Confucius Institute Scholarship (CLEC/CIEF)

What you get

You get a full scholarship to study Chinese in China. It covers your full tuition and free campus housing (usually a shared room), or a housing allowance if you live off campus. You also get a monthly living allowance and health insurance. The living allowance depends on your level:

• About 320 EUR/month (RMB 2,500) for undergraduate, one-year and one-semester students
• About 385 EUR/month (RMB 3,000) for master's students
• About 450 EUR/month (RMB 3,500) for doctoral students

The award runs for the length of your programme: up to 4 years for a bachelor's or doctorate, up to 2 years for a master's, 11 months for a one-year programme and 5 months for a semester. It is run by China's Center for Language Education and Cooperation (CLEC), a government body under the Ministry of Education, to train Chinese-language teachers worldwide. Online courses cover only tuition, and the four-week programme pays no living allowance.

Who can apply

• Field: You study Chinese language, Chinese literature, Chinese history or philosophy, or a degree in International Chinese Language Education (teaching Chinese to foreigners).
• Degree level: There are options for language courses (a few weeks up to a year) and for full bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees. For a master's you need a bachelor's. For a doctorate you need a master's in a language or teaching field.
• Nationality: You are not a Chinese citizen.
• Age: You are 16 to 35 years old on 1 September of the application year. Serving Chinese-language teachers can be up to 45; bachelor's applicants are usually under 25.
• Chinese level: You hold valid HSK and HSKK certificates (the standard Chinese written and speaking proficiency tests), no older than 24 months. The required level rises with the programme, from HSK Level 3 for short courses up to HSK Level 6 or 7 for a doctorate.
• Health and conduct: You are in good physical and mental health, have good academic results, no criminal record and a genuine interest in Chinese-language teaching.
• Priority: Serving Chinese-language teachers are preferred, as are applicants who can show a teaching job offer for after their studies.

How to apply

You start at a Recommending Institution, usually a Confucius Institute, an HSK test centre or a Chinese department at a university abroad. There you have a qualifying interview in Chinese. You then register and apply online at chinese.cn, choose your host university and upload your documents. Deadlines depend on the start date: roughly mid-May for a September start, mid-April for July, mid-September for December and late October for a March start. A CLEC expert panel makes the final decision, based mainly on your HSK/HSKK results. Results come out about three months before the programme begins.

How realistic are your chances?

This scholarship is aimed at people committed to Chinese-language teaching who already have solid Chinese, so the field is narrower than for open study-abroad grants. If you clearly meet the HSK/HSKK level for your programme, fit the age limit and can show real interest in teaching Chinese, your prospects are good. Serving teachers and applicants with a teaching job offer have an extra edge. Selection also weighs geographic distribution, so a strong test score and an early, complete application matter most.