Commonwealth Shared Scholarship: Complete 2027-28 Guide

Quick Answer

The Commonwealth Shared Scholarship is a fully funded Master’s award jointly funded by the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission (CSC) and participating UK universities. Unlike most other CSC scholarships, it does not go through a national nominating agency. Instead, you apply directly to an approved Master’s course at a participating UK university, and the university itself nominates its strongest candidates to the CSC. Applications are submitted through CSC Central, the CSC’s official online system, and the uniform deadline for the 2026/27 cycle was 9 December 2025, 16:00 GMT. The key extra eligibility restriction: you must not have studied for a year or more in a high-income country. Outcomes are typically confirmed by July for a September/October start.

Shared Scholarship at a Glance

How the Shared Scholarship Differs From Other CSC Awards

Most Commonwealth Scholarships — Master’s, PhD, Split-Site — route through a national nominating agency in your home country, which selects candidates before forwarding them to the CSC. The Shared Scholarship skips that step entirely.

Instead, you apply directly to an approved Master’s course at a participating UK university. The university reviews applications on its own admissions timeline, and it’s the university itself — not a government ministry or nominating body — that puts candidates forward to the CSC for final approval. This matters practically: if your country’s national nominating process is unclear, heavily oversubscribed, or simply doesn’t cover the field you want to study, the Shared Scholarship can be a more accessible route into Commonwealth funding.

The trade-off is that not every course at a partner university is eligible — only specific, pre-approved courses count, and you need to confirm this before you get attached to a particular programme.

Eligibility

You need the CSC’s standard baseline eligibility — citizenship/residency in an eligible Commonwealth country, an upper second-class (2:1) undergraduate degree or equivalent, and a strong development focus. On top of that, the Shared Scholarship has one defining extra condition:

For the full baseline criteria — academic qualifications, citizenship, and degree equivalency — see our complete Eligibility guide. Not sure how your degree classification translates to the UK 2:1 equivalent? Use our GPA to percentage converter to quickly see where you stand.

Participating Universities & Approved Courses

The CSC publishes a dedicated page listing all participating UK universities and the number of scholarships each offers. The list below is drawn from official CSCUK sources for the 2026/27 cycle. Always check the CSC website for the most current list before applying.

The CSC also publishes a central, searchable list of approved Master’s courses for the Shared Scholarship scheme. Before you get attached to a programme, confirm it appears on the official CSC eligible courses list — and also check your chosen university’s own Shared Scholarship page for any additional admission requirements.

How to Apply

1. Find an approved course. Use the CSC’s central list of eligible Master’s courses to identify programmes at participating universities that match your academic background and development focus.
2. Apply to the university for course admission. Indicate on the admissions application that you want to be considered for a Commonwealth Shared Scholarship. You can apply to more than one course and more than one university.
3. Complete your Development Impact statement. This is one of the most important parts of your CSC Central application. Explain how your studies align with a CSC development theme and at least three UN Sustainable Development Goals, and what specific impact you plan to have in your home country after returning.
4. Submit your scholarship application on CSC Central. The CSC does not accept applications or documents submitted any other way. The 2026/27 uniform deadline was 9 December 2025, 16:00 GMT. The system uses two-factor authentication, so ensure you have access to a smartphone or second email account.
5. Universities review and nominate their strongest candidates to the CSC, typically around March.
6. The CSC makes its final selection from the pool of university nominations, with outcomes typically confirmed by July.
7. If awarded, you may only accept one Shared Scholarship offer even if you were nominated by multiple universities — choose carefully once offers come in.

Funding

Shared Scholarships cover the same core benefits as other CSC Master’s awards. For the current cycle, the package includes:

Because this award is jointly funded by the CSC and the university, exact allowance amounts can occasionally vary slightly by institution. Always confirm final funding details with your university’s international scholarships office. For the full picture across all CSC award types, see our Commonwealth Scholarship overview.

Frequently Asked Questions