A funded master's at Cambridge, from Nigeria

This guide is for a Nigerian graduate who lives in Nigeria, holds a good first degree, has no money for school abroad and has never applied to a university outside Nigeria. It walks you to a one-year master's at the University of Cambridge in England with your fees, a monthly living allowance, your flight, your visa and a laptop paid by the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program at the University of Cambridge, from the course you choose tonight to your first week in Cambridge. You apply yourself, on Cambridge's own website, and you pay nobody to apply. Every fee, date and rule in it comes from the official page that sets it, and the guide says where. Updated on 28 October 2026. Naira figures are at ₦1,784 to the pound, the rate of 20 October 2026.

Where a line says "people who did it wrote online in 2025" (or 2026), it is what applicants and scholars report from their own applications. It is never a rule.

Nobody can promise you a place, the scholarship or the visa. Cambridge's departments choose who gets a place, the programme chooses its scholars, and UK Visas and Immigration decides the visa. What this guide gives you is every step, in order, with nothing left out.

Cambridge's fee waiver form, the funding box and your dates

These are the three things a Nigerian applicant must get right herself. Each one is explained in full in its stage below.

First, your grade. Cambridge's lowest grade for a Nigerian bachelor's is a CGPA of 4.0 out of 5 (65%), and many courses ask 4.25 or 4.5. It counts your CGPA, not the class on your certificate. The waiver and the scholarship are only for a course whose grade you meet, and the programme takes a bachelor's degree, not an HND. Part 1 gives the answer for your case.

1. Cambridge's fee waiver form. Applying to Cambridge costs £85 (about ₦152,000), paid before you submit. Cambridge cancels that fee automatically for applicants from a list of countries, and Nigeria is not on the list (Niger and Benin are). So you send the programme's own form, the Application Fee Waiver Form, with a copy of your transcript and a copy of your international passport, by 20 November 2026, after you start your Cambridge application and before you submit it. You start it from your course's page in Cambridge's Course Directory, opens in a new tab: click Apply Now and create an account (Stage 3). The programme says you can have the fee waived if you meet the entry grade of the course you choose, and the waiver covers one course only. The form is linked under step 2 of the programme's How to apply, opens in a new tab page. It is a Google form and asks you to sign in with a Google account (a Gmail address is one). Stage 5 walks it.

2. The funding box. Inside your Cambridge application there is a funding section. Tick "Yes - I wish to apply for funding". Only then does a list of funds open, and if you meet your course's entry grade, the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program is in that list: select it, and write the programme's scholarship statement there. Leave the box unticked and the scholarship never appears. Stage 7 walks it.

3. Your dates.

The funding deadline is earlier than the normal course deadline people quote. For the MPhil in Development Studies, for one, the course deadline is 26 January 2027 but the funding deadline is 8 December 2026. To be considered for the scholarship, the funding deadline is the one you work to.

Where the window stands today (28 October 2026)

Open. Applications for courses starting in October 2027 opened in early September 2026. On 28 October 2026 there are 23 days to the fee waiver form (20 November 2026), 41 days to the 8 December 2026 funding deadline and 70 days to the 6 January 2027 funding deadline.

Which of the two deadlines is yours. Cambridge prints the two main funding deadlines for 2027/28 entry as Tuesday 8 December 2026 and Wednesday 6 January 2027, and each course takes one of them. Open your course in the Course Directory, opens in a new tab; the right-hand column, "Funding Deadlines", shows "Course Funding Deadline" and the date. On 28 October 2026 the MPhil in Development Studies and the MPhil in Education, Globalisation and International Development both show 8 December 2026. Cambridge's rule when two deadlines apply: "You must submit your application by whichever deadline is earlier."

The hour. Every Cambridge deadline is "11:59pm (before midnight) UK time on the stated date". In December and January the UK is on Greenwich time, one hour behind Lagos, so 11:59pm in the UK is 12:59am the next morning in Lagos. The funding page asks for your complete application, "including references, by 23:59 GMT on the relevant deadline". The fee waiver form's 20 November date prints no hour: send it by the end of 19 November.

