Fully funded UK scholarships for Kenyan students exist, but almost all of them are for master’s degrees, and the big ones close about a year before you’d fly. If you want to start in September 2027, Chevening and Rhodes have already closed, so your best live options right now are the Commonwealth Shared Scholarships, Gates Cambridge, Oxford’s Clarendon and Mastercard awards, and university fee scholarships like Bristol’s Think Big.
Undergraduate money is much harder to find. A handful of awards, such as the Reach Oxford Scholarship, cover fees and living costs, but most undergraduate help from UK universities is a fee discount of a few thousand pounds a year.
This guide covers the major awards a Kenyan can apply for, what each one really pays, and the dates for 2027 entry. For the bigger picture, start with our guide to studying in the UK from Kenya. All shilling figures use the Central Bank of Kenya rate of KSh 173.73 to £1 on 26 October 2026.
At a glance
| Scholarship | Level | What it pays | Kenyans eligible? | 2027 entry status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chevening | Master’s (1 year) | Fees, monthly stipend, flights, visa | Yes | Closed on 6 October 2026. Next round should open around August 2027 |
| Commonwealth Master’s | Master’s | Fees, stipend, flights | Yes, through the Ministry of Education | Check the ministry’s call now, because it may have closed |
| Commonwealth Shared | Master’s | Fees, £1,712 a month (£2,000 in London), flights | Yes | Opens 10 Nov 2026, closes 8 Dec 2026 |
| Commonwealth PhD | PhD | Fees, stipend, flights | No, Kenya isn’t on the list | Not open to Kenyans |
| Mastercard Foundation (Edinburgh) | Master’s | Fees, accommodation, travel, stipend | Yes, African citizens | Closes 19 Nov 2026, invited applicants only |
| Mastercard Foundation (Oxford) | Master’s | Fees, living costs, flight, visa, health surcharge (IHS) | Yes, African citizens | Apply to Oxford by your course’s Dec or Jan deadline |
| Rhodes (Kenya) | Postgraduate at Oxford | Full costs for at least 2 years | Yes, 2 places a year | Closed 27 Aug 2026 |
| Gates Cambridge | Postgraduate at Cambridge | Fees, £23,152 a year, flights, visa, IHS | Yes | Closes 8 Dec 2026 or 6 Jan 2027 |
| Clarendon (Oxford) | Postgraduate at Oxford | Fees and living grant | Yes | Automatic if you apply by your course deadline |
| GREAT Scholarships Kenya | Master’s | £10,000 off fees | Yes | Set by each university |
| Reach Oxford | Undergraduate | Fees, living grant, a yearly flight | Yes | Closes 26 Jan 2027 |
| Bristol Think Big | Undergraduate and master’s | £3,000 to £26,000 | Yes, overseas fee payers | Closes 19 Mar 2027 |
How UK scholarships work for Kenyans
The body that pays decides the rules, and that body is a government, a foundation or a university. UK scholarships come in three types, and knowing which one you’re looking at saves you a lot of wasted applications.
Fully funded scholarships pay your tuition, a monthly living allowance and usually your flights and visa. Chevening, the Commonwealth awards, Gates Cambridge, Rhodes and the Mastercard Foundation programs fall here. They’re run by governments, foundations or trusts, and they usually close 9 to 12 months before your course starts.
Partial scholarships cover part of the cost. The GREAT Scholarships give £10,000 toward fees, and Nottingham’s Developing Solutions award pays half or all of the master’s fee for one year. You still need your own money for living costs and the visa.
Fee discounts are the simplest type. Universities knock a set amount off your tuition, like Aberdeen’s £6,000 a year for undergraduates or £8,000 for master’s students. Some, like Aberdeen’s, are applied automatically, so there’s no extra form.
Do you need an offer first?
It depends on the award, and getting this wrong is one of the easiest ways to miss out.
- Apply to the university first: Bristol Think Big, Nottingham, Reach Oxford, the Oxford Mastercard program and Cambridge Trust awards all want you to have applied, or to hold an offer, before you can apply for the money.
- Apply for the money first: the Edinburgh Mastercard program asks you to apply for the scholarship before you apply to the university.
