a tiny scale? Do I understand what a rights deal actually transfers? Can I evidence English proficiency under Glasgow's rules? And can I explain why this programme rather than a publishing MA in my own country?
The deadline
The Erasmus Mundus scholarship deadline is 22 January 2027 at 13:00 UK time. That is a hard cut-off for funding consideration and it applies to applicants of every nationality.
Self-funded applicants have much more room. UK applicants can apply until 24 August 2027 and EU and international applicants until 8 July 2027. Those dates are worth noting even if you are aiming for a scholarship, because a file that misses January by a week is not a lost year — it is a self-funded year, and the difference in cost is the entire point of applying early.
How to apply
Applications are made online through the link on the programme's How to Apply page. Prepare: degree certificate and transcript, English language evidence, a CV, a personal statement that addresses the three strands, and — where the form asks for it — a sample of written or project work. Referees are contacted through the form, so warn them before you submit rather than after.
The personal statement carries unusual weight here because the cohort is small and interdisciplinary. A statement that argues from one strong example — a translation project, a children's magazine, a reading programme you ran — is more persuasive than a list of interests, and it gives the committee something concrete to discuss if you are shortlisted.
https://www.clmce-erasmusmundus.eu/postgraduate/erasmusmundus/clmce/howtoapply/
Tips to win
Frame your experience as a market, not as a hobby. If you have run a reading club for teenagers, say how many attended, how you found them, and what you learned about what they would not read. Cultural entrepreneurship is assessed on evidence of judgment, and small numbers honestly reported are stronger than large claims.
Use the consortium. A joint degree means the committee is assembling a cohort that can work across countries. Naming a specific partner, a specific module and a specific output you want to produce — an adaptation pitch, a translated picture book, a licensing plan — signals that you have read the programme rather than the brochure.
Common mistakes
Applying with a statement that could be sent to any literature master's. Assuming the January date is flexible because the self-funded deadline is in July. Leaving referees to be contacted in the last week. Ignoring the entrepreneurship strand entirely because your background is literary. And treating the scholarship as covering only tuition — the monthly allowance is part of the award, and the application is assessed for both.
The programme suits people who want to make cultural products reach audiences, not only to study them. If that is the ambition, 22 January 2027 is the date that decides whether it is funded.
https://www.clmce-erasmusmundus.eu/postgraduate/erasmusmundus/clmce/howtoapply/
Other scholarships worth comparing on OEAC Network: https://www.oeacnetwork.com/index.php?page=post&id=10 https://www.oeacnetwork.com/index.php?page=post&id=55 https://www.oeacnetwork.com/index.php?page=post&id=46
An OEAC advisor can check your documents and your statement against the programme's own requirements before you submit. Book a free review with the advisory team.
Last updated: 28 October 2026. Source: https://www.clmce-erasmusmundus.eu/postgraduate/erasmusmundus/clmce/howtoapply/
Always confirm the deadline and eligibility on the official page before you apply. Scholarship dates change between rounds, and this listing is a summary — the provider's own page is the authoritative source. OEAC Network lists scholarships for free and is not an agent for any university or funding body.
