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Funding opportunities for new doctoral students from Commonwealth countries

Find out about the funding resources available to help you fund your postgraduate research and study as a new international doctoral student.

Commonwealth scholarships

There are multiple doctoral funding opportunities for students from Commonwealth countries.


Commonwealth Scholarships

The Commonwealth Scholarships Schemes help Commonwealth citizens study at postgraduate level in the UK.

Developing Commonwealth countries

Commonwealth Scholarships for PhD study in the UK are offered for citizens of developing Commonwealth countries.

These scholarships are funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID), with the aim of contributing to the UK’s international development aims and wider overseas interests, supporting excellence in UK higher education, and sustaining the principles of the Commonwealth.

High-income Commonwealth countries

The Commonwealth Scholarships for citizens of high-income countries support excellence in UK higher education and sustain the principles of the Commonwealth. Candidates will be selected based on their potential to lead in the pursuit of global excellence in research and knowledge, as well as academic merit and the quality of their plan of study.

The awards are funded by the UK Department for Education (DfE).

Commonwealth Split-site Scholarships

These scholarships are for PhD candidates from low and middle-income Commonwealth countries to spend 12 months at a UK university as part of their doctoral studies in their home country.

Split-site Scholarships are designed for the benefit of universities in the UK and across the Commonwealth, providing them with the key opportunity to help build effective partnerships and collaboration opportunities within Commonwealth higher education, and are delivered through an existing institutional or departmental link between the candidate’s home university and proposed UK university.

Eligibility criteria

Find out if you are eligible for this award.


Commonwealth Scholarships

Apply for funding

Contact us

If you have any questions about doctoral funding, get in touch.