Commonwealth Distance Scholarships at University of London 2026

The Commonwealth Scholarship Commission offers five Distance Learning Masters Scholarships which are open to applicants with an offer on the following programme:

• MA Human Rights (School of Advanced Study)

Applications for scholarships available for the 2026/27 academic year are now open.

Table of Content

• Summary
• Benefits
• Requirements
• Interview Process
• Application Deadline
• How To Apply

Summary

• Application DeadlineMarch 31, 2026
• Study LevelMasters
• SponsorUniversity of London
• City to studyLondon
• School to studyUniversity of London
• Course to studyHuman Rights
• Eligible CountryAll Countries

Benefits

• The award is worth the full course fee for the distance-learning MA programme.
• The MA Human Rights is the only programme of it's type to be offered by distance learning.

Requirements

Scholarships for the MA Human Rights programmes are available for applicants in the following countries:

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

To qualify, you must meet the entry requirements by holding an undergraduate degree (e.g. bachelor) comparable to a UK upper second class honours degree, plus English language requirements.

Individual candidates will be selected on the basis of financial need; outstanding academic merit or potential (demonstrated particularly by past achievements); and knowledge-transfer and development potential.

Candidates with a track record of inclusive practice and experience in promoting the human rights of marginalised groups are encouraged to apply.

See full requirements on Postgraduate study.

Selection Process

• Deadline to submit scholarship applications to the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission: 31 March 2026, 16:00 BST 

  Applicants are responsible for ensuring that their applications for admission to the programme are submitted sufficiently early and with all required supporting documents so that an offer can be made and their subsequent scholarship application entered before the deadline.  We recommend that programme applications are submitted no later than 16 March to allow this to be processed in time. 

Selection process

• The Commonwealth Scholarship Commission will share applications with participating institutions after the deadline, who will then nominate their chosen candidates to receive a Commonwealth Distance Learning Scholarship in June 2026. The CSC then checks that the candidates nominated meet the CSC’s eligibility criteria and confirms if an award can be made in July. Universities inform successful candidates only if they have successfully been awarded a Commonwealth Distance Learning Scholarship in August 2026. Unfortunately if you do not hear directly from us by the end of August, your application will not have been successful. We will indicate here when all successful applicants have been notified.

If you have a query about your scholarship application once it has been submitted to them, please contact the CSC.

Application Deadline

How To Apply

• Firstly, you must apply for the master's degree, as you will need an offer to join the course before you can apply for the scholarship. (As these are an external scholarship you do not need to indicate on your programme application form that you are applying for this scholarship).
• Secondly, you must submit a scholarship application form directly to the Commonwealth Distance Learning Scholarships scheme via their website.

For more details, visit University of London Scholarship webpage