What Gates Cambridge Scholarships 2027/2028 actually covers.
Gates Cambridge is among the most generous postgraduate awards open to African students anywhere, and unlike many schemes at this level it carries no development-country restriction, no age limit and no requirement to return home. Any citizen of a country outside the United Kingdom may apply for full-time postgraduate study at Cambridge.
The funding is complete and then some. It covers the full cost of studying at Cambridge, including tuition fees and a maintenance allowance set at GBP 22,000 for twelve months at the 2025-26 rate, plus one economy single airfare and visa costs. Beyond that, the trust offers discretionary funding that ordinary scholarships rarely provide: fieldwork costs, which matter enormously for doctoral researchers whose work is based in Africa, and family allowances for scholars bringing a partner or children. For a PhD candidate planning extended data collection on the continent, this discretionary layer can be worth more than the headline stipend.
Course eligibility is where applicants most often go wrong. The PhD, full-time or part-time, is eligible, as is the full-time MLitt and most one-year full-time postgraduate courses. But the exclusions are firm and commercially significant: the MBA, EMBA, MFin, PGCE and MBBChir are all ineligible, as are undergraduate degrees and part-time study other than the PhD. Candidates aiming at Cambridge business or teaching qualifications need to look elsewhere.
Selection weighs academic excellence alongside a demonstrated commitment to improving the lives of others and the capacity to lead. The trust is explicit that it funds people rather than projects, though for doctoral applicants the coherence and importance of the proposed research carries real weight.
The deadline structure requires care. US residents apply by 14 October 2026. Everyone else, including African applicants, faces either 8 December 2026 or 6 January 2027 depending on the specific course. Because Gates Cambridge applications are submitted through the university's own graduate admissions portal, candidates must have their Cambridge course application substantially complete by that same date.
Who can apply.
Open to masters, phd applicants seeking to study in United Kingdom.
Open to applicants from across the African continent. Confirm specific nationality eligibility 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.
From here to submitted.
Scholar Africa helps you discover, shortlist, and track. The application itself is submitted on the provider's site.
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Save itAdd this to your shortlist so we can recommend similar scholarships and remind you of the deadline.
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Prepare your documentsMost providers ask for the same set - transcripts, references, a personal statement, ID. Use the checklist below to track progress across all your applications.
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Apply on the provider's siteSubmit on the provider's site before December 8, 2026 · 89 days left.
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Track the outcomeAdd to your tracker so you can update the status as the provider responds (shortlisted, interview, decision).
Document checklist
Checks are local to this device - they're not stored. Always confirm exact requirements on the provider's official application page.
What we checked, when we checked it.
Scholar Africa runs a link-liveness check on every listing before it goes live and an admin manually reviews every scholarship submitted by providers. Gates Cambridge Scholarships 2027/2028 has been reviewed and verified by our team. Five deeper checks (contact, organisation, winners, third-party, formal audit) are on the roadmap.
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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.