What has passed. The programme's earlier information sessions of this round. The 3 November session is the last one its news page lists.

Not printed yet, each said again at its stage with what you do meanwhile:

• how long the programme takes to answer a waiver form: we cannot tell yet;
• the monthly amount of the living allowance and the date of its first payment: we cannot tell yet;
• whether the programme pays your visa fee and health surcharge at the time you apply or repays you after: we cannot tell yet.

What happens after the close. Your department reads your application and decides on a place, between December and March. The programme then reviews everyone who was offered a place and chooses its scholars, and sends its offer letters in late March or early April 2027. Cambridge's general funding page adds a rule for all its funds: "If you have not received a funding offer by July, you should assume your University funding application has been unsuccessful."

From today: what you can still finish

Two things take longest and are not in your hands: your Nigerian university's transcript and, if you have none, your international passport. Your two referees are the third. Everything else (choosing the course, the application, the statement) is in your hands. Each row says what must already be in your hands to finish.

No passport. The waiver form asks a copy of your international passport. A fresh Nigerian passport takes 42 days after your enrolment (the day your fingerprints and photograph are taken at the passport office), and a renewal (re-issue) 21 days after it, on the Nigeria Immigration Service's own service terms; a 32-page, five-year passport costs ₦100,000. Started today, a fresh passport will not be in your hands by 20 November. Apply for it today all the same on the Nigeria Immigration Service's passport portal, opens in a new tab (you need it for the visa), open your Cambridge application, and if the passport is not in your hands by 19 November, pay the £85 fee yourself when you submit, before your funding deadline. A renewal: enrolled by Thursday 29 October, it is due by 19 November on those terms; enrolled later, plan to pay the £85.

The transcript. Some Nigerian universities state their time and some do not. Ahmadu Bello University states 24 to 48 hours for an e-copy. The University of Lagos, the University of Ibadan, the University of Nigeria, Nsukka and Obafemi Awolowo University state no time. Request yours this week.

Part 1. Before you start

What the scholarship is

The Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program at the University of Cambridge is a scholarship run by the University of Cambridge with money from the Mastercard Foundation. It pays for young Africans who live in Africa to do a full-time master's at Cambridge. Its themes are climate resilience and sustainability, for any subject it takes.

What it pays, in the programme's words: "Course fee", "Maintenance / living allowance", "Visa and health surcharge", "Travel inc. flights and taxi into Cambridge" and "Laptop". Its other page: "In addition to course fees, a monthly living allowance and a return flight, the programme covers other expenses including the student visa and Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS)." Cambridge's list of funds for students (its Postgraduate Funding Search, opens in a new tab) adds that "All students will also have a laptop allowance and travel to UK covered." The amount of the monthly allowance: we cannot tell yet. Do not trust any figure a website or video gives you for it.

Once you are in Cambridge the programme also gives a week-long orientation, a mentor from the scholars before you, a leadership programme for African students with the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, a three-day social ventures course, help planning what comes after the master's, and support to take up a placement of three to six months with an organisation in Africa after it.

The 2026/27 group was 69 scholars from 18 African countries, in 22 Colleges and 33 courses. Cambridge's funding search gives about 75 awards for 2026/27.

The bodies you will deal with

The University of Cambridge decides your place. You apply to it, on its website. Inside it, three offices touch your file:

• Your department (also called a faculty): the part of the University that teaches your course. It reads your application, may interview you, and recommends you for a place.
• The Degree Committee, which approves the department's recommendation (about 10 days).
• The Postgraduate Admissions Office (PAO), which checks your file against the University's rules and sends the offer, checks your conditions after it, and later sends the CAS for your visa.

The Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program, the programme's own team at Cambridge, chooses its scholars from those offered a place and pays the scholarship. It answers questions at admin@mastercardfoundation.fund.cam.ac.uk.

