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Gates Cambridge

Gates Cambridge Trust · University of Cambridge, United Kingdom

Level
Master’s or PhD
Where
University of Cambridge, United Kingdom
Money
A full-cost scholarship
Fields
Law, Medicine, Engineering

In short

A full-cost scholarship for a postgraduate degree at the University of Cambridge, for an applicant from outside the United Kingdom. A Sierra Leone citizen uses the international round, not the United States round. You apply for the Cambridge place and the scholarship in one form.

Cambridge teaches law, medicine and engineering. Any subject the university offers can be proposed. About two-thirds of Gates awards go to PhD students. A taught master’s is possible, but the field is small and the course deadline may be the earlier of the two international dates.

Who can apply

  • You are applying for a master’s or a PhD at Cambridge, and you are not a UK applicant.
  • You are not a US citizen living in the United States. That group has its own earlier round, which closed on 14 October 2026.
  • The selectors look for academic strength, a clear reason for the course, a commitment to improving other people’s lives, and leadership. A generic statement does not carry this.

Papers they ask for

  • A complete Cambridge postgraduate application, with Gates Cambridge selected as the funding.
  • The academic transcripts, research proposal where the course asks for one, and the references, all in before the funding deadline. A late reference misses the round.
  • The course directory’s funding deadline for that exact course. It is either 8 December 2026 or 6 January 2027.

What it pays

  • The University Composition Fee
  • A maintenance stipend
  • Visa costs and the immigration health surcharge
  • Other study costs. The trust says the package can reach about £68,000 a year.

How to apply

  1. Open the Cambridge course directory and write down the funding deadline and the academic conditions for your course.
  2. Start the application. Select Gates Cambridge. Do not wait for an offer and then look for funding. The funding deadline is earlier than the ordinary course deadline on many courses.
  3. Submit every document by 11:59pm UK time on that funding date.
  4. International-round applicants are told the outcome by 11:59pm UK time on 8 March 2027.

Read this before you file

  • At the 2026–27 rate the maintenance allowance is £23,152 for 12 months, and a shorter course is paid pro rata. The University Composition Fee is paid on top. Both figures are reviewed.
  • Also paid: an economy airfare at the start and the end, the inbound visa, and the immigration health surcharge.
  • Academic development funding can be applied for later, from £750 up to £4,000. Fieldwork for a PhD is a separate request.
  • A partner is not funded. A child allowance exists: up to £12,793 a year for one child, and up to £18,244 for two or more, at the published 2026–27 figures.
  • A PhD award can run for up to four years. It is not open-ended.

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.