What African Leadership Academy (ALA) Pre-University Scholarship actually covers.
The African Leadership Academy (ALA) is a unique pre-university programme in Johannesburg, South Africa that offers the continent's most outstanding young leaders, aged 15-18, an extraordinary two-year educational experience combining the Cambridge International A-Level curriculum with intensive leadership training, entrepreneurship education, and African studies. 97% of admitted students receive significant financial aid, with full scholarships available for eligible low-income families covering tuition (US$30,900/year), accommodation, meals, and uniforms. Approximately 130 students are selected annually from thousands of applicants across all 54 African countries and beyond. ALA seeks young people who demonstrate academic excellence, leadership potential, entrepreneurial spirit, dedication to public service, and passion for Africa. The ALA experience is transformational, giving scholars access to an elite network of Africa's future leaders and positioning them for admission to leading universities worldwide, including Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard, MIT, and others. ALA alumni have gone on to become entrepreneurs, politicians, scientists, artists, and social changemakers across Africa.
Who can apply.
Open to secondary applicants seeking to study in South Africa. Eligible nationalities are listed below.
46 more eligible countries — full list available on the official application page.
Every academic discipline is accepted.
This programme does not restrict by field. Research proposals across humanities, sciences, engineering, agriculture, and medicine are all accepted.
Four steps to a complete application.
Scholar Africa is a discovery and tracking platform — the application itself is submitted directly through the official provider site. The steps below mirror our HowTo schema.
Check eligibility
Confirm your nationality, academic level, and field of study match the criteria above.
Eligibility checklist
Prepare documents
Transcripts, recommendation letters, personal statement, and a valid passport.
Document checklist
Submit the application
Submit before November 30, 2026 via the official portal.
Submission checklist
Track your application
Use your Scholar Africa dashboard to monitor status and deadline reminders.
Post-submission checklist
What we checked, when we checked it.
Scholar Africa runs a link-liveness check on every listing before it goes live. Five additional checks (contact, organisation, winners, third-party, manual review) are on the roadmap. African Leadership Academy (ALA) Pre-University Scholarship currently scores 4.0/10.
Verification details Click to expand
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Other scholarships worth a parallel application.
Same eligibility window or destination. Many strong applicants apply to three or four programmes per cycle.