The Commonwealth Scholarship Commission (CSC) in the UK is a body that offers scholarships to students from developing Commonwealth countries for Masters, PhD and Split-site (PhD) studies in the UK. The funds for these scholarships are received from the UK Department for International Development (DFID). Each Commonwealth country has a nominating agency for these scholarships. Moreover, CSC also invites different universities in Commonwealth countries to recommend candidates for the scholarships.
Each year, the CSC invites each nominating agency/university/university body to forward a specific number of nominations. Each nominating agency/university/university body is responsible for its own selection process, and in most cases they will set a closing date in the months preceding the CSC’s deadline for nominations.
Approximately 200-230 scholarships are awarded each year. The CSC invites around three times more nominations than scholarships available – therefore, nominated candidates are not guaranteed to get a scholarship. There are no quotas for scholarships for any individual country. Candidates nominated by national nominating agencies are in competition with those nominated by universities/university bodies, and the same standards will be applied to applications made through either channel.
Selection Criteria
– Academic merit of the candidate
– Quality of the proposal
– Likely impact of the work on the development of the candidate’s home country
Courses of Study
You can apply for a Commonwealth Scholarship for the following levels of study:
– Master’s
– PhD
– Split-site, where the CSC supports one year’s study at a UK university as part of a PhD being undertaken in your home country
All subject areas are eligible, although the CSC’s selection criteria give priority to those applications that demonstrate strong relevance to development.
You are requested to apply for a course of study at a UK university which has agreed to offer a tuition fee contribution.
The CSC expects all candidates being considered for a Commonwealth Scholarship to be nominated by an approved nominating agency/university/university body, and to have completed an application form using the Electronic Application System (EAS). The CSC will not accept any applications, which are not submitted via the EAS to the nominating agency/university/university body in the candidate’s home country.
Last date for submitting the applications is December 7, 2011.
For more information and details, visit this link.
