Commonwealth Master’s Scholarship 2027-28 in the UK: Fully Funded

The Commonwealth Master’s Scholarship 2027-28 is a fully funded one-year master’s degree in the UK. It covers full tuition fees, return airfare, and a monthly stipend of £1,712 (£2,000 if you study in London).

The UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office funds the award, and the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission (CSC) runs it. It’s for citizens of eligible low and middle income Commonwealth countries who couldn’t otherwise afford a UK degree.

Applications close at 16:00 BST on 20 October 2026. You can’t apply to the CSC directly. You submit through the CSC’s online system and a nominating agency in your country.

Commonwealth Master’s Scholarship 2027-28: key facts

Here are the essentials in one place.

Detail	Information
Scholarship	Commonwealth Master’s Scholarships 2027-28
Funded by	UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO)
Run by	Commonwealth Scholarship Commission (CSC)
Level	One-year taught master’s, full-time only
Funding	Full tuition, return airfare, £1,712/month stipend (£2,000 in London)
Who can apply	Citizens of eligible low and middle income Commonwealth countries
How to apply	CSC Central online system plus a nominating agency (no direct applications)
Deadline	16:00 BST, 20 October 2026
Results announced	By July 2027

What the scholarship covers

Each scholarship pays for:

• Approved airfare from your home country to the UK and back at the end of the award.
• Full tuition fees. The CSC has fee agreements with UK universities, so you don’t pay any part of the tuition.
• A monthly stipend of £1,712, or £2,000 if your university is in the London metropolitan area.
• A study travel grant towards study-related travel inside the UK or overseas.
• Child allowance of £622 per month for the first child and £154 per month for the second and third child under 16, if you’re a widowed, divorced, or single parent with children living with you in the UK.
• Disability support. If you share that you have a disability, the CSC runs a full assessment of your needs and extra financial support.

A few limits apply. The CSC funds one-year taught master’s programmes only. It doesn’t fund MBA degrees, and you can’t study anything else at the same time. You also can’t hold another scholarship or bursary that covers the same costs while you hold this one.

Who can apply

To be considered, you must:

• Be a citizen of, or have refugee status in, an eligible Commonwealth country, and live there permanently. The CSC lists 40+ eligible countries across Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, and the Pacific, including Bangladesh, Ghana, India, Kenya, Nigeria, Pakistan, South Africa, and Sri Lanka.
• Be available to start your studies in the UK in September 2027.
• Hold a first degree of at least upper second-class (2:1) honours standard by September 2027, or a lower second-class degree plus a relevant postgraduate qualification.
• Be unable to afford UK study without this scholarship.
• Submit every required document in the right format before the deadline.

There’s no age limit. If you’re applying for a second master’s degree, you must explain why, and the CSC doesn’t normally fund one. You’re not eligible if you’ve already studied a master’s in the UK or already held a Commonwealth Master’s Scholarship.

Every scholar signs an undertaking to return home when the award ends. Switching to a graduate visa to stay in the UK isn’t permitted.

If you already hold a master’s and want a doctorate instead, read our guide to the Commonwealth PhD Scholarships 2027-28.

How to apply

Follow these steps in order.

• 1. Confirm your eligibility. Check the CSC’s eligible-country list and the degree requirement above.
• 2. Find your nominator. You must apply through a nominating agency. National nominating agencies are the main route; selected NGOs and charitable bodies also take part. Each nominator runs its own selection process and may set its own earlier closing date, so check their rules first.
• 3. Apply for university admission separately. List up to three UK universities and courses in order of preference on the CSC form. The CSC won’t change your choices after selection, so pick carefully. Many courses have strict admission deadlines of their own.
• 4. Register on CSC Central. Applications go through the CSC’s online system. It uses two-factor authentication, so keep your phone or a second email handy. Use the save function as you go. Don’t refresh the browser mid-form or you’ll lose unsaved data. You can’t edit anything after you submit.
• 5. Complete the form. You’ll list your qualifications, up to 10 publications and prizes, and your employment history. You’ll name three referees (one must be your current employer, if you have one). You’ll write a Development Impact statement in four parts, your award objectives, your career plans for the five years after the scholarship plus your long-term plans, a detailed study plan, and a personal statement.
• 6. Upload your documents before the deadline (see the checklist below).
• 7. Submit early. The CSC warns the system gets very busy near the deadline, and late applications aren’t accepted.

The CSC doesn’t accept direct applications, and it won’t accept documents sent outside the online system. Nominators put their candidates forward by December 2026, but a nomination is no guarantee of selection.

Deadlines and timeline

Upload all of these with your application. Missing documents make the application ineligible.

• Proof of citizenship or refugee status. A copy of a valid passport or national ID card showing your photograph, date of birth, and country of citizenship.
• Full transcripts for every higher education qualification, including up-to-date transcripts for any course you’re still studying. Include certified translations for anything not in English. If pages are missing, the application is rejected.
• At least two references in PDF format. Each must be signed and on institutional letterhead, or sent as an email that clearly shows the sender’s details. They must reach the system by the deadline.

Ask your referees to write in their own words and cover: how long they’ve known you and in what capacity, your suitability for the scholarship, your analytical ability and capacity for original thought, your motivation and perseverance, your strengths and weaknesses, and your potential to drive development in your home country.

There’s no application fee. The CSC never charges for any of its scholarships.

Deadlines and timeline

• 8 September 2026: applications opened.
• 20 October 2026, 16:00 BST: CSC application deadline. Your nominator may set an earlier date.
• December 2026: nominators put forward their candidates to the CSC.
• July 2027: the CSC emails every applicant with the outcome. Watch all your inbox folders, including spam. If you’re offered a place and don’t reply in time, the offer can be withdrawn.
• September/October 2027: studies begin in the UK.

Start now if you haven’t. References and transcripts take weeks to arrange, and the online system slows down in the final days.

How the CSC selects scholars

The CSC scores applications on three things:

• Candidate merit, including your academic record and experience.
• Quality of your research proposal and study plan.
• Potential development impact in your home country.

Link every answer on the form to these three points. The Development Impact statement carries real weight, and it has four parts:

• How your proposed study connects to development issues at global, national, and local level, and to your chosen CSC development theme.
• How you plan to use your new skills once the scholarship ends.
• What you expect to change in development terms: the outcomes you want, the timeframe, and who benefits.
• How the impact of your work can best be measured and evidenced.

Be concrete. Name the sector, the problem, and the change you want to see, with numbers where you can.

Tips for a strong application

• Draft outside the system. Write your answers in a document first, then paste them into CSC Central once they’re final.
• Make the development case specific. Vague claims about helping your country don’t score. Name a real problem in your sector and explain exactly what your UK master’s lets you do about it.
• Choose your three courses honestly. The CSC won’t swap them later, so only list places you’d genuinely accept.
• Brief your referees. Send them the five points the CSC wants covered so their letters hit each one.
• Apply for admission in parallel. If you’re selected but haven’t secured a university place, the scholarship may not proceed.
• Check your nominator’s deadline. It’s often earlier than the CSC’s 20 October date.

If this deadline passes you by, other UK-funded routes are worth a look. The GREAT Scholarships 2026-27 fund postgraduate study across UK universities, and the Marshall Scholarships 2027 fully fund postgraduate study for applicants with strong academic records.

Frequently Asked Questions