Commonwealth Shared Scholarships

Content Curator

Commonwealth Shared Scholarships are financial aid options for candidates hailing from least developed or lower-middle-income commonwealth countries. The scholarship is awarded for studies in the UK in a full-time Master’s study on selected courses.

Commonwealth shared scholarship is offered under 6 prominent 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
Commonwealth shared scholarships covers fees, fares, and personal maintenance.
Each commonwealth scholarship is funded by CSC and various universities in the UK.
The application deadline for the 2024-2025 scholarship session was October 18, 2024.

Around 23 Commonwealth countries (including India)are eligible for the Commonwealth Shared Scholarship. The number of scholarships awarded varies with the university a student is enrolling in.

Highlights

Scholarship Type	Merit-Based
Offered by	Government bodies
Organization	N/A
Application Deadline	Oct 18 ,2024
Number of Scholarships	N/A
Amount	Variable Amount
Renewability	No
International Student Eligible	Yes
Scholarship Website Link	https://www.britishcouncil.in/study-uk/scholarships/commonwealth-scholarships

Eligibility Criteria

To be considered eligible to apply for the Commonwealth Shared Scholarships, the applicant must:

Citizen of an eligible Commonwealth country like India.
- Refugees are also eligible.
Starting the studies with the UK academic year, i.e., by September/October 2024.
Minimum 75% in a relevant undergraduate or masters degree
not have worked or studied in a high-income country.
not be able to afford the study in the UK.

Note: The CSC will not fund a second master’s degree, if the applicant still applies, they will have to justify the reasoning behind undertaking the study.

The eligible Commonwealth countries for the Commonwealth Shared Scholarships include,

Bangladesh	Cameroon	Eswatini	Ghana
India	Kenya	Kirbati	Lesotho
Malawi	Mozambique	Nigeria	Pakistan
Papua New Guinea	Rwanda	Sierra Leone	Solomon Islands
Sri lanka	Tanzania	The Gambia	Tuvalu
Uganda	Vanuatu	Zambia	-

Application Process

To be eligible for the Commonwealth Shared Scholarships, applicants are required to complete a scholarship application.

The student must apply for one of the taught master’s programs offered under the scheme
Students should secure admission in their intended program of study in the UK.
Applicants must simultaneously apply for the Commonwealth Shared Scholarship.
Applicants must complete their scholarship application using CSC's online application system.

All scholarship applications must be submitted by 16.00 (GMT) on October 18. Applicants are required to submit the following documents along with the scholarship application:

Proof of citizenship
All academic transcripts from all higher education institutions attended
Two references

Applicants must make sure to upload all their required documents as files that are not more than 5 MB in size. All documents must be in one of the following formats- PDF, .doc, .docx, .odt, .jpg, or .jpeg.

Selection Process

Every participant UK university would recruit individuals for the Commonwealth Shared Scholarships. The number of applicants selected varies with the university.

The selection criteria for the scholarship are-

Academic merit
Potential impact of the work on the development of the candidate’s home country.

The university must forward the selected candidates to CSC by March 2022. After which the CSC will inform them whether the chosen candidates meet the criteria of the scheme. The university will then inform the chosen final candidates by June 2024.

Grant Details

Funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID), Commonwealth Shared Scholarships are available for students who want to study taught Master's program at a UK university.

The Commonwealth Shared Scholarship will cover the following expenses of the student:

Approved airfare	to and from the student’s home country, to home country only at the end of the award	funded by CSC
Approved tuition fees	Entirely.	funded by CSC
Stipend, i.e., living allowance	at £1,110 per month, or £1,362 per month for those studying at universities in the London metropolitan area.	funded by university
Warm Clothing Allowance	If applicable	funded by university
Thesis grant	towards the cost of preparing a thesis or dissertation	funded by university
Study travel grant	study-related travel within the UK or overseas	funded by CSC
Excess baggage allowance	up to an annual approved limit, when returning home.	funded by CSC
Reimbursement of the cost of a mandatory tuberculosis test	required for a student visa application to the UK (receipts must be supplied).	funded by CSC

Recipients of the Commonwealth Shared Scholarship are required to adhere to the standards to conduct for the scholarship. Any complaints will be taken very seriously and will be addressed by the CSC.