Commonwealth Shared Scholarship Scheme
All applicants are advised to read our essential information page before applying for a scholarship.
The Commonwealth Shared Scholarship Scheme is a joint initiative between the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission (with funding from the Department for International Development (DFID), and UK universities, to support scholarships for students from developing Commonwealth countries who would not otherwise be able to study in the United Kingdom.
The aim of the scheme is to assist students from developing Commonwealth countries who are of excellent academic calibre but for financial reasons would not otherwise be able to afford to study in the United Kingdom. The scheme allows them to benefit from postgraduate study at a university in the United Kingdom which will help them to contribute toward the development of their home countries.
Awards are for taught Master's programmes only, subjects must be related to the economic, social and technological development of a candidate's country.
UCL expects to be able to allocate five awards this academic year.
Eligibility Requirements
Applicants must:
- Be nationals of (or permanently domiciled in) a Commonwealth developing country, and not currently be living or studying in a developed country (please see the CSSS information booklet for a list of eligible countries);
- Hold a first degree at either first- or upper second-class level;
- Be sufficiently fluent in English to pursue the programme;
- Have not previously studied for one year or more in a developed country;
- Not be employed by a government department (at national level) or a parastatal organisation (employees of universities are normally acceptable);
- Be themselves, or through families, unable to pay for the proposed programme of study in the UK;
- Be willing to confirm that they will return to their home country as soon as their period of study is complete.
- Apply for admission to UCL for one of the eligible programmes below:
|
Anthropology Medical Anthropology MSc Anthropology, Environment and Development MSc |
|
Development Planning Unit Development Administration and Planning MSc Environment and Sustainable Development MSc Urban Development Planning MSc |
|
Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering Earthquake Engineering with Disaster Management MSc |
|
Genetics Institute Genetics of Human Disease MSc Pharmacogenetics and Stratified Medicine MSc |
|
School of Slavonic and East European Studies Comparative Business Economics MA |
|
School of Medicine and Life Sciences Clinical & Public Health Nutrition MSc |
Value, Benefits and Duration
- The award will cover tuition fees, a maintenance allowance, economy air travel to and from the UK at the beginning and end of the bursary-holder’s degree programme plus additional discretionary allowances.
- Awards are normally tenable for one-year.
Application Deadline and Procedure
- You must separately apply for admission to UCL for one of the eligible programmes through the standard admissions procedure.
- Before completing the application form, please read the Master's Scholarship Application Form Guidance Notes.
- Eligible candidates must complete the UCL Master's Scholarship Application Form, and submit it – along with supporting documents specified in the form – to the UCL Student Funding Office by 18 March. Note that this is earlier than the deadline date published by the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission.
- The reference form is a part of the application form but is available to download separately here if required.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
Potential candidates must ensure that they submit a full scholarship application by 18 March irrespective of whether an offer of admission on a programme has reached them or not.
After the deadline of 18 March the UCL Student Funding Office will check UCL systems to confirm whether the scholarship applicant has been given an offer of admissions to one of the eligible UCL programmes and on what date that offer was made. Scholarships applicants without an admissions eligible offer by 18 March will be excluded from the competition at this point. It is for this reason that we recommend you apply for admission as early as possible, and submit your scholarship application by the deadline.
Late or incomplete applications will not be considered.
Complete scholarship applications should be submitted to:
by email: studentfunding@ucl.ac.uk (subject 'CSSS App')
OR posted to:
Student Funding Office
Registry and Academic Services
University College London
Gower Street
London, WC1E 6BT
England, United Kingdom
Selection Procedure
Shortlisted candidates selected by UCL will be asked to complete the CSSS online application form shortly after notification. As the CSSS is a shared scholarship between the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission (CSC) and UCL, selected candidates have to be accepted and approved by CSC, hence the requirement to complete CSSS online application form by the deadline provided by CSC.
The successful and reserve candidates will be selected by the Council upon the recommendation of an academic selection panel.
Notification of Results
Successful and reserve candidates selected by UCL can expect to be informed by email at the beginning of June. Final notification by the CSC should be expected around the beginning of July.
We are unable to inform unsuccessful applicants. If you do not hear from UCL Student Funding Office by the end of June, please assume your application has been unsuccessful.
Further information can be found on the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission website here.
UCL Student Funding contact details can be found here.
Page last modified on 05 feb 13 10:18
