The scholarship programme is the biggest for a law faculty in Europe and has been made possible after a record £20 million gift by Dickson Poon CBE, a Hong Kong-based British philanthropist. King’s LLB law programme is popular with students from India and there is an active and growing law alumni network in Delhi and Mumbai.

The scale of the scholarships reflects Dickson Poon and the Law School’s shared desire to enable the brightest and best law students to obtain a world-class education free of financial concern. Around 80 scholarships worth over £2m are being offered globally in this first full year of the Dickson Poon Scholarship Programme.

The scholarships focus on students who demonstrate not only academic excellence, but equally as important, outstanding leadership potential and life ambition – as part of King’s commitment to train graduates who will be equipped with the skills needed to work in a competitive global environment.

Up to 75 may be awarded to the best undergraduates enrolling in 2013 in Law and up to five scholarships for Law PhD students enrolling in the same year. Up to 10 undergraduate scholarships will be reserved for students taking the innovative Politics, Philosophy and Law Programme, of which Poon is the patron.

Law at King’s has enjoyed a tradition of excellence for over 175 years and is recognised globally as one of the UK’s premier law schools. The Dickson Poon School of Law ranks 4th amongst UK law schools and 18th worldwide in the newly-published 2012 QS World University Rankings by Subject.

Professor Sir Lawrence Freedman, vice-principal of King’s College London, said: ‘The scholarship programme is the best and largest of its kind for law in the UK and aims to attract the most talented legal scholars and students to the Dickson Poon School of Law.  It marks an exciting milestone in the 180-year history of King’s College London.’

Poon commented: ‘My donation and the establishment of these scholarships is part of the ambition I share with the distinguished Law School at King's College London, to set new standards in legal education and research.