A College. Cambridge has 31 Colleges. A College is where you live, eat, get a tutor who looks after your welfare, and belong; your department teaches you. Every student is a member of one. You choose up to two in your application, or let Cambridge choose.

The Course Directory is Cambridge's list of every postgraduate course, each with its own page (www.postgraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/courses).

The Applicant Portal is Cambridge's application website. You create an account, fill your application, upload your documents, name your referees, tick the funding box, pay or waive the fee and submit, all there. After an offer, a second website, the Self-Service account, takes over.

Gates Cambridge is a second scholarship at Cambridge, for citizens of any country outside the UK. You can apply for it in the same application (Stage 7).

UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI), part of the UK government's Home Office, decides your student visa. VFS Global is the company that runs the UK's visa application centres in Nigeria, in Abuja and Lagos, where your fingerprints and photograph are taken.

Who can apply, and the rule that governs you

Two bodies set rules for you: the programme and Cambridge. You must meet both, so the stricter one is the one you live under. Here is the answer for your case.

The programme's rules. You must be a citizen of an African country, and live in an African country (being away for a while for study or work is allowed). You must have a bachelor's degree. You must apply for a full-time master's, any one except the Master of Accountancy (MACC), the MBA, the Master of Corporate Law (MCL) and the Master of Finance (MFIN). You must meet your course's entry grade. And you must show your commitment to giving back to your community, Nigeria or Africa, and to sustainability and climate resilience. There is no upper age limit. Someone who holds a UK passport as well as an African one cannot apply. The programme does not fund a PhD. Your first degree may be from a university outside Africa, as long as you live in Africa now. Women, refugees, internally displaced people and people with disabilities are especially encouraged to apply.

Cambridge's rules. The University's lowest entry grade is what Cambridge calls a 2:1 (a UK upper second). For a Nigerian degree that is a CGPA of 4.0 out of 5 (65%), whatever class your certificate gives. Each course sets its own, and many ask for more. Cambridge's own table for a Nigerian bachelor's degree from a federal, state or private university:

The answer for your case.

• A CGPA of 4.5 or more (First Class): you meet the grade of any course. Choose on subject.
• A CGPA of 4.25 to 4.49: you meet a course that asks a 2:1 or a High 2:1. A course that asks a First is not open to you, and the programme's fee waiver is only for a course whose grade you meet.
• A CGPA of 4.0 to 4.24: you meet a course that asks a 2:1. A course that asks a High 2:1 or a First is not open to you.
• A course that asks a "Good II.i": which CGPA that means: we cannot tell yet. With a CGPA under 4.25, ask the course's department before you choose it.
• Below 4.0, with no master's (whatever class your certificate gives): you do not meet the University's lowest grade on your bachelor's.
• Below 4.0, with a Nigerian master's: Cambridge accepts "A pass in a UK Master's Degree (or equivalent)" in place of the 2:1, and its table counts a Nigerian master's with a CGPA of 4.0 out of 5 (65%) as a UK Merit and 4.5 (70%) as a Distinction; it gives no line for a Nigerian master's below 4.0. So a master's of 4.0 or more carries you past the University's lowest line; below 4.0, do not count on it. Your course's own line still decides: read its Requirements tab, and if it asks a First on the bachelor's, it is not open to you.
• An HND, even with a PGD or a master's after it: the programme asks for a bachelor's degree, so you cannot apply through it. Cambridge's table for Nigeria lists university bachelor's degrees and no HND.
• A degree with no CGPA, such as MBBS or BDS: Cambridge's table for Nigeria gives its lines by CGPA or percentage, and how it reads a degree with no CGPA: we cannot tell yet. Write to your course's department, from its course page, before 20 November with your transcript and ask whether your degree meets the course's entry requirement; send the waiver form only for a course they say you meet.
• In your final year: Cambridge takes "an interim or unofficial transcript" with your application. The programme asks that you "Have a bachelor's degree", and whether a final-year student counts: we cannot tell yet. Write to admin@mastercardfoundation.fund.cam.ac.uk before 20 November and ask whether a final-year student graduating by July 2027 can be considered. Apply on a yes; on a no, use this year for Part 8. On a yes, your final result must reach Cambridge by 31 July 2027 (Stage 11).
• Your grade on a 4-point scale (the University of Ibadan's): use the third column.

