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Commonwealth Master’s Scholarships

Commonwealth Scholarship Commission · United Kingdom

Level
Taught master’s
Where
United Kingdom
Money
Full funding for one year
Fields
Law, Medicine, Engineering

In short

A one-year taught master’s in the United Kingdom, with fees, a flight and a monthly stipend paid. Sierra Leone is on the eligible-country list. The Commission does not take a file on its own. A nominator has to put your name forward, and a nomination is not the same thing as an award.

Law sits most naturally under peace, security and governance, or under access, inclusion and opportunity. Medicine and public health sit under population health. Engineering sits under science and technology, or under resilience, when the course is about infrastructure, water, or disaster risk. An MBA is not funded. A course about extracting, refining or marketing oil, gas or coal is not funded.

Who can apply

  • You are a citizen of Sierra Leone, or you have refugee status there, and you live there.
  • By September 2027 you hold a first degree of at least upper second-class (2:1) standard, or a lower second plus a relevant postgraduate qualification, usually a master’s.
  • You cannot pay for UK study yourself.
  • You can start in the UK in September 2027, on a full-time one-year taught master’s.
  • The course fits one of the six development themes: science and technology for development; population health and health systems; innovation and entrepreneurship; peace, security and governance; resilience and response to crises; access, inclusion and opportunity.
  • There is no CSC age limit. A disabled applicant who does not hold a 2:1 can be considered through the Commonwealth Disabled People’s Forum, if the forum is satisfied about their potential to contribute to development.

Papers they ask for

  • A copy of a valid passport or national ID: photograph, date of birth, and citizenship.
  • Full transcripts of every higher-education qualification, including a to-date transcript if you are still studying. A missing page can make the file ineligible. Certified translations if they are not in English.
  • Two references, each in PDF, signed, and either on letterhead or sent as an email that shows the referee’s details. The referee must say how they know you, whether the subject is needed, and how you could use the degree at home.

What it pays

  • Tuition fees agreed with the UK university
  • Return airfare from Sierra Leone
  • A monthly stipend: £1,712, or £2,000 in London
  • A study travel grant, and a child allowance where it applies

How to apply

  1. Pick a one-year taught master’s that a UK university will actually admit you to, and that fits one theme. Read that university’s entry rules. The CSC does not admit you.
  2. Apply on CSC Central before 16:00 BST on Tuesday 20 October 2026. Nothing sent by email is read, and there is no fee.
  3. Apply to a nominator as well. For Sierra Leone the national route has been the Ministry of Technical and Higher Education. FAWE is also a named nominator and has told applicants to select FAWE on the form. Each nominator runs its own selection and may close earlier than the CSC. Check the CSC list of national nominating agencies and NGOs before you choose.
  4. Upload the passport or ID, the transcripts and the two references on CSC Central before the same deadline. A file with a paper missing is treated as ineligible.
  5. Nominators send names to the CSC by December 2026. You should hear by July 2027. Study starts in September or October 2027.

Read this before you file

  • The CSC has no age limit. A news report of the ministry’s own 2027 call said the ministry wanted applicants aged 35 or under by September 2027, and gave a ministry deadline of 7 September 2026. That is the ministry’s screen, not a CSC rule. If you are going through the ministry, use the notice on the ministry’s own channel.
  • You will not be considered if you have already studied for a master’s at a UK university, or if you have already held a Commonwealth Scholarship at master’s level.
  • A second master’s is not the preference. If that is what you want, you have to explain why.
  • You are expected to return home. Switching onto a graduate visa to stay in the UK is not permitted.
  • Staff of the UK government, the Association of Commonwealth Universities, the British Council, or a Commonwealth Scholarship Commissioner, and their relatives, cannot apply. Former staff can apply three years after they left.
  • The stipend quoted is the current rate: £1,712 a month, or £2,000 in the London metropolitan area. It can change. The child allowance is only a contribution, and only in the cases the CSC lists.

Checked against the provider’s page on 11 October 2026. If this note and that page disagree, the provider is right. Lanbuk does not award this scholarship.