Skip to content
Lanbuk — Pat in Learning
Open

Commonwealth PhD Scholarships

Commonwealth Scholarship Commission · United Kingdom

Level
PhD
Where
United Kingdom
Money
Full funding for doctoral study
Fields
Law, Medicine, Engineering

In short

Full-time doctoral study in the UK for citizens of least developed and vulnerable Commonwealth countries. Sierra Leone is on that list. As with the master’s, a nominator has to put you forward. Plan on a UK supervisor before you file.

A law PhD can sit under governance, access to justice, or land and resources, if you can say what it changes at home. A medical or public-health doctorate sits under health systems. An engineering doctorate sits under science and technology or resilience. The same fossil-fuel exclusion applies: the CSC does not fund work on oil, gas or thermal coal.

Who can apply

  • You are a citizen of Sierra Leone, or a refugee there, and you live there.
  • You already hold a strong first degree. A master’s is what departments and nominators usually expect before a PhD.
  • You can start a full-time PhD in the UK in September or October 2027.
  • You cannot fund the doctorate yourself, and you will return home afterwards.
  • The research fits one of the six CSC development themes.

Papers they ask for

  • Passport or national ID, and full transcripts, on the same rules as the master’s award.
  • Two references in the CSC format.
  • A supporting statement from a proposed UK supervisor. PhD nominators, including FAWE, have told applicants this statement is required. Ask the supervisor early. UK academics do not write these in the last week.
  • A research proposal the CSC form will ask for. Keep it specific: question, method, and why Sierra Leone needs the answer.

What it pays

  • Tuition fees
  • Return airfare
  • A monthly stipend at the same rates as the master’s award
  • A contribution to fieldwork, where the CSC approves it

How to apply

  1. Write to potential supervisors with a short proposal and your transcript. A place at the university is separate from the scholarship, and universities do not wait for the CSC.
  2. Apply on CSC Central by 16:00 BST on Tuesday 20 October 2026.
  3. Apply to your nominator as well, and follow that nominator’s own date if it is earlier.
  4. Upload every PDF before the CSC deadline. A missing paper makes the file ineligible.

Read this before you file

  • Fieldwork money is a contribution the CSC may approve. It is not an automatic extra.
  • The stipend is at the same published monthly rates as the master’s award, and those rates can change.
  • Funding is for the doctorate you were selected for. It is not extended so you can add another qualification.
  • You cannot hold another award that pays the same costs.

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.