Gates Cambridge Scholarships

Gates Cambridge was established in 2000 by a gift from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to the University of Cambridge, and funds the full cost of postgraduate study at Cambridge for exceptional applicants from outside the UK. Selection looks for academic brilliance combined with a demonstrated commitment to improving the lives of others, and the scholar community is run as an active intellectual society, not just a funding line.

There is no separate first-stage application: candidates apply for their Cambridge course and tick the funding section, so the Cambridge course deadline is effectively the scholarship deadline.

Funded by an endowment from the Gates Foundation for postgraduate study at Cambridge, selecting on academic strength together with a demonstrated commitment to improving the lives of others.

• Citizenship of any country outside the United Kingdom. Unusually open on nationality compared with most major schemes.
• An application for a full-time postgraduate degree at Cambridge — doctoral study, or a one-year master's or equivalent.
• Outstanding academic achievement, judged against the standard of a Cambridge offer.
• A reason for choosing Cambridge specifically, and a strong fit with the course and department.
• Evidence of commitment to improving others' lives — an explicit and weighted criterion, not a tiebreaker.
• Not eligible if you are applying for a second master's in most circumstances, or for certain part-time routes.

The social commitment criterion is assessed seriously and cannot be manufactured in an essay. Applicants with a genuine record of it should make that record concrete; applicants without one are better served by other schemes.

A full award for the duration of the degree, with additional discretionary funding that few other schemes match.

• The full cost of studying at Cambridge — university composition fee and college fees.
• A maintenance allowance at the rate the trust publishes, for a single student.
• Economy airfare at the start and end of the course.
• Visa and immigration health surcharge costs.
• Discretionary funding — family allowance for a partner and children, fieldwork, academic development and hardship funding, each applied for separately.
• The Gates Cambridge community, which runs its own programme of events and support during and after the award.

The family allowance is one of the few in this field that genuinely helps a scholar with dependants. It is discretionary and applied for, not automatic, so read the current terms rather than assuming.

Submitted as part of the single Cambridge graduate application, which is why the Cambridge deadline is effectively the scholarship deadline.

• The Cambridge graduate application, with the Gates Cambridge section completed.
• Transcripts and degree certificates.
• Academic references, plus a dedicated Gates Cambridge reference addressing your commitment to others.
• A research proposal for doctoral applicants.
• A personal statement and a Gates Cambridge statement, which are assessed separately.
• English proficiency evidence where required.

The additional Gates Cambridge reference is distinct from the academic ones and addresses a different question. Choosing a referee who can actually speak to that, rather than reusing an academic referee, matters.

One application does both: there is no separate scholarship form, which makes the Cambridge course deadline the one that counts.

• Apply for the Cambridge course and select Gates Cambridge within the same application.
• Meet the Gates Cambridge deadline for your course, which is earlier than the general course deadline — this is the single most common way applicants lose eligibility.
• Departmental ranking, then shortlisting by the trust.
• Interview, held in Cambridge or online.
• Results, announced in stages.

Dates move every cycle, so treat the Gates Cambridge deadlines page for your specific course as the authority on them rather than any second-hand summary — including this one. We will confirm the current timeline with you before you commit to a plan built around it.