Scholarship
Gates Cambridge Scholarship, 2027 entry
Gates Cambridge Trust
At a glance
- Deadline
- Closes 8 December 2026, 47 days leftThe posting gives a date, not a time. Days left are counted in Lagos time.
- Fee
- £85 to apply, waived for nationals of the 32 countries on its list.
- Who may apply
- a national of one of the 32 African countries on Cambridge's fee waiver list, who has lived there since birth (among them Ethiopia, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia). Nationals of other countries pay the £85 application fee, so we do not show it as open to them
- applying for a PhD, an MLitt or a one-year postgraduate course at Cambridge, so a first degree at the standard your course asks
- Where
- The University of Cambridge, England
A full scholarship for a postgraduate degree at the University of Cambridge: the University fee, a maintenance allowance of £23,152 a year at the 2026-27 rate, and more on a discretionary basis. For citizens of any country outside the UK applying for a PhD, an MLitt or a one-year postgraduate course. Free to apply for nationals of the 32 African countries on Cambridge's fee waiver list; everybody else pays Cambridge's application fee, £85 for a one-year course or £20 for a PhD.
The facts
- What you get
- The University fee, a maintenance allowance of £23,152 for 12 months at the 2026-27 rate, and discretionary funding such as up to £4,000 for academic development
- Where
- The University of Cambridge, England
- How long
- The length of the course: one year for most master's courses, three to four for a PhD
Where you stand
In their words: “All other postgraduate degree courses: £85 per application. You must pay the application fee before submitting your application. You do not need to pay an application fee if you are a national of an eligible country listed below and have lived there since birth. International applicants from countries not on this list must pay the application fee.” Read it on their page
What they ask for
- a national of one of the 32 African countries on Cambridge's fee waiver list, who has lived there since birth (among them Ethiopia, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia). Nationals of other countries pay the £85 application fee, so we do not show it as open to them
- applying for a PhD, an MLitt or a one-year postgraduate course at Cambridge, so a first degree at the standard your course asks
- the University's admission application and the Gates Cambridge part of its funding section, with a Gates Cambridge statement and a Gates Cambridge reference
- Sudanese nationals: the UK government has announced a 'visa brake' on new Student visas for nationals of Sudan
Get ready to apply
Built only from what this listing states. Tick as you go; the ticks stay on your phone and are not sent anywhere.
A long application, by our reading.
1. What to get ready
It also names something beyond these; read their words below.
In their words: “The University of Cambridge postgraduate application with its supporting documents and two academic references, plus a Gates Cambridge statement and a Gates Cambridge reference; a research proposal for a PhD.”
2. Dates
- Closes 8 December 2026, in 47 days.
- On the date, the listing says: The deadline depends on the course: Tuesday 8 December 2026 or Wednesday 6 January 2027, 11:59pm UK time, as the University Course Directory states for each course. We show the earlier date so nobody misses it.
- Ask your referees by 24 November 2026, two weeks before it closes. Others need time to write and send. Our advice
- Aim to send it by 5 December 2026. Websites slow down near a deadline, and data runs out. Our advice
3. What it costs you
- Fee: £85 to apply, waived for nationals of the 32 countries on its list.
The fee can sometimes be waived. How to ask for a fee waiver.
Download checklist (.txt) Send to WhatsApp
The download is a small text file. You can read it later without data. It also lists each condition they set, so you can tick yourself against them. WhatsApp sends the same list to you, or to somebody helping you.
No CV yet? Make a plain one from your answers. Nothing you type is kept.
Tips for applying for a scholarship
General advice from us, the same for every scholarship. It is not what this organisation says; that is above.
- Check whether you must be admitted to the university first, or whether the scholarship and the admission are one application.
- Get transcripts and certificates early. Schools and exam boards can take weeks, and some charge for copies; that is the school's charge, not the scholarship's.
- In your essay, say where you come from, what you want to study and why, and what you will do with it at home. Use your own words and real examples.
- Ask for reference letters at least three weeks before the deadline, and give your referees the listing and your essay.
