Commonwealth Shared Scholarships Scheme (CSSS)

Eligibility criteria

• Open to the following nationalities
  • Zambia
  • Western Samoa
  • Vanuatu
  • Uganda
  • Tuvalu
  • Turks and Ciacos Islands
  • Tristan de Cunha
  • Trinidad and Tobago
  • Tonga
  • Tanzania
  • Swaziland
  • St. Helena
  • Sri Lanka
  • South Africa
  • Solomon Islands
  • Sierra Leone
  • Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
  • Saint Lucia
  • Saint Kitts and Nevis
  • Rwanda
  • Pitcairn Island
  • Papua New Guinea
  • Pakistan
  • Nigeria
  • Nauru
  • Namibia
  • Mozambique
  • Montserrat
  • Mauritius
  • Maldives
  • Malaysia
  • Malawi
  • Lesotho
  • Kiribati
  • Kenya
  • Jamaica
  • India
  • Guyana
  • Grenada
  • Ghana
  • Gambia
  • Falkland Islands (Malvina)
  • Dominica
  • Cameroon
  • British Virgin Islands
  • Botswana
  • Bermuda
  • Belize
  • Barbados
  • Bangladesh
  • Antigua and Barbuda
  • Anguilla
• 2010 Awards at King’s College London are for the following taught postgraduate courses only: ~ MA Environment & Development ~ MA Tourism, Environment & Development ~ MA Disasters, Adaptation & Development. Applicants should: i) be nationals of (or permanently domiciled in) a Commonwealth developing country, and not currently be living or studying in a developed country; ii) hold a first degree at either first or upper second class level; iii) be aware that sponsoring institutions are asked to give priority to candidates under the age of 30 but may give reasons for wishing to make exceptions for older candidates; iv) be sufficiently fluent in written and oral English to pursue their proposed studies immediately; v) have not previously studied for one year or more in a developed country; vi) not be employed by a government department (at national level) or a parastatal organisation (employees of universities are normally acceptable, however); vii) be able to confirm in writing that neither they or their families would otherwise be able to pay for the proposed course of study; viii) be willing to confirm that they will return to their home country as soon as their period of study is complete.
• Applicable subjects
  • Tourism
  • Geography
  • Environment Studies
  • Disaster Management
  • Development Studies

Application details

Applications may be submitted
from 18-Jan-2009 until 01-Apr-2010

Information about the funding
The Commonwealth Shared Scholarship Scheme (CSSS) is a joint initiative between the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and UK universities. The aim of the scheme is to assist students, from developing Commonwealth countries, of excellent academic calibre who, for financial reasons, are unable to study in Britain and are outside the scope of other British Government Support Schemes but would benefit from higher education in the United Kingdom, enabling them to contribute toward the development of their home countries.

A list of developing Commonwealth countries, plus full details of the scheme can be found here:
http://www.cscuk.org.uk/apply/sharedschol.asp

2010 Awards at King’s College London are for the following taught postgraduate courses only:

~ MA Environment & Development
~ MA Tourism, Environment & Development
~ MA Disasters, Adaptation & Development

Up to 5 awards will be available.

Information about the application
Applicants should:
i) be nationals of (or permanently domiciled in) a Commonwealth developing country, and not currently be living or studying in a developed country;
ii) hold a first degree at either first or upper second class level;
iii) be aware that sponsoring institutions are asked to give priority to candidates under the age of 30 but may give reasons for wishing to make exceptions for older candidates;
iv) be sufficiently fluent in written and oral English to pursue their proposed studies immediately;
v) have not previously studied for one year or more in a developed country;
vi) not be employed by a government department (at national level) or a parastatal organisation (employees of universities are normally acceptable, however);
vii) be able to confirm in writing that neither they or their families would otherwise be able to pay for the proposed course of study;
viii) be willing to confirm that they will return to their home country as soon as their period of study is complete.

Specified use
The award will cover full tuition fees, air fares to and from the UK and a maintenance allowance.

Application procedure
In order to be considered for an award, candidates MUST submit the following documents by the deadline of 1 April:

a) a King’s online admissions application for one of the eligible programmes which can be accessed via https://myapplication.kcl.ac.uk/

b) a Commonwealth Scholarship Commission online application via the Electronic Application System (EAS) which can be accessed via http://www.cscuk.org.uk/apply/eas.asp

Failure to submit both application forms will result in your application being ineligible for an award.

Eligible applications will be reviewed internally and King’s will nominate candidates directly to the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission for final consideration.

Contact details

Contact at King's
For general queries about the scheme please contact:
Research & Graduate School Support Section
King’s College London
Tel: 020 7848 3376/3389
Email: graduateschool@kcl.ac.uk

For specific queries about the eligible programmes at King’s please refer to the Department of Geography web site at: http://www.kcl.ac.uk/schools/sspp/geography/masters/ in the first instance.

Funding provider
Department for International Development (DFID) and King's College London