Commonwealth Scholarships for African Students (2027/28)

What are the Commonwealth Scholarships?

Commonwealth Scholarships (UK) are run by the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission in the UK, the CSC, and they fund study in one destination only: the United Kingdom. Two levels are covered, master, phd, and the award is a full package rather than a fee reduction.

Length is fixed by level: One year for the taught master's schemes; 36 months of full-time study for the PhD scholarships. The CSC states around 800 awards a year for postgraduate study and professional development, counting its scholarships and its fellowships together, so the master’s and PhD scholarships alone are fewer than that figure suggests.

A per-scheme or per-country breakdown is not published. The purpose written into the terms is development: you study a subject that matters at home, then you go home. The CSC does not take applications direct from students, which is why the nominating body, not the university, decides whether your file is ever read in London. Costs without an award sit on our study in the UK guide.

What does it cover?

Tuition is paid in full. The living allowance is £1,712–2,000 per month, the higher rate for universities in the London metropolitan area, on the agency-nominated master’s and the PhD schemes for 2027/28. Approved airfares from your home country to the UK and back at the end of the award are included; fares for dependants, and any trip made before the award is confirmed, are not reimbursed.

Scholars with children can claim more. The family provision: Child allowance of GBP 622 a month for the first child and GBP 154 a month for the second and third child under 16, for widowed, divorced or single parents whose children live with them in the UK; the PhD scheme adds a spouse allowance of GBP 313 a month.

On top sits a Study travel grant towards study-related travel in the UK or overseas; a full needs assessment and additional financial support where a scholar shares a disability. No housing is provided, so London rent comes out of the same allowance that pays for food and transport.

Who can apply from our countries?

Of the nine countries we work with, five are eligible: Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, Uganda and Zambia. Kenya is restricted — Kenyan citizens are Commonwealth citizens, but Kenya does not sit on every scheme’s eligible-country list, so confirm the list for your scheme first. Egypt and Morocco are not Commonwealth members and are excluded outright. Zimbabwe does not appear on the 2027/28 eligible-country list. With an Egyptian, Moroccan or Zimbabwean passport, Chevening is the UK government scholarship that is open to you.

The citizenship rule is set per scheme: Citizen of, or granted refugee status by, an eligible Commonwealth country, or a British Protected Person, and permanently resident in an eligible Commonwealth country. The eligible list is set per scheme: low and middle income Commonwealth countries for the agency-nominated Master's, and least developed countries and vulnerable states for the PhD scholarships.

On qualifications, the CSC’s bar is this: A first degree of at least upper second-class (2:1) honours standard, or a lower second-class degree plus a relevant postgraduate qualification, held by September 2027. The grade bar is Upper second-class (2:1) honours, or lower second-class with a relevant postgraduate qualification; a contextualised route exists for disabled applicants nominated through the Commonwealth Disabled People's Forum.

No age limit is published. Neither scheme sets a work experience requirement, though a nominating body can add criteria of its own. One condition shapes what happens after: A signed undertaking to return home before the student visa expires; switching to a graduate or other visa to remain in the UK is not permitted.

Deadline and timeline for 2027/28

The CSC closes applications on 20 October 2026 — the same date for the master’s and the PhD schemes — for study starting in September or October 2027. The cut-off is an afternoon UK time on that day, not midnight, and a submitted application cannot be edited. An opening date for the round is not published; as of September 2026 the scheme pages and the CSC news page carry none.

Your nominating body’s deadline falls earlier and is set by that body, not by the CSC; nominators pass their agreed lists to the Commission in December 2026. Selection panels sit after that, and applicants hear By July 2027, followed by a Notification of Award. Payment dates are not published, so budget for your own flights and first month in the UK until the award paperwork confirms otherwise.

How to apply for the Commonwealth Scholarships

1. Check the eligible-country list and the criteria for the scheme you want. The agency-nominated master’s and the PhD scholarships use different country lists, and the wrong list is the commonest reason a file is discarded unread.
2. Apply for admission to up to three UK universities and courses in advance. An offer is not required before you apply, but the CSC wants to see where you have applied and what you intend to study.
3. Apply to a nominating body as well. This is a national nominating agency in your own country, and it runs the first round of selection. The CSC reads only nominated files, so find your agency and its deadline first.
4. Register on CSC Central and pass two-factor authentication, then complete the application form there.
5. Write the Development Impact statement in four parts. This is where the award is won or lost: the problem you will work on at home, why this course, and what changes when you return.
6. Collect two references in PDF, signed and on institutional letterhead, and list the names and positions of your referees in the form. Brief your referees on the development purpose, not only your grades.
7. Upload your documents — a valid passport or national ID showing your date of birth and nationality, and full transcripts of every higher education qualification you hold.
8. Submit before the close on 20 October 2026. Your nominator then runs its own selection and nominates its agreed number of candidates to the CSC.
9. CSC panels assess the nominations on candidate merit, the quality of the study plan and likely development impact. Outcomes follow By July 2027, then you arrange your place and your UK student visa.

Which universities and programmes

Host universities in our dataset include Durham, Imperial College London, King’s College London, LSE, UCL, Birmingham, Bristol, Nottingham, Southampton and Warwick — see our UK university pages. Subject scope is set by the Commission, not by the university: Full-time study under the six CSC development themes. One-year taught master's only and no MBA degrees; the CSC gives no new direct support to the fossil fuel energy sector. The CSC also runs Fellowships and Startup Fellowships, which are outside this record. Two university-level variants work differently and are worth naming.

The King’s College London Commonwealth Shared Scholarship Scheme runs a small number of awards limited to four MSc programmes and to low and middle income Commonwealth citizens. Warwick lists its Commonwealth awards as requiring a confirmed Warwick offer before you apply. Read the host university’s own page as well as the CSC’s, because the university route can add conditions the main scheme does not have.

Odds, and what to do if you miss it

Around 800 awards a year cover every eligible country, level and field, and scholarships and fellowships are counted in that one number. No per-country quota and no application-to-award ratio is published, so treat any success rate you read elsewhere as invented. Two things follow.

Apply to one scheme properly rather than three badly, and keep a funded alternative alive: Chevening closes in October 2026 as well and is open to all nine of our countries, and university awards are listed on our UK scholarships page. If neither UK route works, cheaper tuition is the other lever — compare it on our cheapest countries in Europe page.