If there is an interview or a test
- Expect to explain your study plan and why this course and university.
- Be ready to say how the scholarship fits with what you want to do after.
All our tips and messages to copy. Practise answering, with nothing kept. Received an offer? Check whether it is real, then read before you say yes.
Common essay questions, and how to answer them
These questions come up in scholarship and fellowship essays. They are not taken from this listing: its own questions are on its page, and those are the ones to answer. Draft these once, then change each answer to fit the exact question asked.
- Why do you want this scholarship or programme?They want to know: Whether you know what it is and why it fits you, not only that you want money or a place.How to answer: Name two or three things about this programme and link each to something you have done or want to do. Use its own words for what it offers.Avoid: The same answer sent to every programme. Readers can tell.
- What are your goals, and how will this help you reach them?They want to know: That you have a direction, and that this step is part of it.How to answer: Say where you want to be in five to ten years, what you will do in the next two, and exactly how this programme closes the gap between the two.Avoid: Goals so big and vague that nothing could be checked, such as "change Africa".
- Tell us about yourself.They want to know: Who you are beyond your grades: what shaped you, and what you care about.How to answer: Pick one or two moments that explain you, and say what you learned from them. Then connect them to what you want to do next.Avoid: Your CV in sentences. They already have it.
- Describe a challenge you faced and how you overcame it.They want to know: How you act when things go wrong, and what you learned.How to answer: Keep the problem short and spend most of the words on what you did, step by step, and what changed. End with what you would do the same or differently.Avoid: Only describing how hard it was, with little about what you did.
- Give an example of your leadership.They want to know: That you have made something happen with other people, at any size.How to answer: Leading a study group, a church or mosque youth group, a family business or a neighbourhood clean up counts. Say what you started, who you brought in, and what came of it, with a number if you have one.Avoid: Listing titles you held without saying what you did in them.
- How have you served your community, or how will you?They want to know: That what you gain will reach other people too.How to answer: Describe something you have already done for others, then a specific plan for after the programme: who, where, and what you will do.Avoid: Promises with nothing you have already done behind them.
- Why have you chosen this field of study or work?They want to know: That your choice is considered and that you understand the field.How to answer: Tell the moment or experience that drew you to it, what you have done in it so far, and one question in the field you want to work on.Avoid: Saying you have always loved it, with nothing to show it.
- Describe an achievement you are proud of.They want to know: What you count as success, and how you got there.How to answer: Choose something you did yourself, set out where you started, what you did and the result. Small is fine when it is real.Avoid: Choosing a prize you won without saying what you did to win it.
- Why do you need this support, and how will you use it?They want to know: That the award will make a real difference, and that you have thought about the money.How to answer: Say plainly what you cannot do without it and what it will pay for. Be honest about your situation without apologising for it.Avoid: Exaggerating hardship. Say what is true; it is enough.
- What problem in your country or community do you want to solve?They want to know: That you see a problem clearly and have a realistic idea about your part in it.How to answer: Name one problem, say who it affects and why it persists, and what you, specifically, will do about one part of it. Use what you have seen yourself.Avoid: Taking on everything at once. One part, done well, reads as serious.
Before you send it
- It answers the exact question they asked, in the words they used.
- It says I, not we: what you did yourself.
- One or two examples told in detail, rather than a long list.
- It adds to your CV instead of repeating it.
- Full sentences, not bullet points, unless they ask for a list.
- It says why you, why this programme, and why now.
- The names of the organisation, university and course are spelled exactly right.
- It fits their word limit, and you wrote it first in a notes app or on paper, so a form that fails does not lose it.
- Every word of it is true.
How to apply
You apply on Gates Cambridge Trust's own website, not here. We never send an application for anybody and we never ask you for anything to pass on. Check their page for anything not shown here.
More like this, open now
How we checked this
This was opened and verified at Gates Cambridge Trust's own website on 23 September 2026: it was real, still open, and open to people from African countries. If anything here is wrong, tell us.