Commonwealth Scholarships
The Commonwealth Scholarship Commission offers a Distance Learning Masters Scholarship which is open to applicants with an offer on the following programmes:
- MA Human Rights (School of Advanced Study)
MA Refugee Protection and Forced Migration Studies (School of Advanced Study)
These full fee-waiver awards are for residents of developing Commonwealth countries (see below for details).
You apply for a place on the programme through the 91app. Scholarship applications are then submitted directly to the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission.
For full details about the scholarship and the application process please see the website.
The scholarship application process is managed by the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission. If you have any queries about an application, please contact the CSC directly.
School of Advanced Study (SAS)
MS Refugee Protection and Forced Migration Studies
Ten scholarships for the MA Refugee Protection and Forced Migration Studies and five scholarships for the MA Human Rights programmes are available.
Scholarships for the MA Refugee Protection and Forced Migration Studies are available for applicants in the following countries:
- Botswana
- Cameroon
- Eswatini
- Gabon
- The Gambia
- Ghana
- Kenya
- Lesotho
- Malawi
- Mauritius
- Mozambique
- Namibia
- Nigeria
- Rwanda
- Seychelles
- Sierra Leone
- South Africa
- Tanzania
- Togo
- Uganda
- Zambia
MA Human Rights courses
Scholarships for the MA Human Rights programmes are available for applicants in the following countries:
- Bangladesh
- Cameroon
- Eswatini
- The Gambia
- Ghana
- Guyana
- India
- Kenya
- Kiribati
- Lesotho
- Malawi
- Mozambique
- Nigeria
- Pakistan
- Papua New Guinea
- Rwanda
- Samoa
- Sierra Leone
- Solomon Islands
- Sri Lanka
- Tanzania
- 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 strong interest in refugees, citizenship and statelessness are particularly encouraged.
See full requirements on Postgraduate study.
- 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 via their website.
- Deadline to submit scholarship applications to the CSC: Tuesday 20th May 2025
- You must apply for the master’s degree in good time to receive an offer before the scholarship deadline.
We recommend that applications for the MA programme reach us by Friday 9th May 2025.
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 2025. The CSC then checks that the candidates nominated meet the CSC’s eligibility criteria. Universities inform successful candidates only if they have successfully been awarded a Commonwealth Distance Learning Scholarship by August 2025.
If you have not received a communication about a successful award by the end of August 2025 and have a query about your application, please
The award is worth the full course fee for the distance-learning MA programme.
The MA Refugee Protection and Forced Migration Studies and MA Human Rights are the only programmes of their type to be offered by distance learning.
Academic direction is provided by the School of Advanced Study, 91app.
Privacy Notice
The Scholarships provision and bursary provision is part of the 91app.
The data controller processing your data is the 91app. We are registered as a data controller with the Information Commissioner’s Office (our registration number is Z5419651) and we are committed to ensuring that the personal data we process is handled in accordance with data protection legislation.
Suzie Mereweather is our Data Protection Officer and you can contact her at data.protection@london.ac.uk or via the postal address of:
FAO Data Protection Officer
91app
Senate House
Malet Street
London WC1E 7HU
You can find out more on our data protection webpage at Data Protection.
What is this?
One of our responsibilities is to tell you about the different ways we collect and use your personal data. This statement provides details about these uses. In addition to this statement, you may be given further information about the uses of your personal data when you use certain services offered by the 91app.
We hold and process personal data about those who apply for our scholarships or bursaries, and those who are accepted onto our scholarships, granted our bursaries, which may or may not be in partnership with third parties.
- All applicants
- 91app
- Former students
This could include special category data of a more sensitive nature (for example, relating to health matters)
The personal data we hold/process about you consists of:
- Contact details
- Name
- Student Registration Number
- Photo images and footage/audio recordings
- Academic records
- Home fees status*
- Specific criteria for the awarding of the scholarship**
- Employment History**
- Personal statements and reports
*Only applicable to certain scholarship
** Only applicable to certain scholarships
We collect and use your personal data for the administration of the scholarship or bursary, to process your application, to make a decision on your application, to write to you to make an offer or not to make an offer.
For reporting and analysis to help us to improve our service.
To contact you for your participation in any marketing or promotional events related to the scholarship or bursary.
To contact you to invite you to events.
We process this data in the legitimate interests of the 91app as well as in your own legitimate interests. These purposes will never override your personal interests, fundamental rights and freedoms in relation to your personal data.
We may process data with your consent when you engage with certain Scholarships.
We may process special category data with your consent when you engage with certain provisions.
We collect your data directly from you when you fill in the scholarship or bursary application form and you submit this.
How long do we keep your information?
We keep your personal data in accordance with the University’s retention schedules, and some different retention schedules may be applicable per different scholarship.
Who you pass data to within the University?
We share data with relevant teams across the University, such as the Philanthropy and Alumni Engagement Office, Academic Staff and Finance departments.
Who you pass data to outside of the University?
We may need to pass certain information with external parties, that may be a partner to the provision of the scholarship and to fulfil our legal obligations. As a principle only minimal information will be shared as necessary.
If you transfer data outside the UK and any safeguards in place?
Data is shared with UK and potentially EU organisations, as well as other organisations that may be in different regions across the World. Part of our due diligence involves ensuring an appropriate data sharing agreement, data processing agreement is in place to protect your personal data.data.protection@london.ac.uk
Information about the rights of individuals in regards to their data
As an individual whose data we process (a data subject), you have certain rights in relation to the processing. You can find detailed information about your rights as a data subject.
You have the right to:
- Withdraw your consent for us to process your personal data where we have relied on that consent as our basis for processing your data.
- Ask us to confirm that your personal data is being processed and to gain access (i.e. have a copy) of that data as well as to be provided with supplemental information about the processing.
- Request that we rectify any inaccuracies where the data we hold on you is inaccurate or incomplete.
- Have your data erased by us, although in certain circumstances we may not be able to do this. The circumstances where this applies can be found in the guide to data subject rights information.
- Restrict the processing of your personal data in certain ways.
- Obtain your personal data for reuse.
- Object to certain processing of your personal data.
If you would like to exercise any of your rights please look at the information available on the data subject rights webpage.
Make a complaint
If you have any concerns about the way that we have handled your personal data please email the Data Protection team as we would like to have the opportunity to resolve your concerns.
If you’re still unhappy, you have the right to complain to the (an independent body set up to advise on information rights for the UK) about the way in which we process your personal data.