The programme's own words on grades: "Many courses require a first-class degree. Some an upper second." Your course's page says which, under its Requirements tab.

You do not need an admission, a school, an employer or a contact in the UK, and if your waiver comes through you pay Cambridge nothing to apply. Your only costs before you submit are your transcript and, if you have none, your passport. You do not need IELTS to apply: the programme says "You can apply without IELTS results", and an IELTS result becomes a condition only after an offer (Stage 11).

Do you need an agent? No

Cambridge: "You must complete and submit your application yourself. We do not accept applications from agents. If your application is submitted by an agent, it will be withdrawn." And if an agent puts false information in your name, "even without your knowledge, your application will be withdrawn and you may be banned from re-applying for 5 years."

The programme warns of a scam aimed at exactly this audience: "we have been made aware of a scam where applicants are offered support with their application from someone claiming to be associated with the University of Cambridge in return for payment. You should not pay anyone for support with your application."

No place, no list and no early answer is for sale. Anyone who asks you for money to get you the scholarship is not from Cambridge.

Can I use AI to write it?

Not your statement or your CV. Cambridge: "AI must not be used when writing personal statements and CVs. This prohibition covers the use of AI to help your use of English." It treats false claims an AI writes about you as fraud. AI may help prepare a research proposal if you say so, and it must not help you during an interview.

Can my husband, wife or children come?

On a taught course, no. The programme: "As of January 2024, the UK Home Office stopped allowing students on one-year master's programmes to bring their spouse and/or children on their visa. This means we cannot support travel expenses for a spouse or child." The UK's rule, as Cambridge sets it out, allows a family only if "Your course is a full-time postgraduate level research degree which is at least 9 months long", or for a student a government sponsors; a foundation is not a government. On a research master's of nine months or more the visa rule allows your husband, wife or children, but the programme pays nothing for them ("we cannot support travel expenses for a spouse or child"): every cost of theirs is yours.

The route this guide walks

One course, the Mastercard Foundation scholarship, the waiver form, by the course's funding deadline, from Nigeria. That is the main route, and the guide walks it stage by stage. Where Gates Cambridge differs, the stage says "If you also apply for Gates Cambridge".

Why one course. The waiver covers one course, and the programme's advice is to "focus on making that application as strong as possible". A second course costs you £85 (about ₦152,000) more and a second set of letters from your referees, who must write a separate reference for each course.

A taught course or a research one. Many master's at Cambridge are called an MPhil (Master of Philosophy). Some are taught; some are research courses that ask a research proposal and sometimes a supervisor's interest before you apply. The Course Directory shows "Study Mode : Taught" or research on every course. Both are open to you on this scholarship.

Part 2. The whole journey on one page

Stage 1. Check that you can apply. Your citizenship, where you live, your degree and your CGPA against Cambridge's table. Free. One evening.

Stage 2. Choose one course and read its page. In the Course Directory: its entry grade, its funding deadline, its documents, whether it interviews. Join the programme's last webinar on 3 November if you can. Free. An evening or two.

Stage 3. Open your Cambridge application. Create your account in the Applicant Portal from the course page's Apply Now button. Do not submit. Free. One evening.

Stage 4. Get your papers out. Your transcript, your degree certificate, your international passport, your CV. From ₦5,000 to ₦25,000 for a transcript at the universities in this guide (₦50,000 for Ahmadu Bello's hard copy abroad, which you do not need to apply); ₦100,000 for a passport if you have none. From a day to six weeks.

