If a free Master’s degree in the UK is on your list, the clock is already ticking. The Commonwealth Shared Scholarships for 2027/28 opened on Tuesday 10 November — and applications close at 4pm GMT on Tuesday 8 December 2026. That is less than four weeks away.
This is one of the biggest fully funded scholarships open to Ghanaians right now. It pays for a full one-year taught Master’s degree at a participating UK university: full tuition fees, a return flight, and a monthly living allowance of £1,712 — or £2,000 a month if your university is in the London area. There is no application fee.
Who can apply
The scholarships are for citizens of 43 eligible Commonwealth countries, and Ghana is on the list. You must be a citizen of (or a refugee in) one of those countries, and you must be someone who could not otherwise afford to study in the UK.
There is no age limit. But there is one rule that catches people out: you must not have studied or worked for a year or more in a high-income country. If you have, you are not eligible for this round.
The courses covered are approved Master’s programmes linked to development themes — health, science and technology, governance and inclusion, among others. Study begins in September or October 2027.
How it actually works — two applications, not one
This is the part most people get wrong, and it is the reason some strong candidates miss out. A Shared Scholarship is not something you apply for on its own. You apply in two places:
- Apply for admission to an approved Master’s course at a participating UK university. The university chooses which candidates to put forward — not one central panel.
- Apply for the scholarship through the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission’s own online system, CSC Central.
There is no national nominating agency involved in this route. Do not pay anyone who tells you they can nominate you, and do not send your application anywhere except the official CSC Central portal. The Commission says applications and supporting documents submitted outside the online portal will not be accepted.
Two warnings before you start
First, the 8 December deadline is for the CSC form on CSC Central only — a university application alone does not count. And your chosen university may have its own admission deadline that is EARLIER than 8 December, so check the university’s own page before you assume you have until the 8th.
Second, the CSC advises applying early, because CSC Central gets very busy in the days before the deadline. Do not leave it to the last weekend.
Why this matters now
The main Commonwealth Master’s and PhD round closed on 20 October. This Shared route is the second door — and it only stays open for four weeks. The word “scholarship” is one of the most searched terms in Ghana today, because thousands of people are looking at the same opportunity at the same time.
If you have a first degree, a clear idea of the course you want, and a reason it connects to development back home, start today: pick your approved course from the CSC’s eligible courses list, check that university’s admission deadline, and get your CSC Central application going.
A free Master’s in the UK is not a small thing. It is tuition, flights and a monthly allowance — paid. The only thing it costs you is doing the application properly, and doing it before 4pm on 8 December.
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