One of the smartest decisions you can ever make as an Undergraduate student is seeking out for Scholarship opportunities you can explore while running your undergraduate program.
As Nigerians (not general), we tend to overlook a lot of information because the average thought is always directed to “when we get to the bridge, we will cross”. How about we change that to “Let’s cross the bridge before getting to the bridge”.
Recently, the United Kingdom Commonwealth announced the opening of the Commonwealth Masters and PhD Scholarships for citizens from the from eligible lower and upper middle income Commonwealth countries.
This Scholarship Award allows selected candidates to proceed their study in the United Kingdom fully sponsored by the Commonwealth. In fact, according to the official release on the Commonwealth website, everything from transport, tuition fees, stipends (pocket-money), research fund, travel grants and allowance for family members (such as sons and daughters) will be covered by the UK Government.
Although the headline shows the Scholarship is meant for Graduates (Masters and PhD), however, looking into their requirements, it clearly shows that persons who are currently undergoing their undergraduate study can also apply.
How? (A break down)
Going down into the eligibility requirement for application for this scholarship, the Commonwealth stated categorically that what is required of you is to possess a Degree (Second class upper or lower) by September 2022.
By September 2022, not 2021. This means for you as an undergraduate, who is either in 300 level for a 4-year course or 500 level for a 5-year course or a semi-finalist, and you are certain that before September 2022 you will be done with the program, you are ELIGIBLE to apply.
Waste not time, the application for the 2022/2023 session of the Commonwealth Scholarship closes by November 1, 2021. If you don’t apply now, you might lose a year, which could have been well utilized.
In case you are struggling to get a Second Class Upper or Lower grade, this is the best time to put more effort to ensure you don’t drop to the third class category.
Looking into the online application portal, one of the preliminary Yes/No questions asked is: “By September 2022, will you hold either a first university degree of at least upper second class (2:1) honours standard or a second class (2:2) university degree and a relevant postgraduate qualification (usually a Master’s degree)?”. If your answer is YES, carry on with the application from it closes.

For more details about the application process and procedures, kindly visit the UK Commonwealth Scholarship portal for Masters and PhD.