COMMONWEALTH MASTER’S SCHOLARSHIP

To be considered for these scholarships, applicants must:

1. Be a citizen of or have been granted refugee status by an eligible Commonwealth country, or be a British Protected Person.
2. Be permanently resident in an eligible Commonwealth country.
3. Be available to start academic studies in the UK by the start of the UK academic year in September.
4. By September , hold a first degree of at least upper second-class (2:1) honours standard, or a lower second-class degree and a relevant postgraduate qualification (usually a Master’s degree). The CSC would not normally fund a second Master’s degree. If applying for a second Master’s degree, applicants must provide justification as to why they wish to undertake this study.
5. Be unable to afford to study in the UK without this scholarship.
6. Have provided all supporting documentation in the required format. The CSC recognises that disabled people have often faced and overcome challenges or barriers in their education journey which have prevented them achieving the academic requirement for a Commonwealth Scholarship. Disabled applicants who can demonstrate their potential to contribute to international development but who do not hold a 2:1 Undergraduate degree may be considered for a contextualised nomination through the Commonwealth Disabled People’s Forum nominator. For more information, please contact CDPF directly using the details on our NGOs and charitable body nominators page.

Stated amount: 182,706

1. Approved airfare from the Scholar’s home country to the UK and return at the end of the award (the CSC will not reimburse the cost of fares for dependants, nor the cost of journeys made before the award is confirmed).
2. Approved tuition fees: Full fees are covered by agreement between the CSC and the UK university, and Scholars are not liable to pay for any part of the tuition fee.
3. Stipend (living allowance) at the rate of £1, 347 (INR 1, 48, 974) per month, or £1, 652 (INR 1, 82, 706) per month for those at universities in the London metropolitan area (rates quoted at current levels).
4. Warm clothing allowance, where applicable.
5. Study travel grant towards the cost of study-related travel within the UK or overseas.
6. If a Scholar has children and is widowed, divorced, or a single parent, child allowance of child allowance of £576.61 (INR 63, 703)per month for the first child, and £143 (INR 15, 815) per month for the second and third child under the age of 16, if their children are living with them at the same address in the UK.
7. If a Scholar shares that they have a disability, a full assessment of their needs and eligibility for additional financial support will be offered by the CSC. The CSC’s family allowances are intended to be only a contribution towards the cost of maintaining a Scholar’s family in the UK. The true costs are likely to be considerably higher, and Scholars must be able to supplement these allowances to support any family members who accompany them to the UK. Scholarships are limited.

No Separate Application or Fee is Required to get the grants, it will be automatically considered, once you enrolled for the program. Applications to the CSC must be made using the CSC’s online application system. The CSC is unable to accept any applications or documentation not submitted via the online application system. Applicants are advised to complete and submit applications as early as possible, as the online application system will be very busy in the days leading up to the application deadline. In the application form, applicants are asked to:

1. List all undergraduate and postgraduate university qualifications obtained.
2. List up to 10 publications and prizes.
3. Provide details of employment history and explain how the experience gained supports and is relevant to the programme to be undertaken in the UK.
4. List names and positions of three referees who are qualified to comment on both their capacity to benefit from the proposed Scholarship in the UK and their ability to deliver development impact afterwards. One of the referees must be a current employer (if applicable).
5. Provide a Development Impact statement in four parts. In the first part applicants should explain how the proposed scholarship relates to:
6. Development issues at the global, national, and local level.
7. Development issues connected to the chosen CSC development theme and the wider sector. The second part should explain how they intend to apply their new skills once the Scholarship ends. The third part should outline what they expect will change in development terms following the Scholarship, including:
8. The outcomes that they aim to achieve
9. The timeframe for their implementation
10. Who the beneficiaries will be In the fourth part applicants should write about how the impact of their work could be best measured and evidenced. Applicants are also asked to:
11. Confirm what their award objectives are and how each of them will be met by the Scholarship programme.
12. Confirm what their career plans are for the 5 years following the Scholarship.
13. Confirm their long-term career plans.
14. Provide a detailed plan of study.
15. Provide a personal statement to summarise the ways in which their personal background has encouraged them to want to make an impact in their home country. Applicants may wish to highlight any areas where they have already made significant contributions, including overcoming personal or community barriers in accessing higher education or within their field.
16. Summarise the ways in which they have engaged in voluntary activities and the opportunities they have had to demonstrate leadership. Supporting documentation Applicants must upload the following documents with the application: ​​​​​​​
17. Proof that they are a citizen or have refugee status in an eligible Commonwealth country: a copy of a valid passport (or national ID card) showing a photograph, date of birth, and country of citizenship.
18. Full transcripts detailing all higher education qualifications, including to-date transcripts for any courses currently being studied, with certified translations if not in English. Where any transcripts are missing or do not include all pages, the application will be considered ineligible.
19. References from at least two individuals, in PDF format, signed and on institutional letterhead or an email clearly showing the sender’s details. When completing the references, referees should be asked to comment as fully as possible on the applicant, keeping in mind the following points for inclusion, as appropriate:
20. How long, and in what capacity, the referee has known the applicant.
21. The referee’s views on the applicant’s suitability for the proposed Scholarship and the need for the particular subject of study in the UK.
22. Information on how, and to what extent, the applicant has shown ability in terms of capability to grasp concepts and reason analytically; capacity for original thought; and motivation and perseverance in achieving objectives.
23. Assessment of the applicant’s particular strengths and weaknesses.
24. The applicant’s potential to impact development in their home country.
25. Any other general qualities which the referee considers would make the applicant a good recipient of a Scholarship. ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​For further details, please click here

Applications will be considered according to the following selection criteria:

1. Academic merit
2. Quality of research proposal
3. Potential impact on the development of the candidate’s home country. Other Info Tenure and placement
4. Scholarships are tenable at any approved UK university or higher education institution with which the CSC has a part-funding agreement for a specific programme of study.
5. Scholarships are to obtain one degree; funding will not be extended to enable candidates to complete a qualification in addition to or higher than that for which the selection was made.
6. Scholarships are made in respect of full-time study only and no other course of study may be undertaken at the same time.
7. The CSC does not provide new direct financial or promotional support for the fossil fuel energy sector overseas, defined as the extraction, production, transportation, refining and marketing of crude oil, natural gas or thermal coal, as well as any fossil-fuel fired power plants.
8. The CSC funds one-year taught Master’s programmes only and does not fund MBA degrees.
9. Applicants must make clear in the application which qualification they are applying for. This will enable the CSC to consider the application in the correct category. Applications which do not make this clear may be considered ineligible.
10. Applicants are advised to list three universities and courses that they think are the most appropriate for their study, in order of preference, and to explain their reasons. This is important because the CSC will not change the university or course (or the order of preference) of a provisionally selected candidate after the point of selection, unless exceptional information becomes available that could not have been foreseen at the time of application.
11. The CSC will make the final decision on institution of study, and reserves the right to overrule any preferences indicated by the applicant. The CSC will consider the suitability of the course and its value for money when deciding on any overrule.
12. Applicants must take the necessary steps to apply for admission to their preferred universities in advance of their scholarship application. Many courses have strict admission deadlines and candidates should check admission requirements carefully when applying. If an applicant is selected for a scholarship and has not applied and been accepted for a course, it may not be possible to proceed with the scholarship.