- Both at once: Chevening wants three course choices on the form and an unconditional offer (a university’s final yes, with no conditions left to meet) from one of them by 8 July 2027. The Commonwealth awards ask you to apply for admission separately while your scholarship application is running.
Who usually wins
The big awards look for more than grades. Chevening asks for two years of work after your first degree. Commonwealth awards ask you to show you can’t afford UK study without help and that you’ll go home afterward. Mastercard awards look for leadership, community service and the challenges you’ve overcome. Selectors use grades for the first sift, but your essays and references decide the rest.
If you’re still working out whether your grades are good enough for a UK course at all, start with our guide to KCSE requirements for UK universities.
Chevening Scholarship for Kenyans
Chevening is the UK government’s own scholarship, and it pays for a one-year master’s at any eligible UK university. The Kenya Chevening page shows the 2027/28 round is already closed. You could apply from 4 August to 6 October 2026, and the University of Westminster also lists the closing date as 6 October 2026.
If you missed it, plan for the 2028/29 round. The official Chevening timeline shows applications opened on 4 August 2026 and closed at 11:00 UTC on 6 October 2026, so start your essays and course research by mid-2027.
What Chevening pays
The Chevening FAQ on what’s covered lists:
- Full tuition fees
- A monthly stipend for rent and living costs, set higher if you study in London
- An economy return flight from Kenya
- Your visa application fee
- An arrival allowance and a departure allowance
- Up to £75 toward the TB test
- A travel top-up for Chevening events
Chevening doesn’t publish the stipend figure on its site. You see it in your Final Award Letter. Flights and visa costs cover you only, so there’s no extra money for a spouse or children.
Who can apply
The Chevening eligibility rules say you must:
- Be a citizen of Kenya (or another eligible country) and live there
- Agree to return to Kenya for at least two years after your scholarship ends
- Have an undergraduate degree good enough for a UK master’s, finished at least two years before the deadline
- Have at least two years of work experience after that degree, which Chevening counts as 2,800 hours
- Apply to three different eligible UK courses and hold an unconditional offer from one of them by 17:00 UK time on 8 July 2027
You can’t apply if you have British citizenship, live in the UK when you apply, or already studied in the UK on a UK government scholarship. Staff of the British Council, UK government departments and partner universities, plus their close relatives, are also ruled out. Already having a master’s doesn’t stop you.
The Chevening year, step by step
| Stage | 2027/28 round |
|---|---|
| Applications open | 4 August 2026 |
| Applications close | 6 October 2026 (11:00 UTC) |
| Reading committee review | Mid-October 2026 to January 2027 |
| Interview shortlist | Mid-February 2027 |
| Interviews | March to April 2027 |
| Results | From mid-June 2027 |
| Unconditional offer deadline | 8 July 2027 |
| Course starts | September or October 2027 |
You upload your reference letters and documents at least seven working days before your interview, so ask your referees early.
Commonwealth Scholarships for Kenyans
The Commonwealth Scholarship Commission in the UK (CSC) runs several scholarship programs, and Kenya is one of its eligible countries. For 2027 entry, Kenyans can use two of its programs: the Commonwealth Master’s Scholarships and the Commonwealth Shared Scholarships. Two others are closed to you this year. The PhD program isn’t open to Kenya, and the distance learning program is paused for 2026 and 2027, according to the CSC’s list of scholarships.
Commonwealth Master’s Scholarships
You can’t apply for this one directly. Kenyans are nominated by a national body, and the CSC’s list of nominating agencies names the Ministry of Education in Nairobi (info@education.go.ke). The ministry sets its own deadline and shortlists candidates. You then fill in the CSC’s online form as well. You must meet both sets of rules and both deadlines.
The award covers approved tuition, your airfare, visa costs and a living allowance. Check the ministry’s website now for the yearly call, because it may already have closed and its deadline comes well before the CSC’s.
