Students, especially from the least developed and lower-middle-income Commonwealth countries, wishing to study in the United Kingdom always face the issue of funding. So, for such students, there is a provision of Commonwealth Shared scholarship to undertake full-time Master’s study for selected courses at a UK university.
The scholarship is funded by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and provides full coverage of academic and living expenses. The scholarship scheme was started to enable talented and motivated individuals to gain the knowledge and skills required for sustainable development and is aimed at those who could not otherwise afford to study in the UK.
Available Programmes
These scholarships are offered in partnership with premier universities in the UK, ranging from the London School of Economics, SOAS-University of London, Oxford and Cambridge. The master’s scholarships are divided into six themes:
Access, inclusion and opportunity
Promoting global prosperity
Science and technology for development
Strengthening global peace, security and governance
Strengthening health systems and capacity
Strengthening resilience and responses to crises
There are dozens of courses available in each theme such as M.Sc Development Studies from London School of Economics, M.Phil Education (Globalization and International Development) from Cambridge and M.Sc International Health and Tropical Medicine from Oxford. For the complete list of available courses, click here.
Funding Details:
- Commonwealth shared scholarship covers the following expenses:
- Airfare from the home country and return at the end of the programme
- Thesis grant
- Full tuition fee
- The living allowance at the rate of £1,133 per month
- Coverage is also provided in the case of disability or child support
Eligibility:
- To apply for these scholarships, you must:
- Be a citizen of an eligible Commonwealth country
- Be permanently residing in an eligible Commonwealth country
- Be available to start your academic studies in the UK by the start of the UK academic year in September 2022
- By September 2022, hold a first degree of at least upper second-class (2:1) honors standard, or a lower second-class degree (2:2) and a relevant postgraduate qualification (usually a Master’s degree)
- Not have studied or worked for one (academic) year or more in a high-income country
- Be unable to afford to study at a UK university without this scholarship
- Have provided all supporting documentation in the required format
Each participating UK University conducts its own recruitment process to select a specified number of candidates to be awarded Commonwealth Shared Scholarships. After the selection process, the Universities would forward their selected candidates to the CSC in March 2022. Then the Universities will inform candidates of their results by July 2022.
For further information on the scholarship programme, please click here.