Stage 5. Send the fee waiver form, by 20 November 2026. With copies of your transcript and passport. Free. It saves you £85 (about ₦152,000).

Stage 6. Ask your referees. Two, usually lecturers; for Gates Cambridge, a Gates reference too, from one of them or a third person. Free. Ask in the first week.

Stage 7. Tick the funding box and write your scholarship statement. And Gates Cambridge's four questions if you want it too. Free. A week of evenings.

Stage 8. Choose your College, and submit by your funding deadline. 8 December 2026 or 6 January 2027, 11:59pm UK time. Free with the waiver.

Stage 9. The department's answer. It may interview you. Then a conditional offer of a place, and a College. December 2026 to March 2027.

Stage 10. The scholarship's answer. The programme chooses from those offered a place. Offer letters in late March or early April 2027; you accept within about 10 working days.

Stage 11. Meet your conditions, by 31 July 2027. Your IELTS (₦299,000 at IDP Nigeria), your final transcript sent securely, your funding letter, your passport copy, a declaration. Accept your place and your College.

Stage 12. Your CAS and your UK student visa. The CAS from June 2027; a TB test in Nigeria; the visa applied for online and your fingerprints at VFS in Abuja or Lagos; a decision usually within three weeks. The programme covers the visa and the health surcharge.

Stage 13. Travel, and your first weeks in Cambridge. The programme arranges your ride from the airport. Arrival in September, a week of orientation, your visa check at your College, registration, a bank account and a doctor. Term starts 1 October 2027.

Stage 14. The year, and after it. Your course, the leadership sessions, and a placement of three to six months with an organisation in Africa after the course.

The money. Up to submitting, you pay only your transcript and, if you have none, your passport: the £85 application fee can be waived by the form if you meet your course's grade. After an offer you pay your IELTS (₦299,000) and your TB test (₦120,000 to about ₦125,000), and you may pay the £49 secure transcript check (about ₦87,000), which Cambridge removes if you had the fee waiver. The programme covers your course fee, your living allowance, your flight and the ride from the airport, your visa and the health surcharge, and a laptop (Part 7).

The time. From tonight to your funding deadline: six to ten weeks. From the deadline to the scholarship's answer: about four months. From the answer to your flight: about five months. From tonight to your first day at Cambridge: about eleven months.

Part 3. Stage by stage

Stage 1. Check that you can apply

Back to the short stages

You want a funded master's and you hold a degree. Before you spend a naira or an evening, check yourself against both bodies' rules.

Do.

1. Check your citizenship and where you live. You must be a citizen of an African country and live in one today. A Nigerian who lives in Nigeria meets both. If you hold a UK passport as well, you cannot apply.
2. Find your CGPA on your transcript or result, and put it against Cambridge's table in Part 1. Write down which of 2:1, High 2:1 or First you reach.
3. If you hold an HND, even with a PGD or a master's after it, stop here: the programme asks for a bachelor's degree. Go to "If this is not for you", Part 4.

Where. The programme's page on who can apply, opens in a new tab and its FAQ, opens in a new tab; Cambridge's International qualifications, opens in a new tab page (choose Nigeria in the list).

What you need. Your result or transcript.

Cost and time. Free. One evening.

You are done when you have written down your grade in Cambridge's words (2:1, High 2:1 or First).

If it goes wrong. If your CGPA is below 4.0 and you have no master's, you do not meet the University's lowest grade. If you are below the grade of every course you want, you cannot apply through this programme this year.

From people who did it. People who did it wrote online in 2026 that winners often held a First, some the best in their department, and that many had worked for a few years first. A scholar's advice in 2026: do not rule yourself out before you read your course's own grade line.

Next. Choose your course, the same evening (Stage 2).

Stage 2. Choose one course and read its page

Back to the short stages

You can apply. Now choose the one course you will put everything into, because the waiver covers one course and each course sets its own grade, deadline and documents.

Do.