Commonwealth Shared Scholarships
This is the Commonwealth award you can still apply for this year. The Shared Scholarships page confirms Kenya is eligible and gives these dates for 2027/28:
- Applications open on Tuesday 10 November 2026
- Applications close at 16:00 UK time on Tuesday 8 December 2026
- Study starts in September or October 2027
The CSC and the UK university split the cost, so only listed master’s courses at participating universities qualify. You apply for the scholarship and for admission to the university separately. You can apply to several courses, but you can only take one award. There’s no application fee.
What it pays:
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Tuition | Full fees |
| Monthly stipend outside London | £1,712 (about KSh 297,400) |
| Monthly stipend in London | £2,000 (about KSh 347,500) |
| Flights | Return airfare for you |
| Extras where they apply | Warm clothing allowance, thesis grant, study travel grant, TB test contribution |
| Single parents with children in the UK | £622 a month for the first child, £154 for the second and third under 16 |
To apply, you must:
- Be a Kenyan citizen (or a refugee recognized by Kenya) who lives permanently in Kenya
- Hold at least a 2:1 (Second Class Upper) degree by September 2027, or a 2:2 (Second Class Lower) with a relevant postgraduate qualification
- Not have studied or worked for more than one academic year in a high-income country
- Be unable to afford UK study without the scholarship
- Be of any age, as there is no age limit
You’ll upload your passport or national ID, full transcripts and at least two signed references through the CSC system. The CSC doesn’t accept documents sent any other way.
The go-home rule
Commonwealth Scholars agree to go home. The CSC’s FAQs say you must leave the UK within one month of your scholarship ending and that the CSC doesn’t support switching to the Graduate visa. The only exception is a master’s scholar who gets a fully funded UK PhD offer. If staying to work in the UK is part of your plan, a Commonwealth award isn’t the right fit.
Mastercard Foundation scholarships in the UK
The Mastercard Foundation pays for African students at two UK universities, Edinburgh and Oxford. Both are fully funded master’s awards, and both want proof of what you’ve done for your community and ask what you plan to do for Africa afterward.
University of Edinburgh
The Edinburgh program covers full tuition, accommodation, travel, a living stipend and study materials for a one-year, on-campus master’s. There’s also a three-year part-time online master’s and a two-year online postgraduate diploma.
Edinburgh’s scholarship funding page sets these rules:
- You’re a citizen and resident of an African country, or hold refugee status in one
- You have an undergraduate degree but no postgraduate degree yet
- You’ve faced real barriers to education
- You show leadership and community service, and want to work on the climate crisis
- You were born on or after 1 January 1991, which was the cutoff for the 2026/27 round
The 2027/28 round has a new step, and applicants who skip it can’t apply. Edinburgh made a virtual information session compulsory, and only people who attended between 15 and 24 September 2026 could be invited to apply. The declaration form closed on 26 October 2026 and the main application closes at 17:00 UK time on 19 November 2026. Interviews take place from mid-February to March 2027, and results follow at the end of March.
If you missed this year’s sessions, you can’t apply this round. Check the Edinburgh page again in August 2027 to see whether the same step applies for 2028/29. Questions go to mcfsp@ed.ac.uk.
University of Oxford
Oxford’s version works the other way round: you apply to the course first. The Africa Oxford Initiative page explains that you apply for a full-time, one-year taught master’s by your course’s December or January funding deadline. If you get an offer and you’re eligible, Oxford emails you a scholarship form, then invites you to an online interview.
It pays course fees, a living grant at the UK research council minimum stipend rate, an economy return flight, your visa and Immigration Health Surcharge, and a settling-in allowance. After the course you spend four to six months working with an organization based in Africa.
To qualify, you must be a citizen of an African country who normally lives there, have no previous graduate degree, and have a record of leadership and service. Check the Africa Oxford Initiative page each year for the deadline of the course you want.
Oxford and Cambridge scholarships for Kenyans
Oxford and Cambridge both run large scholarship funds, and for some awards you’re considered just by applying for your course on time.
Rhodes Scholarship for Kenya
Kenya has its own Rhodes constituency with two scholarships a year for postgraduate study at Oxford. The Rhodes Kenya page shows the round for October 2027 ran from 1 June to 23:59 East Africa Time on 27 August 2026, so it’s closed.
