Gates Cambridge Scholarship 2027-28 in UK | Fully Funded

Overview

The Gates Cambridge Scholarship for 2027-28 is a fully funded award for international postgraduate students at the University of Cambridge. It is aimed at people with outstanding intellectual ability who also want to improve the lives of others, and it builds a community of future leaders working on innovations, challenges and solutions. The scholarship is an initiative of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and began in 2000. It offers 80 full-cost scholarships, and roughly a third of recipients are PhD students.

The scholarship can be held for a PhD, an MSc or MLitt, or a one-year postgraduate course, all of which must be full-time and residential.

What you get

The award covers full tuition fees at Cambridge, an annual living allowance of 22,050 pounds for 12 months, one return airfare, and visa costs along with the Immigration Health Surcharge. On request, discretionary support may also be available, including conference and course funding of 750 to 4,000 pounds, a dependent children allowance, maintenance support during PhD fieldwork, maternity or paternity leave funding, and hardship support for unforeseen situations.

Who can apply

Applicants must be citizens of any country outside the UK and must be applying to one of the eligible full-time residential courses at Cambridge, excluding certain one-year courses. They should show outstanding intellectual ability, leadership potential, a commitment to improving the lives of others, and a good fit with the Gates Cambridge program.

How to apply

Applicants apply online through the University's Graduate Application Portal. They choose a specific course and college, give personal and academic details and a study plan, and then complete the funding section, where they can apply for several funding sources including the Gates Cambridge Scholarship. Each course needs a separate application. If a course fills up, its application can close before the deadline, so early applications are advised.

Required documents are a personal statement of no more than 3000 characters, three reference letters (one may come from a current employer), and, for PhD applicants, a research proposal, which the scholarship requires even where the course does not.

Key dates

The deadline for international applicants is either 8 December 2026 or 6 January 2027, depending on the course. US citizens resident in the USA have a deadline of 14 October 2026.