1. Open the Course Directory, opens in a new tab. Search by subject. Leave out the four courses the programme does not fund (MACC, MBA, MCL, MFIN).

2. On each course you like, read three tabs and the right-hand column, and write down what each says:

   • Requirements: the grade it asks ("First class Honours Degree", "Good II.i Honours Degree" and so on) and its IELTS score.
   • The right-hand column: "Course Funding Deadline" (8 December 2026 or 6 January 2027), the course's own application deadline, its length and "Study Mode" (Taught or research).
   • How To Apply: the documents it wants (a research proposal, a written sample, a statement and its character limit), whether it interviews, and how long it takes to decide.
   • Finance: any funding of its own.
3. Choose the one course whose grade you meet, whose subject follows from your degree or your work, and which you can tie, in one plain sentence, to climate resilience or a sustainable future in Africa.
4. If the course is a research course and its page says to find a supervisor first, read Cambridge's Find a supervisor, opens in a new tab page and email one or two academics this week. For some courses, Cambridge says, the department appoints your supervisor after the offer, and you cannot choose one in advance; your course page says which.
5. If you can, join the programme's last webinar of this round, Tuesday 3 November 2026 at 11am UK time (12 noon in Lagos), from the sign-up link on its news page, opens in a new tab.

Two course pages as they stood on 28 October 2026, to show you what you will see.

• MPhil in Development Studies: 9 months, taught. Grade: a First. IELTS 7.5 overall, 7.0 in each part. Course funding deadline 8 December 2026; course deadline 26 January 2027. A research proposal of about 500 to 800 words. The committee aims to decide within 12 working weeks.
• MPhil in Education, Globalisation and International Development: 9 months, taught. Grade: "a Good II.i Honours Degree" (the course's own words; see Part 1). IELTS 7.5 overall, 7.0 in each part. Course funding deadline 8 December 2026; course deadline 25 February 2027. A "Reasons for Applying" answer of 1,500 characters. It reads applications in three batches, after 8 December, after 26 January and after 25 February, says the course "may fill up well ahead of the advertised closing date", and interviews in person or by Zoom.

What you need. Your grade from Stage 1.

Cost and time. Free. An evening or two.

You are done when you have one course, its funding deadline, its grade, its IELTS score and its list of documents written down.

If it goes wrong. A course page shows "closed" or full: Cambridge says courses "can reach capacity and close before the deadline", and a closed course shows it on its page. Choose your second course the same day. If two courses fit you equally, either will do; a later funding deadline gives you more time.

From people who did it. People who did it wrote online in 2025 that scholars came from many courses (development, education, energy, engineering for sustainable development, public policy, health, data science, technology policy, architecture, law).

Next. Open your application (Stage 3), this week.

Stage 3. Open your Cambridge application, and do not submit it

Back to the short stages

You have your course. Now open your application, because the waiver form can only be sent after you start it, and because an open application is saved as you go.

Do.

1. On your course's page, click Apply Now. It opens the Applicant Portal, opens in a new tab.
2. Create your account with an email address you will keep for a year and check every day. Write down your password.
3. Fill what you can: your details, your education, your course. Save.
4. Do not submit. You submit in Stage 8, after the waiver form and the statement.

Where. The Apply Now button on your course page, or the Applicant Portal, opens in a new tab.

What you need. An email address and your course.

Cost and time. Free. One evening.

You are done when you can log in and see your saved application for your course.

If it goes wrong. If a page will not load, try another network or another browser. Cambridge warns that fee payments in Internet Explorer may fail.

What runs at the same time. Request your transcript (Stage 4) and ask your referees (Stage 6) this same week.

Next. Your papers (Stage 4).

Stage 4. Get your papers out

Back to the short stages

The waiver form needs a copy of your transcript and your passport; the application needs your transcript, your certificate and a CV. The transcript is the paper most likely to keep you waiting, so request it first.