The Kenya information for candidates for the last round says you must meet the following, although Rhodes warns that the 2027 rules may change:
- Be a Kenyan citizen, or a refugee or asylum seeker living in Kenya
- Have lived in Kenya for at least five of the last ten years
- Be aged 18 to 23 on 1 October of the application year, or under 27 if you finished your first degree late
- Have completed a bachelor’s degree by July before the course starts
- Have grades that meet your Oxford course’s requirements, with a First Class Honours or a GPA of 3.7 out of 4.0 giving you a better chance
You’ll need five referees (three academic, two character), a personal statement of up to 1,000 words, and certified copies of your school certificates and KCSE. Finalists are interviewed in person in Nairobi in early November. The scholarship covers at least two years of full-time study and is confirmed only once Oxford admits you.
Clarendon Scholarships at Oxford
The Clarendon Fund gives more than 200 new full scholarships a year for master’s and DPhil (PhD) courses. There’s no separate form: you’re considered automatically if you apply for your course by its December or January deadline. It pays course fees and a living grant, and it’s open to every nationality and subject. So find your course’s December or January deadline first, and ask the department that runs the course if it isn’t clear.
Gates Cambridge Scholarship
Gates Cambridge offers about 70 full-cost postgraduate scholarships a year, and roughly two-thirds go to PhD students. The Gates Cambridge scholarship page lists:
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Tuition | University composition fee in full |
| Living allowance | £23,152 a year for a single student (about KSh 4.02 million), 2026/27 rate |
| Flights | One economy flight at the start and one at the end |
| Visa and IHS | Both covered |
| Children | Up to £12,793 a year for one child, £18,244 for two or more |
| Partner | No funding |
For 2027/28, applicants from outside the USA apply by their course’s Gates deadline, which is either 8 December 2026 or 6 January 2027 depending on the course. The Gates Cambridge timeline says the first results come out by 8 March 2027, selection panels meet on 22 and 23 March 2027, and scholarships are offered by early April.
Cambridge Trust
The Cambridge Trust runs full and part-cost awards at undergraduate, master’s and PhD level. Use its search tool and filter by Kenya to see which ones you can apply for, because the criteria differ for each award.
GREAT Scholarships and university master’s scholarships
If you don’t land a full award, partial scholarships from UK universities can still cut your bill by thousands of pounds. Several close in spring or summer, long after the big awards.
GREAT Scholarships Kenya
The GREAT Scholarships are run by the British Council with UK universities, and Kenya has its own list. The British Council GREAT Kenya page shows £10,000 toward tuition (about KSh 1.74 million) for a one-year taught master’s. For 2026/27, the 16 universities were Abertay, Cranfield, Glasgow Caledonian, Kingston University London, Liverpool John Moores, Loughborough, Ulster, Dundee, East Anglia, Essex, Glasgow, Hull, Kent, Nottingham, Surrey and York. The 2027/28 list hadn’t been published when we checked, so look again from early 2027.
You must hold a Kenyan passport, live permanently in Kenya, and meet the university’s English requirement. Each university runs its own application and deadline, so email the university’s international office to confirm the current dates. As an example, Surrey’s GREAT Kenya award for 2026 was a single scholarship that needed an offer and closed on 29 May 2026.
University scholarships open to Kenyans
| University | Award | Value | Who it’s for | Latest dates |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Bristol | Think Big (postgraduate) | £6,500, £13,000 or £26,000 for year one | Overseas fee payers on an eligible master’s | Opens 27 Oct 2026, closes 19 Mar 2027 |
| University of Nottingham | Developing Solutions | 50% or 100% of master’s fees for one year | Students living in any African country, India or listed Commonwealth countries | 2027 dates not yet posted |
| University of Aberdeen | Aberdeen Global Scholarship | £8,000 off master’s fees | New self-funded international students starting in 2026/27 or 2027/28 | No deadline listed |
| University of Westminster | International Postgraduate Excellence Award | £3,000 to £5,000 off master’s fees | International students starting in January 2027 | 30 Nov 2026 |
Two tips on these awards. First, Bristol and Nottingham both want you to apply for your course before you apply for the money, so don’t wait until you’ve chosen everything. Second, awards like Aberdeen’s and Westminster’s come off your fees rather than as cash, so you’ll still need to show the full living costs for your visa.
