Babajide Milton Macaulay, a two time recipient of Commonwealth Scholarships shares his opinions on what he believes to be basic principles to follow in winning the Commonwealth Scholarship. Apart from winning the Commonwealth Scholarships, Babajide has also bagged other awards both locally and internationally. He currently runs a PhD programme at the University of Manchester, United Kingdom. Below are some of his tips…
- Visit the CSCUK website for details of the Commonwealth Scholarship (For MSc or PhD):
- http://cscuk.dfid.gov.uk/apply/masters-scholarships/
- http://cscuk.dfid.gov.uk/apply/phd-scholarships-low-middle-income-countries/
- Check if you fulfil the basic academic requirement, which is the possession of at least a 2nd Class (Upper) degree. If yes, then proceed to step 2.
- Obtain these three documents which are required to apply for admission. They are: (a) Official Transcript (b) Original Degree Certificate (c) International Passport.
- Apply for admission to at most three (3) UK universities of choice to study any course of your choosing.
- Endeavour to obtain an unconditional admission. In a situation where the admission given is conditional, it is advisable to meet the condition before the deadline of the scholarship.
- The most common reason for a conditional admission is due to the lack of proof of English proficiency.
- Some UK universities will accept WAEC’s SSCE English Language grade of at least C6 if the result is not more than 10 years old. You can send an email to the UK school of choice for confirmation and possible consideration.
- In a situation where the WAEC’s SSCE is not accepted by the UK university, a standard international English test (e.g. ToEFL or IELTS) must be sat for and passed. Recommended scores of 100/120 (For ToEFL) or 7.0/9.0 (For IELTS) will suffice.
- Fill the online application form (http://cscuk.dfid.gov.uk/apply/applicants/) but you must never complete it in one day. At least, take a week to finish it in order to give you enough time to ponder over the answers to the questions asked.
- If you are an academic, choose your university as your nominating agency, but if you are not an academic, choose your country’s Ministry of Education as your nominating agency.
- If in need of technical help to ensure that your application is scholarship-worthy, contact our experienced scholars/consultants through our website (https://illumania.org/) or by email (admin@illumania.org).
- Get three (3) or four (4) Referees depending on what you are applying for (MSc or PhD). Ensure that at least one of your Referees was your former Supervisor or Boss. Also, anyone you choose as an academic Referee must have a functional and active email address and must have online visibility, i.e. must be available on Google Scholar or Research Gate.
- Submit your online form.
- If you are an academic, after submitting your form online, you must contact the Vice-Chancellor of your institution to keep him or her informed of your activities.
- If you are not an academic, after submitting your form online, you must keep your ears on the ground for further information of the Ministry of Education which will be made public in due time. The public notice will reveal the times and dates of the series of oral interviews for all the applicants scattered across the nation. For example, in Nigeria, the capital city of Abuja is always the interview centre for all applicants from the 6 geopolitical zones in the country.
- If successful at the interview, you will be nominated to the CSCUK by your country’s Ministry of Education.
- As an academic, you will be nominated by the Vice-Chancellor of your institution to the CSCUK.
- The final winners will be selected by the CSCUK
- They will not have to pay for visa or flight. The scholarship covers everything. I mean everything!
- Then you become a winner for life and forever be referred to as a Commonwealth Scholar with UK-related privileges.
