Scholarships in United Kingdom (UK)

Gates Cambridge Scholarships 2023-2024: Submit Online Applications

The University of Cambridge is now offerings Gates Scholarships 2023-2024 to all the students interested to study at Cambridge.

The Gates Cambridge Scholarships 2023 by the University of Cambridge is being offered to 80 lucky applicants that will be the most outstanding students of its postgraduate programs. The Gates scholarships are available only to international students and are fully funded. This Gates fully-funded scholarship also takes care of the non-academic expenses of its recipients. 25 of these Gates Cambridge scholarships are given to candidates from the US, while, 55 Gates scholarships are given to other international applicants. 

Students from all over the world can apply to the Bill Gates Cambridge Scholarships. 65% of these awards are given to Ph.D. students. Students who have gotten enrollment in an M.Sc., Ph.D., M.Litt, or a one-year postgraduate diploma program in the University of Cambridge but haven’t started their programs yet can apply to these scholarships.

Gates Cambridge Scholarship Coverage and Benefits:

Core Coverage:

  • A full tuition fee waiver.
  • Maintenance allowance (amount varies every year)
  • Two-way, two-time airfare (given at the start and end of the program. The airfare will be of economy class)
  • Payment for the Immigration Health Surcharge and the Inbound Visa.

Discretionary Benefits:

  • Hardship funding for students facing extenuating circumstances.
  • Academic development funding of 500-2000 GBP.
  • Family allowance of 10,120 GBP for candidates with one child and 14,440 for candidates with more than two children (spousal funding is not available)
  • Fieldwork expense coverage for doctoral candidates.
  • Paternity and maternity allowance 
  • Paternity and maternity leave allowing candidates to take a break from their studies for a maximum duration of 6 months.

Eligibility Criteria of the Gates Scholarship:

Eligible applicants must be fulfilling the following criteria to stand eligible for the Gates Cambridge Scholarship Application:

  • They will be citizens of a country other than the UK.
  • They will be applying to one of the full-time postgraduate programs at the University of Cambridge (M.Sc., Ph.D., M.Litt, or a one-year postgraduate diploma program).
  • They can be current students who are applying for another program next year at the University of Cambridge.
  • Students enrolled in the following programs are not eligible for application
    • Undergraduate programs
    • MBA
    • Postgraduate Certificate in Education
    • Master’s in Finance
    • Doctorate of Business Administration
    • MBBChir Clinical Studies
    • Part-time and non-degree courses and programs
    • Doctor of Medicine (MD)
    • The graduate program in Medicine
  • Students disqualified or not eligible for the Gates Cambridge Scholarship can apply to other fully-funded awards like the Commonwealth Scholarships.

Steps to Apply for the Gates Cambridge Scholarships:

Applicants have to apply for the enrollment and the scholarship by making an application at the University of Cambridge. The application can be made through the link given at the end of this article:

The committee for graduate admissions asks for the following necessary documents which the applicant has to submit:

  • Scholarship Statement:

The scholarship statement must be 500 words (maximum) in which the applicant has to explain why they want this scholarship, why they think they deserve it or how are they fit for this funding.

  • Research Proposal:

This is a mandatory requirement for Ph.D. candidates. The research proposal is supposed to outline the work or the research that the doctoral candidates are going to be undertaking.

  • Academic References:

The applicants have to prove their ability to get the scholarship by submitting references from approved professionals. Most of the students bring in their references from their previous educational institutions. In a handful of cases, students prefer to be referred by their former employers or by a figure of authority at their previous workplaces.

Selection Criteria:

Students receive these Gates scholarships based on their: 

  • Intellectual capabilities
  • Their compatibility with a specified course 
  • Their desire to grow, learn and be a better version of themselves
  • Their leadership potential

The selection panel consists of three or four members from the University of Cambridge’s faculty, alumni, and trustees. The candidates are selected based on the three-step procedure to filter out the best applicants among a pool of thousands of applicants each year:

  • Rankings by the Departments:

The respective departments to which the students have applied shortlist the best applicants based on their academic records. Applicants who get through this stage and are ranked by the faculties are called ‘Outstanding Aspirants of the Year’.

  • Shortlisting of the Applicants:

Applicants who have successfully been through the ranking department are passed on over to the Shortlisting Committee. This committee further shortlists the candidates in order to pass them over to the interview phase. Applicants at this level are selected based on the four selection points listed above.

  • The Interviewing Phase:

Applicants who are selected for an interview will be sent out the details of their interview and the format of it. This interview will be of 25 minutes at most. Interviewees are given a choice between the in-person interview and the interview over on a video call. Applicants, if possible should always go for the in-person interview. 

The interview panel is from the following subject areas:

  1. Physical Sciences
  2. Social Sciences
  3. Biological Sciences
  4. Arts

Gates Cambridge Scholarship Calendar and Deadline:

The deadline to apply for the Gates Cambridge Scholarship 2023 is September 30th, 2023. The departmental rankings are given in between December and February of every year. Applicants are reviewed and selected by the selection panel during late February or early March.

Applicants are offered the scholarship in late March and have to accept or reject it within 72 hours of receiving the offer.

Yousaf Saeed

I'm Dr. Engr. Yousaf Saeed, founder of the AScholarship Education Portal. My academic path includes 3 prestigious international scholarships — Australia Awards, CSC, and HKPFS — for my higher studies. I am also an IChemE affiliate whereas I've also worked for companies like Aramco and BYCO oil refinery as an production engineer at the start of my career. I completed MS, and PhD with major research publications in leading SCI journals (details on my Researchgate Profile). This aScholarship.com reflects my commitment to educating and therefore i started it for the purpose to guide aspiring international students for find scholarships for their higher education dream. As an experienced educator and mentor, I specialize in navigating the intricacies of research and patent and write useful articles on these topics too.