Undergraduate scholarships for Kenyan students
Full undergraduate scholarships in the UK are rare. Cambridge says it plainly on its international financial support page: few full undergraduate scholarships exist, and most help is partial and means-tested. So for a bachelor’s degree, plan to combine a fee discount with family money, a sponsor or a cheaper route.
These are the undergraduate awards we found that Kenyans can apply for:
| University | Award | Value | Key rules | Dates for 2027 entry |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Oxford | Reach Oxford Scholarship | Full fees, a living grant and one return flight a year | Kenyan citizen with an Oxford offer, financial need, can’t study the degree at home, plans to return. Not for medicine. About 2 or 3 a year | Closes 26 Jan 2027 |
| University of Bristol | Think Big (undergraduate) | £3,000, £6,500 or £13,000 a year for up to 4 years | Overseas fee payer who has applied to Bristol | Closes 19 Mar 2027 |
| University of Aberdeen | Aberdeen Global Scholarship | £6,000 a year | New self-funded international student starting in 2026/27 or 2027/28. Not for medicine or dentistry | No form. It’s applied automatically and shows on your CAS (Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies) |
| University of Cambridge | Cambridge Trust | Mostly partial, means-tested | You can only apply after a college offer | Your college sends the form |
| UCL | Global Undergraduate Scholarship | Full fees, and for 10 students also living costs, the visa and IHS | Overseas fee payer from a low-income household (UCL uses £42,875 a year as a guide) | 2027 dates not out yet. The 2026 round closed on 27 April 2026 |
Making the numbers work for a bachelor’s
A fee discount on its own rarely makes a UK degree affordable. Before you count on one, check the full cost in our UK cost of studying guide, then work out the gap you’d still need to cover each year.
Other ways Kenyans cut the cost:
- Do a first year at a Kenyan university, then join a UK course in year two, where the university accepts it
- Take a diploma or HND (Higher National Diploma) at home and top it up to a UK degree in one year
- Study for your bachelor’s at home and save the UK for a funded master’s, where the big scholarships are
Our guide to KCSE requirements for UK universities explains each of these routes, with the universities that accept them. Before you pick a route, ask each university’s international office which awards you’d qualify for.
PhD funding for Kenyans in the UK
PhD funding works differently from master’s money. You usually don’t apply to a scholarship body at all. Instead, you apply for a funded PhD place, called a studentship, at a university.
UKRI studentships
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) is the UK government body that funds research, including PhD studentships. Its studentship guide says you apply to the university or research body offering the place, not to UKRI, and that openings are listed on FindAPhD.
For 2026/27, the minimum UKRI stipend is £21,805 a year (about KSh 3.79 million), or £23,805 with London weighting. UKRI’s fee payment only goes up to the home fee rate, so international students may have to pay the difference unless the university covers it. UKRI also doesn’t pay for visas or the Immigration Health Surcharge. International students can hold UKRI studentships, but each research council limits how many go to them, so ask the university how many international places a project has before you apply.
Other full PhD funding open to Kenyans
- Gates Cambridge: about two-thirds of its roughly 70 yearly awards go to PhD students, for up to four years
- Clarendon at Oxford: covers DPhil students as well as master’s students
- Commonwealth PhD Scholarships: not open to Kenyans. Only 17 countries are eligible, including Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda, but Kenya isn’t on the list
Why a funded PhD matters for your family
Under current UK rules, PhD and other research degree students are one of the few groups who can still bring a partner and children on a Student visa. If you plan to bring family, a funded PhD is one of the few routes that allows it, though you’ll need to show money for each dependent on top of your own. Gates Cambridge, for example, pays a children’s allowance but nothing for a partner.
Scholarship deadlines for 2027 entry
If you want to start in September 2027, your busiest weeks are November 2026 to January 2027. Bars show an application window, and diamonds show a single closing date. Gates Cambridge has two diamonds because its closing date is either 8 December or 6 January, depending on the course.