Your transcript. Cambridge asks "academic transcripts and certificates for each degree you have taken", uploaded as "scanned originals" when you apply, and warns: "Request your transcripts from your previous or current institution before you begin your application so that you have them ready to upload. The process can take a while." The original goes to Cambridge later, by a secure route, only if you get an offer (Stage 11).

Request from your university's transcript portal a copy issued to you, and scan it. What the universities print:

• University of Lagos: a Student Copy transcript on the student portal, emailed to you, which you upload yourself; the records portal prints no fee for it. An official transcript "can only be sent to the official addresses of" another university, scholarship boards and embassies, never to you (₦10,000, and ₦25,000 for the University to upload one to an application portal; you do not need either to apply). No time stated.
• University of Ibadan: a copy to your own address is marked "Student's Copy" (₦10,000 on the portal's own sheet); to a foreign address ₦20,000. No time stated.
• University of Nigeria, Nsukka: sent by email by default; ₦25,000 for a transcript going outside Nigeria, ₦12,000 within. Apply with the name you were admitted with: a different name "will greatly delay" it. Type your matriculation number exactly.
• Obafemi Awolowo University: a transcript to yourself is marked "Student Copy"; the portal prints no fee or time before you make an account.
• Ahmadu Bello University: an e-copy ₦5,000, in 24 to 48 hours; a hard copy abroad ₦50,000.

If you are still studying, Cambridge takes "an interim or unofficial transcript" with your application.

Your degree certificate, scanned. If it is not out yet, your transcript showing your final grade stands for now.

Your international passport. A copy goes with the waiver form, and you will need it for the visa. A 32-page, five-year passport costs ₦100,000 and a 64-page, ten-year one ₦200,000, applied for online with the Nigeria Immigration Service and enrolled at a passport office; a fresh one takes 42 days after enrolment and a re-issue 21 days. If you have none, start today ("No passport", above).

Your CV. "You must upload a CV to the Applicant Portal as part of your application." Write it yourself; Cambridge forbids AI for it. Put your degree with its grade, every job with its dates, and what you have done in your community.

How to upload. Every document as a PDF, "Under 2MB", "Not encrypted". If a scan will not upload, Cambridge's advice is to photocopy it and scan the copy.

Cost and time. Transcript ₦5,000 to ₦25,000 at the universities above (₦50,000 for Ahmadu Bello's hard copy abroad, not needed to apply), from a day to weeks. Passport ₦100,000 if you have none: 42 days for a fresh one, 21 for a renewal.

You are done when your transcript, your certificate (or result), your passport and your CV are scanned to PDFs under 2MB on your phone or computer.

If it goes wrong. Your transcript has not come by 15 November: you cannot send the waiver form without it. Keep following up with your university's records office by its own email, and plan to pay the £85 at submission. Never pay anyone outside the university's own portal to hurry a transcript: the University of Lagos says no one should pay "any individual or organisation under the pretext of fast track". Your name differs between papers: use the name on your passport everywhere, and on the transcript request use the name you were admitted with.

Next. The waiver form (Stage 5), the day your transcript and passport are scanned.

Stage 5. Send the fee waiver form, by 20 November 2026

Back to the short stages

Applying to Cambridge costs £85 (about ₦152,000), and "You must pay the application fee before submitting your application." Nigeria is not on Cambridge's list of countries whose fee is waived automatically, and Cambridge says that "International applicants from other countries must pay the application fee." The programme's form is how a Nigerian applying for this scholarship asks Cambridge not to charge her.

Who gets the waiver. The programme's page says every applicant to the programme can have the application fee waived "if you meet the academic entry requirements of your chosen course". In plain words: if you meet your course's grade, you can have the fee waived. It covers one course.

Do.

