Gates Cambridge Scholarship

The Gates Cambridge Scholarship is a prestigious award offered by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to students aspiring to study in UK at the University of Cambridge.  It was established back in 2000 after a generous donation of $210 million to the university to help international postgraduate and doctoral students to achieve their dream of studying at one of the UK’s finest universities. Since its inception, the scholarship has been awarded to over 1500 international students from 100 countries and in the year 2020, it was awarded to 77 scholars from 30 different countries. In this blog, we will cover all the details of the Gates Cambridge Scholarship to help you pursue your dream of studying in the queen’s land. 

Institution	Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Countries	100 (UK exception)
Courses	Full-time PhD, MSc, MLitt, Postgraduate Courses
No. Of Awards	80
Acceptance Rate	0.3%
International Students Eligible	Yes
Funding	Full-Coverage

Who is Eligible for the Scholarship?

Here are the key eligibility requirements to apply for a Gates Cambridge Scholarship:

• The candidate must be a citizen of any country outside the United Kingdom.
• Must be applying to pursue full-time residential courses of study at the University of Cambridge such as PhD, MSc/MLitt and one-year postgraduate course. 
• Current international students are eligible for applying for the scholarship and their desired postgraduate programme. Applicants must apply for the scholarship before the commencement of the programme. 

Courses Not Covered 

• UG courses like BA or BA affiliated
• Business Doctorate (Bus D)
• MBA
• Master of Finance 
• PGCE
• MBBChir Clinical Studies
• MD Doctor of Medicine degree 
• Graduate Course in Medicine 
• Part-time degrees
• Non-degree courses

Must Read: What are the requirements to study in UK?

How to Apply?

To apply for the Gates Cambridge Scholarship, Applicants submit a combined application form for admission and financial funding through the University’s Graduate Application Portal. The application form covers the Gates scholarship underfunding and various other scholarships offered by the University of Cambridge. 

Here are some important documents that must be submitted along with the combined application form:

Particulars	International Students
Application Opening	September.
Application Deadline	Dependent on Course. One in early December and another in early January of the next year.
Departmental Ranking	From December to February of next year.
All Applicants Notified of Application Outcome	February.
Online Review and Selection by Panels	February and March.
Scholarships Offered	Late March.
Scholarships accepted	72 hours after the offer.

• Personal Statement of Purpose (approximately 500 words).
• Research Proposal for PhD applicants.
• Two Letters of Recommendation.
• Gates Reference from an academic advisor (it can be someone who has written one of the LORs).

Ideal Scholar Profile for the Gates Cambridge Scholarship

The Gates Cambridge Scholarship is open to scholars from 100 different countries and candidates from diverse backgrounds are invited to participate in the programme. There are four criterias that candidates must meet to be considered for the scholarship: 

• Academic excellence: To be considered for the scholarship, candidates must be outstanding academically. 
• Reasons for choice of course: All candidates need a strong statement of purpose for the chosen course. 
• Commitment to society and improving the lives of others: Scholars must display a strong sense of commitment towards the better of society. 
• A capacity for leadership: There are certain qualities every candidate must display and the most important is leadership. 

Selection Process

Since there are only a limited number of scholarships available, the organiser makes a point of selecting only the top applicants. Each panel of three or four people includes members from the academic community, the trust, and Gates Cambridge alumni. Following is a description of the three-stage process the approved panel uses to choose the best candidates by hand:

Departmental Ranking

The trust requests that Cambridge’s academic authority exclusively link applicant students with those who meet academic requirements. The outstanding aspirants of that year are those students who are ranked by their respective departments.

Shortlisting

The trust’s shortlisting committees get a list of all nominated students that has been broken down into general subject categories. Based on the four requirements of the Gates Cambridge Scholarship, these Committees further categorise the applicants to be contacted for an interview.

Interview

The details of the venue and interview format will be given to the interview candidates. The interview lasts for about 20 to 25 minutes. Both a video conference and an in-person interview are conducted. If at all possible, the students should try to attend the interview in person. In general, there are 4 interview panels based on the topics. As follows:

• Physical Sciences
• Biological Sciences
• Social Sciences and
• Arts

Must Read: LLM in University of Cambridge 

Gates Cambridge Scholarship Acceptance Rate

The Gates Cambridge Scholarship is extremely competitive and the acceptance rate for it is 0.3%. Only a fraction of applicants is selected for the scholarship. 

Also Read: University of Cambridge Acceptance Rate

Funding by Gates Cambridge Scholarship

• University Tuition Fees
• One-Side Airfare 
• Visa Costs
• Immigration Health Surcharge
• Maintenance allowance for a single student £17,848 for 12 months for PhD scholars the award is for up to 4 years
• Academic funding – from up to £500 to up to £2,000, depending on the duration, of the course, to attend conferences and courses.
• Family allowance for children only – up to £10,944 for one child and up to £15,612 for two or more children (These rates vary per year). The family allowance doesn’t cover partners. 
• Fieldwork
• Maternity/Paternity funding
• Hardship funding – for unforeseen difficulties
• The Foundation can reduce the allowance for candidates who are recipients of a salary or scholarship. All other financial assistance must be disclosed to the Foundation. 

Gates Cambridge Scholarship is a fully-funded scholarship and the entire cost of studying is covered by the Foundation for students accepted to study at the University of Cambridge. The scholarships cover different costs such as:  

Scholarship Alumni

• Kayla Barron, Astronaut 
• Jimin Yu,  Associate Professor
• Sabrina Anjara 
• Chandler Robinson, founder of Monopar Therapeutics Inc
• Robyn Scott, co-founder of Apolitical

Must Read: Best Student Cities in UK

FAQs

Gates Cambridge Scholarship is a prestigious fully-funded scholarship that is awarded to only a select group of candidates. Candidates who have a strong sense of self, outstanding academic performance and leadership qualities are the perfect scholar for this scholarship. Aspiring to study abroad for upcoming intakes? Get in touch with our experts at Leverage Edu and find out how you get into your dream college!