2027 entry scholarship deadlines · Oct 2026 to Jul 2027
The Commonwealth Shared window is the shortest, at four weeks, so have your transcripts and two references ready before it opens on 10 November. Chevening’s 8 July date is for current applicants to secure an unconditional offer, not a new application.
How to write a winning scholarship application
The big awards are won on essays, references and evidence, not just grades. Here’s what the official guidance asks for.
What selectors look for
Chevening’s guide to preparing your application lists the qualities it scores: leadership and influence shown through real examples, the ability to build professional relationships, and a realistic career plan that leads to lasting change. It even suggests waiting a year if you don’t yet have enough leadership examples.
The Commonwealth awards ask a different question: how will your study help Kenya’s development, and can you show you couldn’t afford it otherwise? The Mastercard programs ask what challenges you’ve overcome and how you’ve served your community.
So before you write, match each essay to that award’s own goals.
Mistakes that get applications thrown out
Chevening publishes a list of common errors, and they’re worth checking whatever you apply for:
- Not checking eligibility first. Read the rules and take any eligibility quiz before you start.
- Getting work experience wrong. Counting jobs before your degree, listing the same job twice, or claiming unrealistic hours.
- Listing the same course twice. Chevening needs three different eligible master’s courses.
- Using AI or copying. Chevening says essays written by AI tools or copied from others lead to disqualification, and it uses detection tools.
- Leaving the form incomplete. Every section must be filled in, in English.
Your documents checklist
Gather these early:
- Your national ID and a passport (you’ll need the passport for the visa anyway)
- Your degree certificate. Chevening asks for the original certificate at interview stage and doesn’t accept a transcript in its place.
- Full university transcripts for the Commonwealth and most university awards
- KCSE certificate, if the scholarship body or university asks for school results (Rhodes does). If you’ve lost it, the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) issues a Certification Letter instead.
- Two or more references. Chevening needs two letters in English, uploaded at least seven working days before your interview. Commonwealth Shared asks for at least two signed references. Rhodes wants five.
- English test results, if your university asks for them
Choosing referees
Pick people who know your work well and can give specific examples, like a lecturer who supervised your project or a manager who saw you lead a team. Send them the award’s goals and your essays so their letters back up what you’ve written. Give them at least a month’s notice before any deadline.
Scholarships and your UK Student visa
A scholarship changes what you have to prove for your visa, so read this before you start gathering bank statements.
If your scholarship pays everything
The Home Office calls scholarship bodies like governments and universities “official financial sponsors.” Its financial evidence guidance says you can prove your funding in one of two ways:
- Your sponsor’s reference number, which your university adds to your CAS (Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies)
- A letter from the sponsor, if the sponsorship isn’t on your CAS
The letter must show the date, the sponsor’s name and contact details, how long the sponsorship lasts, and either the amount it pays or confirmation that it covers all your fees and living costs. If the letter confirms the sponsor pays all your fees and living costs, that letter is your evidence for those costs.
If your scholarship pays only part
A fee discount or a £10,000 GREAT award doesn’t cover living costs, so you still have to show the rest yourself. That means any tuition still owed for your first year, plus living costs for up to nine months. For applications made from 30 November 2026, that’s £1,203 a month outside London and £1,570 a month in London. Applications made before that date use the old rates of £1,171 and £1,529. You must hold the money in your account for at least 28 days in a row, ending no more than 31 days before you apply.
For the full proof of funds rules, read the GOV.UK Student visa money page, then ask your university’s international office if anything is unclear.
Can you bring your family on a scholarship?
Only some students can. Under current rules, you can bring a partner or children if you’re on a PhD or other research degree, or if you’re a government-sponsored student on a course longer than six months. Most taught master’s students can’t. Each family member needs £680 a month outside London or £845 in London, for up to nine months, on top of your own funds.
Even where family is allowed, the scholarship may not pay for them. Chevening covers flights and visa costs for you only. Gates Cambridge pays toward children but nothing for a partner. The Commonwealth Shared award pays a child allowance only to widowed, divorced or single parents. You’ll need to show extra money for every dependent. Ask your university’s international office whether your course allows dependents before you apply.
