University of Sussex Commonwealth PhD Scholarships 2027

The Commonwealth PhD Scholarships at the University of Sussex are funded doctoral awards for candidates from eligible Commonwealth countries who could not otherwise afford to study in the United Kingdom. Sussex is the host institution; the scheme itself is run through the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission, and applications go through its own system rather than the university's.

Who can apply

Eligibility is restricted by nationality. Candidates from Gambia, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda and Zambia can apply. The award is for PhD study and is open across any field Sussex supervises. A valid IELTS certificate is required, so language evidence needs to be in hand rather than pending when the application is assembled.

What the award covers

This is a full package rather than a fee waiver. It covers overseas PhD tuition fees in full, pays a stipend, funds return travel to the United Kingdom, and adds a Research Training Support Grant together with fieldwork costs. For doctoral candidates whose projects require data collection at home, that fieldwork line is the part that usually decides whether a project is realistic.

Deadline and how to apply

You must apply online on the Commonwealth Scholarships Application System by a deadline of 4pm (16:00 GMT) on 20th October 2026. Note the time as well as the date: the system closes at a fixed hour, not at midnight. A candidate also needs the agreement of a Sussex supervisor, and securing that conversation takes weeks, not days.

Before you apply

Identify a supervisor whose work genuinely overlaps with your proposal and contact them early. Then confirm your IELTS result is valid on the deadline date, because certificates expire and an out-of-date score invalidates an otherwise strong application.