Fully Funded Commonwealth PhD Scholarships 2025

Fully Funded Commonwealth PhD Scholarships 2025

Fully Funded Commonwealth PhD Scholarships 2025

Suitably qualified high-quality graduates from Commonwealth countries who have the potential to undertake world-class research of a developmental nature and to become influential leaders, teachers, or researchers in their home countries are invited to apply for the Fully Funded Commonwealth PhD Scholarships 2025.

The Fully Funded Commonwealth PhD Scholarships are for applicants from least developed countries and vulnerable states, as classified by the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC), in the Commonwealth, for full-time doctoral study at a UK university for the 2025/2026 academic session.

The Commonwealth Scholarship Commission in the UK (CSC) provides the UK government scholarship scheme led by international development objectives and funded by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO). It operates within the framework of the Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Plan (CSFP) and offers a vivid demonstration of the UK’s enduring commitment to the Commonwealth.

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Scholarship Summary:

Scholarship Sponsor(s): UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO)

Host Institution(s): UK University

Scholarship Worth: Fully Funded

Number of Awards: Several

Study Level: PhD

Nationality: Commonwealth Countries

Eligibility for the Fully Funded Commonwealth PhD Scholarships 2025:

  • Applicants must be a citizen of or have been granted refugee status by an eligible Commonwealth country, or be a British Protected Person.
  • Applicants must be permanently resident in an eligible Commonwealth country.
  • Applicants must be available to start academic studies in the UK by the start of the UK academic year in September 2025.
  • By September 2025, hold a first degree of at least upper second-class (2:1) honours standard, or a lower second-class degree and a relevant postgraduate qualification (usually a Master’s degree)*.
  • Applicants must not be registered for a PhD, or an MPhil leading to a PhD, at a UK university or in their home country before September/October 2025.
  • Applicants must be unable to afford to study in the UK without this scholarship.
  • Applicants must have provided all supporting documentation in the required format.

Scholarship Benefits:

  1. Approved airfare from the Scholar’s home country to the UK and return at the end of the award (the CSC will not reimburse the cost of fares for dependants, nor the cost of journeys made before the award is confirmed).
  2. Approved tuition fees: full fees are covered by agreement between the CSC and the UK university, and Scholars are not liable to pay for any part of the tuition fee.
  3. Stipend (living allowance) at the rate of £1,378 per month, or £1,690 per month for those at universities in the London metropolitan area (rates quoted at current levels).
  4. Warm clothing allowance, where applicable.
  5. Study travel grant towards the cost of study-related travel within the UK or overseas.
  6. Provision towards the cost of fieldwork undertaken overseas (the cost of one economy class return airfare to the fieldwork location), where approved.
  7. Paid mid-term visit (airfare) to the Scholar’s home country, unless they have claimed or intend to claim spouse and/or child allowances during their scholarship or have received a return airfare to their home country for fieldwork.
  8. Family allowances, as follows (rates quoted at current levels):
  • If a Scholar is accompanied by their spouse but no children: spouse allowance of £297 per month for a maximum period of nine months, if they and their spouse are living together at the same address in the UK (unless the spouse is also in receipt of a scholarship; other conditions also apply).
  • If a Scholar is accompanied by their spouse and children: spouse allowance of £297 per month and child allowance of £297 per month for the first child, and £146 per month for the second and third child under the age of 16, if their spouse and children are living with them at the same address in the UK (unless their spouse is also in receipt of a scholarship; other conditions also apply).
  • If a Scholar has children and is widowed, divorced, or a single parent, child allowance of child allowance of £590 per month for the first child, and £146 per month for the second and third child under the age of 16, if their children are living with them at the same address in the UK

Method of Application for the Fully Funded Commonwealth PhD Scholarships 2025:

As well as applying to the CSC, applicants must apply to a nominator.

There are three types of nominator invited to participate in the PhD scholarship programme:

Participating nominators put forward an agreed number of applicants to the CSC for consideration. The CSC does not accept direct applications for these scholarships.

Required Documents:

  • Proof that they are a citizen or have refugee status in an eligible Commonwealth country: a copy of a valid passport (or national ID card) showing a photograph, date of birth, and country of citizenship.
  • Full transcripts detailing all higher education qualifications, including to-date transcripts for any courses currently being studied, with certified translations if not in English. Where any transcripts are missing or do not include all pages, the application will be considered ineligible.
  • References from at least two individuals, in PDF format, signed and on institutional letterhead or an email clearly showing the sender’s details.
  • A supporting statement, in PDF format, signed and either on institutional letterhead or an email clearly showing the sender’s details, from a proposed supervisor in the UK from at least one of the institutions named on the application form.

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Application Deadline: October 15, 2024.

For more information about this opportunity, Visit the Official Website.

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