Commonwealth Scholarship 2018-19: Scholarship List For Indian Students

Commonwealth Scholarship is a highly competitive scholarship and is given to the best of the best students from the Commonwealth countries by UK Government. Commonwealth scholarship has been divided into two that is a scholarship for developing countries and scholarship for developed Commonwealth countries. India comes under the Commonwealth developing countries.

Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Plan (CSFP) is one of the largest and most prestigious scholarships schemes for international study in the world. Since it was established in 1959, around 30,000 individuals have benefited – 24,000 of them have held awards funded by the United Kingdom, managed by the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission in the United Kingdom (CSC). The Commonwealth scholarships given below are fully funded scholarship and is open to all the developing Commonwealth countries, and thus, there is a huge competition to avail these scholarships.

Commonwealth Scholarship List in the UK

The candidates have to apply online for the Commonwealth Scholarship through Electronic Application System (EAS).

Commonwealth Scholarship for Master's and PhD

 This scholarship is given to the citizens of developing Commonwealth countries for pursuing one-year Masters or 3 years PhD course in the U K Universities. The fellowship would last for 36 months in the case of doctoral postgraduate qualification and 12 months in the case of postgraduate qualification. A Commonwealth Scholarship covers fees, fares, and personal maintenance.

Commonwealth Medical Fellowships

This commonwealth fellowship is for medical & dental students who want to learn or practice a new medical or dental skill and to network with other medical professionals in the same and related specialities. The secondary aim for the Medical Fellows is to participate in the academic activities of the host organisation and to conduct small-scale research projects in their fields. The fellowship period is minimum four months.

Commonwealth Shared Scholarships

Shared Scholarship is a full paid up scholarship given for Master’s study at selected UK universities through a joint partnership of CSC with UK universities. These scholarships are intended for students from developing countries who would not otherwise be able to afford to undertake Master’s level study in the UK. Around 70 UK Universities are a part of this scholarship program. The full cost of the program along with allowances and all other expenses are covered under this scholarship.

• Click to get complete details on Commonwealth Shared Scholarship and also the Courses covered under the scholarship and the Participating Universities.

Commonwealth Split-site Scholarships

This scholarship is for students who are pursuing PhD in their home country. Commonwealth Split-site Scholarships supports their one year’s study at a UK university. So basically the students can split their PhD study in their home country & UK. The scholarship covers full tuition fees for one year at the UK host university, stipend (£977 per month )for up to one year in the UK, return airfare, and other allowances.

The candidates can directly apply for the scholarship and need not go through any nominating agency.

Commonwealth Distance Learning Scholarships

This scholarship was established in 2002 and provide the opportunity for individuals to study for a UK Master’s degree while living and working in their home country.

Around 2000 scholarships have been distributed till date under the Commonwealth distance learning scholarship.

Commonwealth Rutherford Fellowships

Ths scholarship is for highly skilled researchers from other Commonwealth countries to spend one or two years at an eligible UK university or higher education institution conducting postdoctoral research. The UK Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) funds these scholarships through the Rutherford Fund.

Eligibility for Commonwealth Scholarship

To be a recipient of the Commonwealth Scholarship, candidates will have to fulfil the criteria mentioned below

• Candidate should be a citizen of a Commonwealth nation
• The academic studies of the candidate should commence from the beginning of the new academic year of UK i.e. September or October
• Candidate should be holding a minimum an upper second class honours degree or above
• Candidates from India must apply for a Tier 4 visa and take approved English language test and/or be screened for tuberculosis in order to obtain it.

How to Apply for Commonwealth Scholarship

Candidates can apply for a Commonwealth Scholarship by submitting the application form. The application form will be available on the official website of Commonwealth Scholarship.
Candidates can follow the steps mentioned below to the submit the Commonwealth Scholarship application form

• Step 1: Go to the link provided below.
• Step 2: Fill in the required details
• Step 3: Upload a copy of the required documents
• Step 4: Download the Commonwealth Scholarship application form and save or print it.

The link to download the Commonwealth Scholarship application form will be available on this page as soon it is released online.

Who are the Nominating Agency for the Commonwealth Scholarship

• For taught Masters and PhD study:
  • a Commonwealth government ministry, e.g. Ministry of Education
  • a Commonwealth national body, e.g. University Grants Commission
  • a Commonwealth University
  • a UK organisation invited by the CSC to nominate candidates
•  For Commonwealth Shared Scholarships: A UK university
•  For Commonwealth Distance Learning Scholarships: A department of a UK university.
• For Commonwealth Professional Fellowships: A UK organisation or a department of a UK university.

In the case of any query regarding the Commonwealth Scholarship, the students can write in the comments section below.