Commonwealth Shared Scholarships (PHEC)

Overview

Commonwealth Shared Scholarships are for candidates from least developed and lower-middle income Commonwealth countries, for full-time Master’s study on selected courses, jointly supported by UK universities.

Funded by the UK Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and LSHTM, the Commonwealth Shared Scholarship Scheme (CSS) enables talented and motivated individuals to gain the knowledge and skills required to support sustainable development. These scholarships are aimed at talented individuals who have the potential to make change, and who could not otherwise afford to study in the UK.

This year, Commonwealth Scholarship Commission UK (CSC) and LSHTM are offering four awards under the CSSS ‘Strengthening health systems and capacity’ theme for MSc Public Health for Eye Care programme.

Each scholarship award will provide:

• CSC-approved air ticket from the nearest international airport in the student’s home country to London, and return air ticket at the end of the award, for the student

• MSc Public Health for Eye Care tuition fees (at the overseas fee rate, and including the mandatory field trip fee)

• GBP 1,516.00 monthly maintenance stipend (London metropolitan area rate)

• Warm clothing allowance, where applicable

• Reimbursement of mandatory tuberculosis (TB) test fees, when required for a visa application, at a pre-determined amount set by the CSC

• Grants to contribute towards study-related costs (thesis grant and study travel grant)

• Excess baggage allowance for return home up to the specific rate as set by the CSC

• Disability Support Allowance for personal living costs (if eligible)

• For Scholars who are widowed, divorced, or a single parent, child allowance of GBP 529.00 per month for the first child, and GBP 131.00 per month for the second and third child under the age of 16, if the children accompany the student and are living with them at the same address in the UK.

Amounts quoted are at the 2022-23 UK HMG rates. These are subject to an annual increase. 2023-24 rates will be released by CSC in due course.

Commonwealth Shared Scholarship eligibility criteria

To be eligible to apply for these scholarships applicants must meet every one of the eligibility criteria below and complete both application steps by the scholarship application deadline of Tuesday 13 December 2022.

• Applicants must be a citizen of or have been granted refugee status by an eligible Commonwealth country*, or be a British Protected Person.

• Applicants must be permanently and continually resident in an eligible Commonwealth country*.

• Applicants must be available to start their academic studies in the UK at the start of the 2023-24 academic year (September 2023).

• Applicants must hold a first degree of at least upper second class (2:1) standard, or a lower second class level (2:2) plus a relevant postgraduate qualification (usually a Master’s degree) by September 2023. CSC cannot accept work experience in lieu of this minimum academic qualification. Neither will CSC fund a second UK Master’s degree, unless suitable justification for this is submitted. Please do not apply unless you meet the CSC minimum requirements.

• Applicants must be sufficiently fluent in English to pursue their proposed course of study and meet LSHTM’s English language proficiency requirements.

• Applicants must not have studied for one academic year or more in a high-income country (for CSC purposes this is classified as a country which does not appear on the DAC list of ODA recipients).

• Applicants must not have worked for one year or more in a high-income country (for CSC purposes this is classified as a country which does not appear on the DAC list of ODA recipients).

• Applicants must confirm that neither they nor their families would otherwise be able to afford to study in the UK without this scholarship.

• Applicants must commit to return to their home country within one month of the end of the end of their award.

• Applicants must supply all supporting documentation in the required format.

* Eligible Countries: Bangladesh, Belize, Botswana, Cameroon, Dominica, Eswatini, Fiji, Gabon, The Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Guyana, India, Jamaica, Kenya, Kiribati Lesotho, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritius, Montserrat, Mozambique, Namibia, Nauru, Nigeria, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Rwanda, Saint Helena, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Togo, Tonga, Tuvalu, Uganda, Vanuatu and Zambia

When assessing all eligible applications, LSHTM staff will consider potential impact alongside diversity and under-representation.