Commonwealth Scholarship Scheme - Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Plan

What the Commonwealth Scholarship gives you

You will be offered a fully-funded place on a Master’s programme at a UK university. The scholarship package covers your tuition fees, a return economy-class flight, a monthly living allowance, an arrival grant, and a grant towards warm clothing or study-related expenses. The exact amounts are determined each year. The programme is administered by the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission (CSC) in the United Kingdom and funded by the UK Department for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs. The CSC awards around 800 scholarships and research grants annually across all its programmes.

Who can apply

• Where you're from: You are a national of an eligible low- or middle-income Commonwealth country and live there permanently. Refugees and persons under British protection in these countries are also eligible. Eligible countries include, amongst others, India, Nigeria, Kenya, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Ghana and South Africa.
• Level: You would like to study a full-time, on-campus Master’s degree at a British university.
• Field of study: Any topic is possible, but your study plan should relate to one of the CSC’s development themes, such as health, technology, innovation, resilience or good governance.
• Grades: You must hold at least a Bachelor’s degree with an ‘Upper Second Class Honours’ classification (2:1) or an equivalent qualification. If your results are lower than this (2:2), you will also need a relevant postgraduate qualification.
• Financial need: Without this scholarship, you wouldn’t have been able to afford to study in the UK.
• Age: There is no age restriction.
• No repeats: You have not yet obtained a master’s degree in the UK and have never received a CSC master’s scholarship.
• After your studies: You undertake to return to your home country once the scholarship has ended.

How to apply

You must apply via your country’s official nominating body or an accredited non-governmental organisation (NGO), which will then put forward the candidates to the CSC. It is not possible to apply directly to the CSC. The application itself is submitted via the CSC’s online system, ‘CSC Central’. For the 2027/28 intake round, the application period begins on 8. September 2026 and closes at 16:00 BST on 20 October 2026; results will be announced by July 2027.

How realistic are your chances?

As this is an internationally renowned scholarship, it attracts highly qualified applicants from many countries, and competition is fierce. You will need both excellent academic results and a clear link to one of the CSC’s development themes. Nomination by your national agency is the first hurdle and does not in itself guarantee funding. If you meet the criteria exactly and can demonstrate a genuine financial need, as well as a plan for how you intend to use your degree in your home country, you stand a good chance.