Around 70 scholarships a year, roughly two thirds of them to PhD students. About a third of the awards go to the US round and the rest to the international round, which means the two rounds are not the same competition and an applicant does not choose between them: citizenship and current residence decide which one they are in.
Full cost means what it says. The University Composition Fee, a maintenance allowance of £23,152 for twelve months at the 2026-27 rate, an economy flight at each end of the course, and inbound visa costs including the Immigration Health Surcharge. PhD funding runs up to four years.
The discretionary layer is where this pulls ahead of most awards. Academic development funding of £750 to £4,000 for conferences and courses, a Dependent Children Allowance reaching £18,244 a year for two or more children, maintenance kept during PhD fieldwork, up to six months of maintenance across a maternity or paternity intermission, and hardship funding for the unforeseen. There is no partner allowance, and bench fees and scientific equipment sit with the academic department rather than the Trust.
Other funding cuts both ways. A fee award from a public authority such as UKRI must be accepted, after which the Trust may share or withhold the fee and maintenance. A salary or another substantial scholarship can reduce the maintenance allowance, and the Trust asks to be told as soon as any is awarded.
The course list is the first filter and it excludes more than most people expect. PhDs, the MLitt and one-year postgraduate courses qualify. Undergraduate degrees, MASt courses, part-time degrees other than the PhD, and the professional degrees, MBA, EMBA, MFin, Executive Master of Accounting, BusD, PGCE, MBBChir, MD and A101 among them, do not.
A course already begun cannot be funded for its remainder. Someone part way through a PhD is out; someone finishing an MPhil and applying for a PhD is in.
The application is one form for admission and funding together, with four Gates-specific questions of 200 to 300 words each mapped directly to the selection criteria. Those questions and a separate Gates Cambridge reference are what separate candidates after departments have nominated them, so they carry the weight rather than the admission materials.
The reference asks the referee to rate the applicant as exceptional, strong, not strong or weak, and to name the group that ranking is drawn from. It needs someone who knows how competitive the programme is.
Offers must be accepted within 72 hours.
The scholarship, eligibility and timeline pages were checked on 22 September 2026, when applications for 2027/8 entry were open.