This is the agency-nominated master's programme, one of three master's routes the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission runs. It is funded by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office and aimed squarely at people who could not otherwise afford to study in the UK.
The package is complete. Fees are settled directly between the CSC and the university, so a scholar is never liable for any part of them. On top sits £1,712 a month, or £2,000 in the London metropolitan area, plus flights at each end and a grant for study-related travel.
No single application will do. One goes to the CSC through CSC Central; the other goes to a nominator, because the CSC accepts no direct applications at all. Nominators are national nominating agencies for most applicants, or a set of NGOs and charitable bodies, and each one runs its own selection, sets its own rules and may close earlier than the CSC does. Checking the nominator's own deadline is the step that most often decides whether an application exists.
Even a nomination is not an award. Nominators put forward an agreed number of candidates by December, and the CSC selects from that pool.
The documentation rules are absolute. Proof of citizenship, full transcripts for every qualification including to-date transcripts, and two references in PDF on letterhead, all uploaded through CSC Central by the deadline. A transcript missing pages makes the application ineligible. Nothing is accepted by any other route or after the date.
The academic bar is a 2:1, or a 2:2 with a relevant postgraduate qualification. Disabled applicants who do not meet it can still be considered through a contextualised nomination via the Commonwealth Disabled People's Forum, which the CSC sets out explicitly.
Two groups are excluded outright: anyone who has already studied at master's level at a UK institution, and anyone who has already held a Commonwealth Scholarship at master's level. A second master's more generally is not normally funded and needs a justification.
There is no age limit and no IELTS requirement, which removes two barriers that block applicants to comparable schemes.
The commitment at the end is binding. Scholars return home, and switching to a graduate or other visa to remain in the UK is not permitted.
The scholarship page was checked on 22 September 2026. Applications for 2027/28 close at 16:00 BST on Tuesday 20 October 2026, for study starting in September or October 2027.