Commonwealth Shared Scholarship

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Scholarship value

The award covers tuition fees, return airfares and living costs for a one-year taught Master's programme.

Deadline

The 2025/26 deadline for this award has now expired.  Further details for 2026/27 will be published in Autumn 2025. 

Criteria

To be considered for these scholarships, applicants must:

  • Be a citizen of or have been granted refugee status by an eligible Commonwealth country.
  • Be permanently resident in an eligible Commonwealth country.
  • Be available to start academic studies in the UK by the start of the UK academic year in September 2025.
  • By September 2025, 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).
  • Not have studied or worked for more than one (academic) year or more in a high-income country
  • Be unable to afford to study in the UK without this scholarship.
  • Have provided all supporting documentation in the required format.
  • Hold an offer by the deadline for a full-time postgraduate taught degree on one of the eligible courses at the University of Kent: 
    • MSc Artificial Intelligence
    • MSc Infectious Diseases
    • MSc Cyber Security
    • MA International Negotiation and Conflict Resolution
    • MSc Applied Actuarial Science
    • MSc Conservation Science
    • MA English and American Literature

Further details

Commonwealth Shared Scholarships, set up by DFID in 1986, represent a unique partnership between the United Kingdom government and UK Universities.

Funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID), Commonwealth Shared Scholarships enable talented and motivated individuals to gain the knowledge and skills required for sustainable development and are aimed at those who could not otherwise afford to study in the UK.

These scholarships are offered under six themes:

  • Science and technology for development
  • Strengthening health systems and capacity
  • Promoting global prosperity
  • Strengthening global peace, security and governance
  • Strengthening resilience and response to crises
  • Access, inclusion and opportunity

How to apply

To be considered for the Commonwealth Shared Scholarship you must:

  • Make a formal application for a postgraduate degree at the University of Kent commencing September 2025/26. This can be done online here.
  • Complete the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission (CSC) online application process. For information on how to do that and full details of the application process please go directly to the Commonwealth Scholarships webpages.
  • Applications will be considered based on Academic Excellence and a completed application.
  • The Commonwealth will accept applications up until 12th December 2024 (closing at 16:00 GMT).