These scholarships are offered by the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission and funded by the UK Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).
The scholarships are for current students from low and middle-income Commonwealth countries studying for a postgraduate PhD. This will enable you to conduct research at a UK university for 12 months as part of your PhD studies.
This scholarship covers:
- your tuition fees
- return travel costs
- a monthly stipend
- an allowances package
Candidates will be chosen based on:
- academic merit
- quality of the plan of study
- potential impact on the development of your home country
Eligibility
You must:
- be a citizen of, or have been granted refugee status by an eligible country
- be permanently resident in an eligible commonwealth country
- be registered for a PhD at a university in one of these countries when your scholarship is confirmed
- be available to start your studies in September 2025
- have a first degree of at least upper second class (2:1) honours standard or a 2:2 and a relevant postgraduate qualification (usually a master’s degree) by September 2025
- be unable to afford to study in the UK without this scholarship
- provide all supporting documentation in the required format
Eligible countries
- Bangladesh
- Belize
- Botswana
- Cameroon
- Dominica
- Eswatini
- Fiji
- Gabon
- Ghana
- Grenada
- Guyana
- India
- Jamaica
- Kenya
- Kiribati
- Lesotho
- Malawi
- Malaysia
- Maldives
- Mauritius
- Montserrat
- Mozambique
- Namibia
- Nauru
- Nigeria
- Pakistan
- Papua New Guinea
- Rwanda
- St Helena
- St Lucia
- St Vincent and the Grenadines
- Samoa
- Sierra Leone
- Solomon Islands
- South Africa
- Sri Lanka
- Tanzania
- The Gambia
- Togo
- Tonga
- Tuvalu
- Uganda
- Vanuatu
- Zambia
Deadline to apply
Applications for Commonwealth Split-Site Scholarships closes at 16:00 UK time on Monday 16 December 2024.
How to apply
1. Apply for this scholarship via the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission’s website.
2. Apply to study at Southampton as a Visiting Research Student.
You’ll need to show that there is a strong link between your university and the University of Southampton.
The Commonwealth Scholarship Commission provides more information on this scholarship.