Scholarship scams and how to check an offer
Be careful with any scholarship that asks you to pay to apply. The Commonwealth Shared Scholarships page states there’s no application fee, and the CSC says only the CSC manages its applications. It names one fake body, the “Commonwealth Exchange Scholarship Council,” as having no link to it.
Use these checks before you trust any offer:
- The web address. Chevening lives on chevening.org, the CSC on cscuk.fcdo.gov.uk, and UK universities on addresses ending in .ac.uk. An offer from a Gmail or Yahoo address, or a look-alike site, is a warning sign.
- Money up front. Treat any request for a “processing,” “visa guarantee” or “placement” fee to release your award as a red flag.
- An award you never applied for. Scholarships go to people who applied through the official form. A surprise email saying you’ve won something you never applied for is a red flag.
- Pressure to act fast. Scammers set short deadlines so you don’t stop to check.
- Guaranteed visas. Only the Home Office decides visas. No scholarship or agent can promise one.
If you’re unsure, email the scholarship body or the university’s international office using contact details from its official site, not the ones in the message you received.
FAQ: UK scholarships for Kenyan students
Are there fully funded scholarships in the UK for Kenyan students?
Yes. Chevening, the Commonwealth Master’s and Shared Scholarships, Rhodes, Gates Cambridge, Clarendon and the Mastercard Foundation programs at Edinburgh and Oxford all pay full costs and are open to Kenyans. Most are for master’s or PhD study.
Can I get a fully funded undergraduate scholarship in the UK from Kenya?
It’s possible but rare. Reach Oxford pays fees, living costs and a yearly flight, but gives only two or three a year, and UCL’s Global Undergraduate Scholarship offered full costs to 10 students in its latest round. Most undergraduate awards are partial.
Is the Chevening Scholarship still open for 2027?
No. The 2027/28 round closed in October 2026. The next round should open around August 2027 for study starting in 2028.
Can I apply for a Commonwealth PhD Scholarship from Kenya?
No. For 2027, Kenya isn’t one of the 17 eligible countries for the Commonwealth PhD program. Kenyans can still apply for Commonwealth Master’s and Shared Scholarships.
Do I need work experience for a UK scholarship?
For Chevening, yes: at least two years, or 2,800 hours, after your first degree. The other awards in this guide don’t list a minimum on the official pages we checked, though relevant experience can strengthen your application.
Is there an age limit?
Commonwealth Shared says it has none, and Chevening’s eligibility rules don’t list one. Rhodes Kenya has a tight age limit, and the Edinburgh Mastercard program set a birth date cutoff for its last round.
Can I apply for more than one scholarship?
Yes, and you should. But read each award’s rules on combining. Chevening says you mustn’t take other publicly funded awards, and Rhodes can’t be held with another substantial scholarship.
Do I have to come back to Kenya after a scholarship?
For Chevening, yes, for at least two years. Commonwealth Scholars must leave the UK within one month of their award ending and can’t switch to the Graduate visa.
Does a 2:2 degree rule me out?
Not always. Commonwealth Shared accepts a 2:2 if you also have a relevant postgraduate qualification, usually a master’s. Chevening asks only for a degree good enough for your chosen UK course.
Can a scholarship pay for my family?
Usually not in full. Gates Cambridge pays up to £18,244 a year toward children but nothing for a partner. Commonwealth Shared pays a child allowance only to single, widowed or divorced parents. Most taught master’s students can’t bring dependents on a Student visa at all.
More guides in this series
- Cost of Studying in UK
- Study In the UK from Kenya
- KCSE and Kenyan degree requirements for UK universities
- UK Student visa from Kenya: steps, proof of funds and refusals
- Post-study work visa for international students
- The best courses to study in the UK for international students
Before you apply
Scholarship rules, amounts and dates change every year. We checked the figures here against the official scholarship and university pages in October 2026, but always confirm on the official site before you apply. Visa and Varsity isn’t linked to any scholarship body, and we can’t help you win or process an award.