Cambridge Trust Postgraduate Scholarships

Who can apply

Significant academic achievement and potential, plus financial need, though some individual awards weigh merit alone
Applying for an MPhil, MASt, LLM, MCL, MRes, or a PhD (including combined MPhil+PhD or MRes+PhD routes); the MBA, MFin, MSt, MLitt, MEd, PGCert, PGDip and several other named course types are excluded entirely, not just their part-time variants
Will not fund a degree at the same level or below one you already hold, with a narrow exception for a second MPhil a department requires before PhD consideration
Not open to students already partway through a Cambridge course, unless applying for funding toward a higher degree after graduating from it
Must submit the University admissions application, with the funding section completed, by the funding deadline specific to that course, which the Trust states explicitly is not always the same as the course's own admissions deadline
Some partner-funded scholarships require a separate application direct to the partner, flagged individually where they apply
Nationals of Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar or Sudan should check the UK government's current "visa brake" policy on gov.uk before applying: since 26 March 2026 it refuses Student visa applications made from outside the UK by nationals of those four countries, even where an offer or scholarship is already secured, and it is reviewed periodically rather than indefinite

No separate application form for most of these awards

The mechanic that catches people out is worth stating plainly: there is no separate Cambridge Trust application form for most of these awards. You get considered for funding by ticking the funding box inside your ordinary Cambridge admissions application and submitting it by the deadline for that specific course, not a general scholarship deadline. Miss that box, or apply after the funding deadline has passed, and the funding section is not available to you at all, according to the Trust’s own guidance.

The more likely route into Cambridge funding for most applicants

This is distinct from the Gates Cambridge Scholarship, already on this site: the Trust runs a much larger volume of awards across a wider range of courses and is the more likely route into Cambridge funding for most applicants from Africa and Asia, precisely because it is not one single prestige scholarship but many course-linked ones.

Which courses actually qualify, and which don’t

Eligibility rests on significant academic achievement plus financial need, though the Trust notes some specific awards are merit-only. Funded course types are MPhil, MASt, LLM, MCL, MRes, and PhD, including the combined MPhil+PhD and MRes+PhD routes; excluded entirely, not just in a part-time form, are the MBA, MFin, MSt, MLitt, MEd, PGCert, PGDip, and several other named professional and diploma-level courses. The Trust will not fund a second degree at the same level as one you already hold except in one narrow case, a second MPhil a department itself requires before it will consider you for a PhD, and it does not accept applications from students already partway through a Cambridge course unless they’re seeking funding toward a higher degree after finishing it.

What a specific award actually covers

What a specific award actually covers is not detailed on the Trust’s general applicant pages, only that both full-cost and part-cost scholarships exist; that breakdown lives inside each individual award’s own listing on the Trust’s “Find a scholarship” tool. Confirm the fuller picture on the specific course and scholarship listing you’re applying to rather than assuming every award matches the conservative “tuition” floor used here.

Colleges, and a stated equality commitment

You can name up to two Cambridge Colleges on your application, or leave that section blank and be considered by any College; the Trust itself plays no part in College selection or accommodation. The Trust also states a formal equality commitment: no applicant is treated less favourably on the basis of sex, marital or parental status, race, ethnic or national origin, disability, sexual orientation, religion, or age, with selection instead judged against each scholarship’s own criteria.