Nationally competitive award
Gates Cambridge Scholarship
The Gates Cambridge Scholarship offers around 80 full-cost awards each year for students from outside the United Kingdom to pursue a postgraduate degree at the University of Cambridge.
- Opening date
- September 2026
- Award amount
- University Composition Fee at the appropriate rate
- Maintenance allowance for a single student (£22,050 for 12 months at the 2025-26 rate
- pro rata for shorter courses
- up to 4 years for PhD scholars)
- One economy single airfare at both the beginning and end of the course
- Inbound visa costs and Immigration Health Surcharge
- Academic development funding, discretionary, of up to £750 to up to £4,000 dependent on course length, to attend conferences and courses
- Dependent Children Allowance, discretionary, of up to £12,793 per year for one child and up to £18,244 per year for two or more children
- no funding is provided for a partner
Overview
- Postgraduate (PhD, MLitt, or one-year postgraduate course)
- Postgraduate
- Citizens of any country outside the United Kingdom
- Dual citizens of the United Kingdom and another country
- Current Cambridge students may apply if they are applying for a new postgraduate degree course.
- Students who have already started a degree course cannot apply to fund the remainder of it.
- Responses to four Gates Cambridge selection criteria questions in the funding section of the application form
- Research proposal (required for PhD applicants)
- One Gates Cambridge reference addressing scholarship criteria (in addition to two academic admission references)
- US citizens resident in the USA round — Wednesday 14 October 2026 at 11:59 pm GMT: Application deadline
- US citizens resident in the USA round — Monday 14 December 2026 by 11:59 pm GMT: Notification of application outcome
- US citizens resident in the USA round — Friday 22 January and Saturday 23 January 2027: Panel review and selection
- All other eligible applicants round — Tuesday 8 December 2026 or Wednesday 6 January 2027 at 11:59 pm GMT (dependent on course): Application deadline
- All other eligible applicants round — Monday 8 March 2027 by 11:59 pm GMT: Notification of application outcome
- All other eligible applicants round — Monday 22 March and Tuesday 23 March 2027: Panel review and selection