Cambridge Mastercard Foundation Scholarship 2027/28 Guide

Apply for Cambridge’s Mastercard Foundation scholarship through the university’s postgraduate admission and funding process for an eligible master’s course. Start by checking your academic fit, the scholarship criteria and your course’s funding deadline. The scholarship focuses on eligible African applicants and their contribution to a more sustainable future for the continent.

Applications for 2027/28

Cambridge’s official announcement confirms that applications for 2027/28 are open. There is no single deadline covering every course. Use the funding deadline on your course page, generally in early December 2026 or early January 2027, rather than a later general admission deadline.

Check eligibility before choosing a course

The programme’s eligibility page requires African citizenship and ordinarily residence in Africa, with specified allowance for temporary absence. Applicants need the academic standard required by their course and a commitment to contributing to their communities and climate resilience or sustainability.

The current master’s route covers eligible full-time, one-year courses. The MBA, Master of Corporate Law, Master of Finance and Master of Accounting are excluded. Women, refugees, internally displaced people and people with disabilities are encouraged to apply. Read the full current rules for your circumstances rather than treating encouragement as an automatic award.

Funding: read the award terms

This is a scholarship programme, not an admission offer or an unrestricted cash grant. Confirm the covered university and maintenance costs, travel arrangements and responsibilities with the programme before accepting. The wider Foundation–Cambridge partnership includes several kinds of opportunities; this guide specifically concerns the advertised master’s application route.

How to apply

1. Find your course. Review its academic requirements, curriculum, supporting documents and funding deadline.
2. Create a postgraduate applicant account. Start from Cambridge’s official course and application pages.
3. Arrange the application fee waiver if eligible. Some applicants receive an automatic waiver; others must request one.
4. Select Mastercard Foundation funding. Complete the required scholarship statement within the academic application.
5. Submit a complete application by the course funding deadline. Track references and any outstanding academic conditions separately.

Cambridge’s official instructions give 18 November 2026 as the deadline for requesting a waiver through the programme and ask for a transcript and passport. Nigerian applicants should not assume they qualify automatically through the country-based waiver list; check the request route before paying.

Make the course–impact connection specific

Write down the skills you need and identify where the course teaches them. Then explain how those skills could help with a defined challenge. A public-policy applicant and an engineering applicant may both care about climate resilience, but their training needs and next steps should look different.

Avoid inserting climate terminology into an unrelated plan merely because it appears in the scholarship description. Explain the connection in ordinary language and acknowledge what you still need to learn.

Prepare references and records early

Give referees your intended course, deadline and a concise reminder of work they directly supervised. They should write their own assessment. Order transcripts early and use the exact document requirements for the course; do not assume one department’s checklist applies to another.

Check that your personal statement, CV and scholarship response agree about dates, responsibilities and goals. Keep the writing grounded in your own experience rather than copying an online model essay.

What happens after submission?

Academic review and scholarship selection are distinct. An admission offer does not guarantee funding, and a conditional offer still requires the stated conditions to be met. Maintain an alternative funding plan and respond promptly to official requests.

This award is also distinct from the Gates Cambridge Scholarship. Read each scheme’s rules and application requirements separately.

Official application and scholarship updates

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