Commonwealth PhD Scholarship- The Commonwealth Scholarship Commission in the UK (CSC) provides these scholarships jointly with UK universities to support world-class research.These scholarships are intended to support scholars who could not afford to study in the UK without additional financial support.
Commonwealth PhD Scholarship
Each scholarship provides:
- 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).
- 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.
- Stipend (living allowance) at the rate of £1,347 per month, or £1,652 per month for those at universities in the London metropolitan area (rates quoted at current levels).
- Warm clothing allowance, where applicable.
- Study travel grant towards the cost of study-related travel within the UK or overseas.
- Provision towards the cost of fieldwork undertaken overseas (the cost of one economy class return airfare to the fieldwork location), where approved.
- Paid mid-term visit (airfare) to the Scholar’s home country, unless they have claimed or intend to claim spouse and/or child allowances during their scholarship or have received a return airfare to their home country for fieldwork.
- Family allowances, as follows (rates quoted at current levels):
- If a Scholar is accompanied by their spouse but no children: spouse allowance of £290 per month for a maximum period of nine months, if they and their spouse are living together at the same address in the UK (unless the spouse is also in receipt of a scholarship; other conditions also apply).
- If a Scholar is accompanied by their spouse and children: spouse allowance of £290 per month and child allowance of £290 per month for the first child, and £143 per month for the second and third child under the age of 16, if their spouse and children are living with them at the same address in the UK (unless their spouse is also in receipt of a scholarship; other conditions also apply).
- If a Scholar has children and is widowed, divorced, or a single parent, child allowance of child allowance of £576.61 per month for the first child, and £143 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.
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.
Eligible Countries
Anguilla
Antigua and Barbuda
Australia
Bahamas
Barbados
Bermuda
British Virgin Islands
Brunei Darussalam
Canada
Cayman Islands
Cyprus
Falkland Islands
Gibraltar
Malta
New Zealand
Seychelles
Singapore
St Kitts and Nevis
Trinidad and Tobago
Turks and Caicos Islands
Eligibility Requirements
To be considered for these scholarships, candidates must:
- Be a citizen of or have been granted refugee status by an eligible Commonwealth country.
- Show evidence that they are currently permanently resident in an eligible Commonwealth country. Candidates must have been living in an eligible Commonwealth country for a period of two years prior to the date they submit their application, which must be clear within the application.
- Not be registered for or have started a PhD, or an MPhil leading to a PhD at a UK university prior to the start of the Scholarship and be available to start the Scholarship and academic studies in the UK in September/October 2024 (exact date to be agreed by the CSC). The Scholarship will not be offered to anyone who has already started their PhD in the UK prior to September 2024.
- 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) by the time they apply for the Scholarship, with evidence of the degree to be submitted within the application.
- Not have commenced or be currently registered for a PhD, or an MPhil leading to a PhD, in their home country or elsewhere.
- Hold an unconditional offer or an offer conditional only on finance for the 2024 UK academic year from all of the UK universities listed on their application, to be submitted as part of the application.
- Provide references from at least 2 individuals, in PDF format, signed and on institution letterhead or an email clearly showing the sender’s details.
- Provide a supporting statement from a proposed supervisor from at least one of the UK universities listed in the application, in PDF format, signed and on institution letterhead or an email clearly showing the sender’s details.
Provisional selection for a scholarship is subject to the agreement of the university for which candidates are selected as part funding for the scholarship is provided by that university.
When applying for this scholarship candidates should ensure that they have contacted their chosen university/universities to confirm they are able to secure admission between September-October 2024; please be aware that some universities may not offer September-October admission for some courses.
Application Process
Applications for Commonwealth scholarships (for high income-countries) for the 2024/25 academic year are now open.. The scholarships are for study in the UK beginning in September/October 2024.
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.
Applicants can expect to hear the outcome by July 2024. We will contact all applicants by email and they should ensure all folders of their email accounts are monitored, including junk mail and spam folders. A scholarship offer may be withdrawn if an applicant is emailed but does not respond within a specified time.
Application Requirement
In the application form, applicants are asked to:
- List all undergraduate and postgraduate university qualifications obtained.
- List up to 10 publications and prizes.
- Provide details of employment history and explain how each job is relevant to the programme to be undertaken in the UK.
- Provide a statement on the relevance of previous work experience to the proposed Scholarship.
- List names and positions of three referees who are qualified to comment on both capacity to benefit from the proposed Scholarship in the UK and the candidate’s ability to deliver development impact afterwards. One of the referees must be a current employer (if applicable).
- Provide a Development Impact statement in four parts.
In the first part applicants should explain how the proposed scholarship relates to:
- Development issues at the global, national, and local level.
- 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:
- The outcomes that they aim to achieve.
- The timeframe for their implementation.
- 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:
- Confirm what their award objectives are and how each of them will be met by the Scholarship programme.
- Confirm what their career plans are for the 5 years following the Scholarship.
- Confirm their long-term career plans.
- Provide a detailed plan of study.
- 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.
- Summarise the ways in which they have engaged in voluntary activities and the opportunities they have had to demonstrate leadership.
Selection Process and Criteria
Applications will be considered according to the following selection criteria:
- Academic merit
- Quality of research proposal
- Impact potential
Supporting Documentation
Applications must include supporting documentation to be eligible.
Please note that applicants are required to collect references and supporting statements, on institution letterhead or an email clearly showing the sender’s details, from referees and proposed supervisors in the UK and then upload them in PDF format to the application system with their other supporting documentation.
The references and supporting statements must be uploaded to the application system by the deadline for applications and we are unable to accept references and supporting statements any other way or after this date.
Applicants must upload the following documents with the application:
- 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.
- 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.
- References from at least two individuals, in PDF format, signed and on institutional letterhead or an email clearly showing the sender’s details.
- A supporting statement, in PDF format, signed and on institutional letterhead or an email clearly showing the sender’s details, from a proposed supervisor in the UK from at least one of the institutions named on the application form.
- An unconditional offer, or an offer conditional only on finance, for the 2023 UK academic year for all institutions named on the application form.
Applications will be considered ineligible if any of the required documentation is not included by the closing date.
The CSC will not accept supporting documentation submitted outside the online application system.
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:
- How long, and in what capacity, the referee has known the applicant.
- 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.
- 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.
- motivation and perseverance in achieving objectives.
- Assessment of the applicant’s particular strengths and weaknesses.
- The applicant’s potential to impact development in their home country.
- Any other general qualities which the referee considers would make the applicant a good recipient of a Scholarship.
Please note that the CSC does not charge applicants to apply for any of its scholarships or fellowships through its online application system.
When completing supporting statements, proposed supervisors should be asked to confirm that they are, in principle, prepared to have the applicant working with them and that they have the facilities to undertake the research. They should also be asked how the applicant’s Plan of Study fits with the expertise of their department and to indicate how much of the candidate’s Plan of Study, if any, they wrote. Any additional comments they make will be appreciated by the Commission.
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Deadline
The deadline for submitting an application is 16:00 GMT on 27 February 2024
