Gates Cambridge Scholarship

Key facts

What the Gates Cambridge Scholarship covers — and why it's worth applying

Cambridge's most prestigious international scholarship. The award (Fully funded — Cambridge fees + £22,050/yr maintenance (2025-26), airfare, visa & health surcharge) is aimed at Master's & PhD study in UK, and goes to Outstanding applicants to Cambridge (non-UK).

Beyond the money, prestigious scholarships like this strengthen your CV, open alumni and professional networks, and can make your visa application stronger by proving your funding. Even if you're unsure you'll win, applying costs nothing here and the process sharpens your SOP for every other application.

How to apply (and stand out)

1. Confirm you meet the eligibility: Outstanding applicants to Cambridge (non-UK).
2. Read the official criteria carefully and note exactly what the scholarship values.
3. Secure your university admission or nomination first, where it's required.
4. Write a specific, story-led SOP that ties your goals to the scholarship's mission — build and refine yours free with our SOP tool.
5. Line up strong, tailored recommendation letters early (referees need 2–3 weeks).
6. Highlight leadership, impact and a clear plan for how you'll use the opportunity.
7. Submit well before the October/December deadline, and prepare for an interview if you're shortlisted.

Always verify amounts, eligibility and deadlines on the official scholarship website — these change every year.

Official source

Every figure on this page is indicative and the awarding body can change it without notice. Check the current amount, eligibility and deadline here before you apply:

Open the official Gates Cambridge Scholarship website →

External link to the awarding body. LandingPrep is not affiliated with it and does not process applications.

Other funding for UK — and how this one fits

Our dataset holds 5 other UK awards, 2 of them at Master's & PhD level. Almost nobody wins funding from a single application, so the useful question is not whether to apply for the Gates Cambridge Scholarship but what else goes on the list beside it.

These awards split across Government, University, Govt + University funding. That distinction matters more than the headline amount: the eligibility gate on a government or institution award is usually fixed and checkable in advance, so you can rule yourself in or out on paper, while merit and need awards turn on a judgement you cannot audit. Build the list from the ones you can verify you qualify for, then add the judgement-based ones on top.

• Funding deadlines run ahead of admission deadlines. The Gates Cambridge Scholarship closes October/December, and for most awards the money is decided weeks or months before a place is. Applying "on time" for the course and late for the funding is the single most expensive ordinary mistake in this process, and it costs nothing to avoid.
• Some awards need admission or nomination first. Where that is the case the real deadline is the one on the university application, not the one on the scholarship page, because you cannot meet the second without having cleared the first.
• One tailored application beats six generic ones. Every award publishes what it is for. The applications that fail are usually the ones that describe an excellent candidate without ever connecting them to that specific purpose.
• Amounts are rarely what they look like. A full-tuition award in an expensive city can leave a larger gap than a smaller stipend somewhere cheaper. Compare what is left unfunded, not what is granted.

Amounts, eligibility and deadlines are indicative and set by the awarding bodies, who change them without notice. Verify every figure on the official source before you rely on it — including the ones on this page.