New Zealand Commonwealth Scholars

Application Deadline: Varying

As part of the CSFP programme, New Zealand offers New Zealand Commonwealth Scholarships to candidates from developing Commonwealth countries for postgraduate study (Master’s and PhD) in New Zealand universities on a contestable basis. New Zealand Commonwealth Scholarships are highly competitive and for top level graduates.

The Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Plan (CSFP) is an international programme under which member governments offer scholarships and fellowships to citizens of other Commonwealth countries.

New Zealand Commonwealth Scholarships are funded the by the New Zealand Aid Programme and managed by the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The selection process in New Zealand is managed by Universities New Zealand.

New Zealand Commonwealth Scholars can only study at these New Zealand universities:

• Auckland University of Technology
• Lincoln University
• Massey University
• University of Auckland
• University of Canterbury
• University of Otago
• Victoria University of Wellington
• University of Waikato

Eligible Africa Countries

Students of participating developing Commonwealth country can apply for this scholarship:

Africa: Botswana, Cameroon, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.

Eligibility:

To be eligible to be considered for a Commonwealth Scholarship an applicant must:

• Have citizenship of a participating developing Commonwealth country; permanent residents of a participating country are not eligible to apply;
• Be residing in their country of citizenship, preferably for at least two years prior to application;
• Not have citizenship or permanent residence status of New Zealand or Australia, or another  developed country, except where their country does not issue passports and they hold a New Zealand passport (i.e. the Cook Islands, Niue or Tokelau);
• Not be married or engaged to be married to a person who holds, or who is eligible to hold, citizenship or permanent residence status of New Zealand, Australia or another developed country, except where their country does not issue passports and they hold a New Zealand passport (i.e. the Cook Islands, Niue or Tokelau);
• Be applying to commence a new qualification and not be seeking funding for one already commenced at PhD or Masters level;
• Satisfy the admission requirements of the New Zealand  university at which the qualification is to be undertaken, including English language criteria;
• Have been working in their country of citizenship, preferably for at least two years prior to application;
• Hold a first degree of upper second class Honours (or above); or a second class degree  and a relevant postgraduate qualification, which will normally be a Master’s degree;
• Be available to commence their academic studies in New Zealand at the start of the New Zealand academic year in February 2016;
• Have already secured  admission to their preferred New Zealand university; evidence of admission (eg. a letter of offer) is required with the application form; a conditional letter of offer from a New Zealand university is sufficient to allow an application to be accepted;

Scholarship value/inclusions:

The New Zealand Commonwealth Scholarships scheme funds tuition and enrolment fees, an establishment allowance, a basic stipend, approved scholarship-related travel, some course-related costs, and medical and travel insurance. Each Scholarship provides:

• Travel:  International, and New Zealand domestic, air travel at the start and end of the scholarship for awardee, and reimbursement of awardee’s visa costs. In addition, a reunion travel entitlement may be available to awardees who have left dependants in their home country.
• Tuition Fees and other compulsory institutional course costs.
• Postgraduate research and thesis allowance: An allowance of NZ$1,500, and a return economy airfare to awardee’s home country for overseas fieldwork, if research component is 50% or greater.
• Medical and Travel Insurancee. Establishment allowance: NZ$3,000 paid on arrival in New Zealand to meet text book costs and to assist with other set up costs in New Zealand. At the beginning of each additional study year NZ$1,000 will be paid to cover the full year.
• Living Allowance: The annual rate of NZ$21,580 (NZ$415 per week) is paid fortnightly and is a contribution to living costs for day-to-day expenses, including accommodation (rent or board), food costs,  utility expenses (telephone, electricity  etc.), transport, personal items, and course-related costs (stationery, field trips, workshops etc.).

Application process

• Each Commonwealth government has designated a national agency for the operation of Commonwealth Scholarships.
• For information specific to your country including application process, closing dates and management of the Scholarships, follow the links below to your country’s scholarship information page or visit the Universities New Zealand website.

Closing Dates for Applications

Each Nominating Agency has been asked to set the closing date for applications for their country.

How to Apply:

• View the list of Nominating Agencies for each eligible country
• Download and Fill out the Application Form
• Applicants must send their completed applications to the Nominating Agency for their country, not to Universities NZ or to NZAid.

For More Information:

Visit the Official Webpage of the New Zealand Commonwealth Scholarship