Commonwealth Scholarships 2024-2025- Study in UK (Fully Funded)September 11, 2023 by Digital Vaults Editorial Team
For around a century or more, the United Kingdom has been the choicest destination for meritorious students worldwide. Also, the UK government and other organizations there offer many scholarships to attract talents from every corner of the world. Among those scholarships offered, the Commonwealth scholarship facilitates young and bright minds from the commonwealth countries to study in the UK.
- Country: UK
- Sponsor: Commonwealth Scholarship Commission of the United Kingdom
- Eligible Countries: All Commonwealth Countries
- Type: Fully Funded
- Course Level: Masters, PhD
- Deadline: 17th October 2023
What is the Commonwealth scholarship?
It is a scholarship sponsored by the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission of the United Kingdom and has been in commission since 1960. Suppose you are a bright young mind who believes in him or herself to make some positive impact on a global stage. In that case, Commonwealth scholarships offer you a proper setup to excel in your academic as well as social and cultural endeavors. Each year more than 800 students across the globe are provided grants to study in the UK.
Who can apply for Commonwealth scholarship?
- Only residents/ citizens of the commonwealth countries are awarded the grants.
- The scholarship scheme supports potential leaders, innovators, and scholars of extraordinary merit.
- Also, those students are offered grants which would have otherwise been unable to support their studies financially.
Themes on which scholarships are offered:
The scholarship is offered under these six development themes which are;
- Science and technology for development
- Strengthening health systems and capacity
- Promoting global prosperity
- Strengthening global peace and governance
- Strengthening resilience and response to the crisis
- Access, inclusion, and opportunity
To avail of the scholarship, the student needs to pick one program falling under any one of the development themes mentioned above.
Commonwealth Scholarship Benefits
Most of the scholarships offered are fully funded. Here are the details of the financial benefits, a student is supposed to get from the scholarship;
- Approved to and fro airfare from your home country to the UK.
- Approved tuition fees; no scholar is required to pay any fee to the university.
- Living allowance of £1,236 per month for universities in the small cities and £1,516 per month for universities in the London metropolitan area.
- Warm clothing allowance if applicable
- Thesis grant, wherever applicable
- Study travel grant to cover the cost of study-related travel within the UK or to any foreign country
- Allowances for children, if they accompany you to the UK (under special provision)
- Additional financial support for students with disability.
After seeing the benefits mentioned here, you must have had the impression that the Commonwealth scholarship is one of the most lucrative global awards to be won by scholars.
Let us see the eligibility criteria for selecting this coveted scholarship.
Other benefits of Commonwealth scholarship:
- Entry to the league of Commonwealth scholars who have been world leaders, prime ministers, diplomats, and academicians.
- Have access to a vast global alum base of commonwealth scholars
- Opportunity to learn the culture of the United Kingdom and learn about cultures and stories of students from 44 participating countries from the Commonwealth and students from non-commonwealth countries as well.
- Access to the online professional network of CSC alums.
Commonwealth Scholarship Eligibility
- Nationality: citizen of a commonwealth country/ permanent resident of a commonwealth country/ refugee status from a commonwealth country or a British protected person is eligible for the grant.
- Start academic studies in the UK by September 2023, i.e., the commencement of the UK academic year.
- Must have the qualifying degree before the start of the UK academic session.
- Qualifying degrees: A bachelor’s degree with an honors standard for enrolment in master’s degree courses. A master’s degree to become eligible for the Ph.D. courses.
- Application format filling all necessary information.
Required Documents for Commonwealth Scholarship
Here are the documents you need to apply for applying for the commonwealth scholarship.
- A scanned copy of the passport.
- Academic transcripts
- University degree certificate
- Two references (from prominent professional acquaintances, professors, etc.)
- Admission letter (if you have got one)
Here you can learn everything about how to apply for the Commonwealth scholarship.
Commonwealth Scholarship Selection procedure
The CSC has guidelines that allow the scholars to satisfy three selection criteria.
- Academic merit: Since the prime requirement of the award is academic merit, the student applying for the scholarship must have exhibited academic brilliance in the preceding degree and the past. Also, considering the vast number of applicants, the absence of academic merit will hold no good for one’s application.
- Quality plan of the study: You have to submit a plan of the study you intend to undergo and show what aspects of the subject you are planning to study and how you will approach it. The clarity and quality of the plan of study will help you present your vision behind opting for the scholarship.
- Potential impact on the candidate’s home country: They will evaluate the impact you will make on the development of your home country after you complete the degree in the UK. Since the cooperation and development of the Commonwealth have been prime drivers of the scholarship, the potential outcome of the course and its impact on the country you belong to matter a lot in the selection.
Things to remember while applying:
- You will provide with a scholarship grant to complete a degree course. No extension of the course or a higher degree course will be funded under your award.
- The scholarships are offered for full-time study programs; hence students cannot take up other programs along with the full-time degree program.
- You must apply to the universities you intend to study in advance of your scholarship application. If you successfully get the scholarship but cannot secure admission into a university, then it may not be possible for you to proceed with the scholarship.
- The deadline for Commonwealth scholarship application is 18th October 2022.
Official Websites
cscuk.fcdo.gov.uk/scholarships/commonwealth-masters-scholarships/
You need to apply two places :
1st:Nominating agencies :
- National nominating agencies : https://cscuk.fcdo.gov.uk/national-nominating-agencies/
- Selected non-governmental organizations and charitable bodies : https://cscuk.fcdo.gov.uk/ngos-and-charitable-body-nominators/
2nd CSC Portal (link : https://fs29.formsite.com/m3nCYq/tblglqacxe/index.html)
Demo application form (https://cscuk.fcdo.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Example-application-form-PhD.pdf)
Check the other fully funded scholarships in UK here.
Frequently Asked Questions about Commonwealth Scholarship
Question: How tough is it to get a commonwealth scholarship?
Answer: Considering the vast number of applications, getting selected is tough. It demands academic brilliance and wants students to satisfy the other two selection criteria.
Question: Can I say in the UK after the commonwealth scholarship?
Answer: You can only stay after the scholarship CSC considers your request (and completion of other due processes) for a Ph.D. course. CSC does not have any role to play in helping you to enable you to work in the UK.
Question: Is there an interview for a commonwealth scholarship?
Answer: Yes, the shortlisted candidates are called for an interview.
Question: How many universities participate in the Commonwealth scholarship?
Answer: Seventy-six universities and institutions of higher education offer to take students from the commonwealth scholarship. Great names like the University of Oxford, the University of Cambridge, and the London School of Economics are also on the list of universities taking students from the Commonwealth scholarships.
