Cambridge Commonwealth Trust and Cambridge Overseas Trust

Website: Cambridge Trusts

Description

Every year the University of Cambridge awards over £100m in scholarships to new postgraduate students. This money is made up of a number of generous University and College endowments as well as government Research Council (UKRI) funds. Many of our students are also able to fund their studies from external sources, such as loans, charities or government schemes.

Unlike some US and European institutions, applying for funding is a key part of applying for postgraduate study as this is usually awarded separately. Therefore, we recommend you carefully read these pages to help you understand what is required of you and what funding opportunities Cambridge offers.

Major internal sources of funding are: Cambridge Trust, Gates Cambridge Trust, Harding Distinguished Postgraduate Scholars Programme, Research Councils and collectively College and departmental schemes. See the University Funds page for more information about each of these.

Eligibility

Nationality

All students, irrespective of nationality, are eligible to be considered for funding by the Trust.

Status

The Trust does not accept applications from students who are part-way through a course at Cambridge, unless they are applying for funding towards a higher degree course following graduation.

To find out more about your fee status, see information on the University's web pages for undergraduates and for postgraduates.

Degree level

Applicants must be intending to start a course at the level of undergraduate (excluding UK/EU applicants), Masters (such as MPhil, MASt, LLM), or research postgraduate (such as PhD).

Please be aware that the Trust does not offer full-cost scholarships for MBA or MFin programmes. The Trust will consider con-funding students on MBA and MFin who are nominated to us by funding partners (who may have their own procedures for applying.)

Subject

Applicants may study any subject currently available at the University.

Application and Admission

All scholarships are available only for study at the University of Cambridge. All students must be admitted to the University of Cambridge through the normal application procedures. The Trust plays no role in the admission of applicants to the University, and is not able to influence the chances of an applicant being offered a place.

The University sets minimum standards – check the requirements for undergraduatesand for postgraduates.

Also check the information on application deadlines for undergraduates and postgraduates.

Applicants are encouraged to meet the entry requirements of the University as early as possible, including (if necessary) the completion of an English language test. This will help to prevent the Trust from offering valuable scholarships to students who are ultimately unable to take up their places at Cambridge.

Please also read the Trust’s Information for undergraduate applicants or Information for postgraduate applicants.

Equality

The Trust is committed to equality of opportunity, and no applicant will be treated less favourably than another on the grounds of gender (including gender reassignment), marital or parental status, race, ethnic or national origin, colour, disability, sexual orientation, religion or age. The primary consideration in the selection of Scholars will be applicants' ability to meet the selection criteria for each scholarship.

Some scholarships which are fully or partially funded by partners of the Trust are allocated to students of particular nationalities or studying particular subjects.

Student Type
  • freshman
  • sophomore
  • junior
  • senior
  • graduate
Citizen Type
  • US Citizen
  • Permanent Resident
  • International or Other Visa Status
Procedure

If you plan to start a degree course at the University of Cambridge, and are from a country outside the European Union, use the tool on the website to see a list of scholarships for which you are eligible:

The list is in two sections:

Awards for which a separate application is necessary

These are scholarships for which you must make an application in addition to your application to the University of Cambridge. Click on the link ‘By separate application’ to go to the application website. The Trusts expect eligible students in search of funding to apply for all relevant scholarships.

Please note that applications for the MBA and the MFin courses at the Judge Business School are not made via the University's GRADSAF but have their own application forms - see the course websites for full information and links.  Similarlarly, the MBA and MFin have separate application forms if you wish to be considered for a scholarship; these can also be downloaded from the relevant web pages of the JBS.

Awards for which only a University of Cambridge application is necessary

These are scholarships for which you can be considered without making a separate application in additional to your University application.

  • If you are applying for an undergraduate course, you will be invited to apply for scholarships AFTER you are offered a place at Cambridge.
  • If you are applying for a postgraduate course and wish to be considered for scholarships, you will need to complete Section B of the online application form (GRADSAF). This asks for a Personal Statement, which should include mention of any scholarships for which you wish to be considered, how you meet any specific criteria for those scholarships, and evidenced information about your financial circumstances.

Deadlines vary, see https://www.postgraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/funding for details.

 

Contact Information

Cambridge Commonwealth Trust and Cambridge Overseas Trust
53 -54 Sidney Street
Cambridge
CB2 3HX
United Kingdom

Telephone: +44 1223 338498 (University internal 38498)
Fax: +44 1223 760618
Email: info@overseastrusts.cam.ac.uk

Office hours are 09.00 to 17.00, from Monday to Friday