Commonwealth Shared Scholarship – Requirements, Acceptance Rate, and How to Apply

If you have your sight out for a scholarship award and are thinking of options to consider, then Commonwealth shared scholarship should feature in your scholarship consideration options.

In the world of today, it is necessary for higher institution students to have financial assistance, and the most desirable financial assistance/aid that should be considered is a scholarship award.

Scholarships give diverse benefits, which includes financial benefits, educational benefits, personal benefits and career benefits.

Scholarships ease educational financial burdens and reduce the risk of dropping out. It also makes the recipient a better job candidate, especially if the scholarship award is one that is based on merit.

About the Commonwealth Shared Scholarship Scheme

The Commonwealth Shared Scholarship programme is an initiative between the United Kingdom (UK) universities and the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission. The programme is one of the three Masters scholarship programme that is offered by the CSC (Commonwealth Scholarship Commission).

The Commonwealth Shared Scholarship aims to aid students with excellent high academic performance but unable to afford studying in the UK due to financial issues. The programme demonstrate vividly, the commitment of the UK to the commonwealth which can be described as enduring.

Through the Commonwealth Shared Scholarship programme, the national interest of the UK and the work of the CSC is combined for international partnerships and collaboration opportunity provision.

These students must be from developing countries. The scholarship programme operates within the boundaries of the framework of the CSCFP (Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Plan).

The Commonwealth Shared Scholarship attracts individuals with identifiable potential and outstanding talents from diverse backgrounds. The scholarship is offered under the six themes of the development of the CSC.

The Commonwealth Shared Scholarship scheme allows students to study in a UK university, and this is believed will help them in the development of their home countries.  The scholarship offer is a fully funded scholarship programme.

The scholarship awards of this programme are available for Master programmes only, and the targeted study subjects must be related to the technological, social, and economic development of the country of the scholarship beneficiary.

Requirements and Qualifications for the Commonwealth Shared Scholarship

If you are planning to apply for the Commonwealth Shared Scholarship, here are the requirements you need to meet in order to be able to apply for the programme;

• You must be a citizen of a country with commonwealth membership/must have been granted refugee in such./be a British protected person.
• You have to be resident permanently in a commonwealth member country
• You must hold a first degree with a second-class upper (2.1) grade or second-class lower (2.2) at the minimum.
• You must make all supporting documentation available
• By the beginning of September 2023, the candidate must be ready to resume their studies in the United Kingdom
• the candidate must be someone who is unable to study in the United Kingdom without this scholarship offer
• You must not have one academic year studied or worked in a high-income country
• Documentations required include; a national Identity card or a valid passport copy, proof of citizenship or refugee status eligibility in a commonwealth country, and full transcripts.

How to Apply

Candidates can apply for the Commonwealth Shared Scholarship online. The candidate must apply to study a course that is approved by the scholarship programme at a University in the United Kingdom that is participating in the Commonwealth Shared Scholarship.

The list of the approved course of study and approved schools can be found on the web platform of the Commonwealth Shared Scholarship.

https://cscuk.fcdo.gov.uk/commonwealth-shared-scholarships-eligible-courses/

Any application that does not come from the online platform system of the CSC will not be accepted.  Applications for the CSC scholarship programme are free. You do not pay a dime for it.

Other Information about the Commonwealth Shared Scholarship programme

• Selection Process for the Commonwealth Shared Scholarship: In the process of selection for the Commonwealth Shared Scholarship programme each of the UK universities will conduct its own process of requirements in order to select candidates to be awarded the scholarships. The number to be accepted would have already been specified.

After the schools have conducted their process, the school will put forward the candidates they have selected for CSC to confirm if the candidates really meet the criteria for eligibility for the scholarship. Then the universities will go ahead to inform the students of their results.

The considered application criteria by CSC include; the quality of the study plan, the candidate’s academic merit, and the potential impact that the scholarship awards will have on the home country of the candidate if the candidate is awarded the scholarship.

The Commonwealth Shared Scholarship programme is for full-time students only and the candidate cannot undertake any other course of study at the same time.

• Benefits of the Scholarship: The benefits of the Commonwealth Shared Scholarship programme include a study travel grant, warm clothing allowance in areas where applicable, £1,236 or £1,516 living allowance/stipend, £529 first child and $131 second and third child under 16 child allowance for scholars with widowed, divorced, or single parent children, full tuition fees covering, airfare, and so on.

The scholarship also features the benefit of a thesis grant which helps the beneficiary cover for the cost of dissertation or thesis preparation where applicable.

Additional financial support as deemed needed will also be given to scholars who have any form of disability and has been fully assessed to be eligible for such extra support.

• Commonwealth Shared Scholarship Duration: the time/duration in which the holder of the Commonwealth Shared Scholarship would enjoy the benefit of the scholarship is dependent on the duration of the academic study programme applied for by the scholarship holder at the UK university of choice.

Conclusion

The Commonwealth Shared Scholarship has numerous benefits for its beneficiary. If you are qualified for this scholarship, it is an opportunity that you should give good consideration to. Winning it gives you great financial incentives and relieves your academic journey, while also widening your lifetime opportunity door.