Scholarships to developing Commonwealth countries 2011: Applying through a national nominating agency

Background

Commonwealth Scholarships for students from the developing Commonwealth to study in the United Kingdom are funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) (www.dfid.gov.uk). 

There is a nominating agency for Commonwealth Scholarships in each Commonwealth country. Each year, the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission writes to each agency asking for a specific number of nominations to be sent to it. Each agency is responsible for its own selection process, and in most cases will set a deadline date in the months preceding the Commission's deadline for nominations of the 21 December 2010. 

Approximately 200-230 scholarships are awarded each year.   Each year, the Commission seeks about three times more nominations than it has places available; therefore, candidates who are nominated are not certain to get a scholarship. There are no quotas for selections for any individual country.  Candidates are in competition with those nominated by developing country universities and the same standards will be applied to applications through both procedures.

Terms and Conditions and Eligibility

Full details of the terms and conditions of Commonwealth Scholarships are included in the Prospectus (please note in particular the eligibility criteria):

•Prospectus 2011 (PDF 231 KB)

Please note that there are additional requirements for awards involving Clinical training in Medicine and Dentistry

Applications are considered according to the following selection criteria:

•  Academic merit of the candidate
•  The quality of the proposal
• The likely impact of the work on the development of the candidate’s home  country

For more details please see: Selection Criteria 2011 (PDF 128 KB)

Courses of Study

Applications may be for study at Masters or doctoral level.  Candidates may also apply for Split-site doctoral awards, in which the Commission supports one year's study in the United Kingdom as part of a doctorate being taken in the home country. All subject areas are eligible, although the Commission selection criteria do give priority to those applications that demonstrate strong relevance to development.

Candidates are requested to apply for a course of study at an institution in the UK which has agreed to offer part-funding with the Commission.  A list of the institutions which signed a part-funding arrangement with the Commission in 2009/10 can be found here.  The Commission anticipates that these institutions will enter into similar agreements in 2011-2012

Making an Application

All applications should be made through a candidate's nominating Agency in their home country and candidates must check with them in the first instance for specific advice on how to make an application to them and for their own closing dates.  Contact details for these Agencies in the developing Commonwealth are listed here (PDF 99 KB)

The Commission cannot accept any applications direct from candidates.

The Commission expects all candidates who are nominated by an Agency for a Scholarship to have completed an application form using our Electronic Application System (EAS).  Full help on how to do this is given in our guides which should be read in full before any attempt to complete the EAS is made.  The guides and the EAS can be accessed through the following link:

Make an application using the EAS here

Please note that the closing date for candidates to submit applications using the EAS is 00.01 GMT on 8 December 2010.

Please note that this page gives information on how to apply through a national nominating agency.  However, candidates from developing Commonwealth countries can in some cases also apply for a Commonwealth Scholarship through certain developing country universities.  For a list of universities who are invited to nominate for Scholarships, see Applying through universities in developing countries