Commonwealth Scholarship

• Commonwealth Master’s Scholarship-Last date to Apply: 16:00 (GMT) on 30 October 2019
• Application must include the following supporting documentation by 16:00 (GMT) on 20 November 2019 

The Commonwealth Scholarship in UK offered by the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission (CSC) are:

• Commonwealth Master’s Scholarships
• Commonwealth PhD Scholarships

Benefits in Master’s Scholarship:

• The applicants will get approved airfare from home country to the UK and return at the end of your award.
• The applicants will receive approved tuition fees stipend (living allowance) at the rate of GBP 1,084 per month, or GBP 1,330 per month for those at universities in the London metropolitan area.
• They will also receive warm clothing allowance, where applicable
• There will be a thesis grant towards the cost of preparing a thesis or dissertation, where applicable
• The applicants will also get study travel grant towards the cost of study-related travel within the UK or overseas.
• If you are widowed, divorced, or a single parent, child allowance of GBP 465 per month for the first child, and GBP 114 per month for the second and third child under the age of 16 years will be given.

Benefits in PhD Scholarship:

• All bene fits of Master’s scholarship and,
• Fieldwork grants when the work is done overseas.
• Mid-term visit (airfare) to the home country is also paid.
• For scholarships 18 months long, a spouse allowance of GBP 233 per month is given, if the applicant and his/her spouse are living together in the same address in UK.
• Family allowance (spouse and children) of GBP 233 per month for the first child and GBP 114 per month for a second and third child under the age of 16 years.
• Accompanied by children but no spouse, then the applicant receives child allowance of GBP 465 per month for the first child and GBP 114 for the second and third child under the age of 16 years.

These are funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID). These scholarships enable talented and motivated individuals to gain the knowledge and skills required for sustainable development, who could not otherwise afford to study in the UK. These scholarships are offered under six themes:

1. Science and technology for development
2. Strengthening health systems and capacity
3. Promoting global prosperity
4. Strengthening global peace, security, and governance
5. Strengthening resilience and response to crises
6. Access, inclusion, and opportunity

The Commonwealth scholarship in the U.K. comprise of the following programs:

1. Scholarships for Master’s and PhD study at a UK university
2. Split-site Scholarships for split-site PhD study at a UK university
3. Shared Scholarships for Master’s study at selected UK universities
4. Distance Learning Scholarships to study UK Master’s degree courses in your home country
5. Academic Fellowships for early career academics to spend time at a UK university
6. Professional Fellowships for mid-career professionals to spend time at a UK host organization
7. Medical Fellowships for doctors and dentists to spend time at a UK hospital.

Eligibility:

• The candidates who have received the offer of admission, from any of the university listed with the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission are only eligible to apply. The list of university may be found here.
• The applicant must be a permanent resident in India.
• The applicant must be available to start his/her academic studies in the UK by the start of the UK academic year in September/October 2019
• The applicant must NOT be registered for a PhD, or an MPhil leading to a PhD, at a UK university or India university or elsewhere before September/October 2019
• The applicant must not be able to afford to study in the UK without this scholarship. (Candidates are compulsorily required to sign a declaration that they do not have access to sufficient funds to study in the UK).
• Candidates who have already been abroad for studies/training/ specialization either on scholarships or on their own, for a period exceeding six months are eligible to apply, if they have been in India for at least two consecutive years as on 10th January, 2019 after returning from abroad

Minimum qualifications:

• For Master’s degree: One should have completed or is expected to complete the Bachelor Degree by October, 2019. The academic qualification must have direct and applied relevance to the development theme selected by the candidate.

• For Ph.D. degree: One should have completed or is expected to complete the Master Degree/Qualifying Exam, by October, 2019. The academic qualification must have direct and applied relevance to the development theme selected by the candidate.

Detailed application procedure:

Step 1: Students can opt for applying for Commonwealth scholarships to the universities which currently have part funding agreements with the CSC for Commonwealth Scholarships for candidates from low and middle-income countries.

Step 2: The CSC do not accept direct applications for these scholarships and hence the students have to apply through one of the following nominating bodies:

• National nominating agencies – Check out the link here for the list of nominating agencies in Commonwealth nations. Indian students will need to apply through Ministry of Human Resource Development, Department of Higher Education, Government of India.
• Selected University or University bodies which can nominate their own academic staff.
• Selected non-governmental organization and charitable bodies.

Step 3: The students have to visit the MHRD website to apply for the cut-off of the commonwealth scholarship – U.K. before moving to apply on ECAS portal. It is compulsory for the applicant to apply on both the portals before the cut-off dates. Generally, the applicants have to apply for MHRD cut-off in January and in December for ECAS cut-off.

Step 4: The students will need to visit the ECAS portal and create a new account on it. Fill in all the required details, upload documents and submit the application. The application deadline is in December every year.

Documents Required

For Ph.D. and Master’s applicants, the following documents shall be uploaded to the online application system.

• Proof of Citizenship or refugee status
• Full transcripts detailing all higher education qualification
• References from two individuals – submitted by the referee to the online application system (referees will receive an email request upon completion of the application).
• Supporting statement from a proposed supervisor in the UK from at least one institution named on the application form and it has to be directly submitted by the supervisor.
• The documents uploaded on the online application system must be no more than 5 MB in size and in one of the following formats: PDF, doc, docx, or jpg.

Visa requirements

If you require a Tier-4 visa to come to the UK to study, you must meet all relevant immigration requirements set by UK Visas and Immigration. All UK immigration regulations are set by UK Visas and Immigration and are subject to change. The CSC has no control over these regulations.

Briefly, follow the steps below to apply for tier-4 VISA:

• The students have to apply via the UK immigration services to apply for a tier-4 visa
• Prior to application, check the eligibility, fees, and the required documents.
• Once you are ready with documents and other information, then browse the immigration service portal and confirm visa type as a tier-4 visa.
• Choose “country” and a list of appointment centers will be provided. Select whether you can attend the visa interview at any one of them.
• Proceed further with filling the online application, uploading documents, and paying the visa fee and submitting the application.
• Applicant’s biometric will be taken at the VISA application center and you will need to collect biometric residence permit within 10 days of the date when you have said you would arrive at the UK.