1. Make sure your application is open in the Applicant Portal (Stage 3). The form goes in "after starting but before submitting your Cambridge application".
2. Open the programme's How to apply, opens in a new tab page. Under step 2, click Application Fee Waiver Form.
3. Sign in with a Google account (a Gmail address). The form will not open without one.
4. Fill the form and attach a copy of your transcript and a copy of your passport. The form's own questions: we cannot tell yet. Answer every question exactly as your application and your papers say.
5. Send it. The programme asks you to send it "as early as possible, and by the deadline of 20 November 2026". No hour is printed: send it by the end of 19 November.
6. Do not submit your application and do not pay the fee while you wait. The form goes in before you submit, and Cambridge says of its other waivers: "If you have already submitted and paid the application fee, a waiver cannot be given."

Where. The programme's How to apply, opens in a new tab page, step 2. Cambridge's own Application fee waiver, opens in a new tab page links the programme's form too, at a different address; send it once, from the programme's page.

What you need. Your open application, a Google account, your transcript and passport as files.

Cost and time. Free. Under an hour.

You are done when the form shows it was sent. How the answer reaches you and how long it takes: we cannot tell yet. When you open your application to submit, look at its fee section: until the answer comes, do not pay. Keep working on your statement meanwhile, and check your email, including spam, every day.

If it goes wrong.

• Your grade is below your course's: the waiver is only for a course whose grade you meet. Go back to Stage 2 and choose a course you meet.
• No answer a week before your funding deadline: write to admin@mastercardfoundation.fund.cam.ac.uk with your name, your course and the date you sent the form, and ask whether your waiver was granted. If no answer has come two days before your deadline, pay the £85 by Visa or Mastercard card and submit.
• You missed 20 November: you can still apply, and pay the £85 yourself, by Visa or Mastercard card, before you submit.

Next. Your referees (Stage 6), if you have not asked them yet.

Stage 6. Ask your referees

Back to the short stages

Cambridge reads two letters about you, from people who know your work, and both must be in by your funding deadline. Cambridge does not chase them for you.

Who. It depends on how long ago you left university, counted from the day you apply:

• Still studying, or finished within the last 3 years: two academic referees (lecturers who taught or supervised you). Some courses differ; your course page's How To Apply tab says so.
• Left 4 to 6 years ago: two academic referees if you can; if not, one academic and one professional (a manager who appraised your work).
• Left more than 6 years ago: two academic if you can; if not, one of each; if no academic is possible, two professional referees.

If you left between 3 and 4 years ago, ask two academic referees: every line accepts two.

At least one academic letter should come from your most recent degree. Do not name a PhD student.

Do.

1. Ask each referee first, by phone or in person, before you name them.
2. In the Applicant Portal, enter each referee's institutional email address (a university address, usually with .edu or .ac in it, or a company address). If a referee has none, they must give a reason and write the letter on headed paper.
3. Send each one the link to your course page and your funding deadline. Cambridge asks you to tell them which course and by when.
4. Track them in the portal and use its reminder button. Cambridge: "We do not remind referees to submit references for you."

How they send it. Each referee gets an email from Cambridge and uploads the letter, in English, on Cambridge's Referee Portal. "We will not accept references sent via post or email." A letter can take up to 36 hours to show as received. Cambridge checks every referee: "If we are unable to verify the identity of your referees, your application will be withdrawn."

You can submit before the letters are in, but they must be in by your funding deadline.

If you also apply for Gates Cambridge: a third reference, on how you meet Gates Cambridge's criteria. It can be one of your two academic referees if they write specifically about those criteria, or someone else who knows you well, never a friend or family member (Stage 7).

Cost and time. Free. Ask in the first week.

You are done when the portal shows both letters received.

If it goes wrong. A referee has not written a week before your deadline: remind them through the portal and by phone. If one cannot write, nominate a new referee in the portal the same day.

Next. The funding box and your statement (Stage 7).

Stage 7. Tick the funding box, and write your scholarship statement

Back to the short stages

This is where the scholarship is asked for. Without the tick it never appears; without the statement the programme has nothing to choose you on.

The funding box. In the funding section of your application, tick "Yes - I wish to apply for funding". Cambridge: you will be considered "for a range of funds based on the information you have entered in your application. You'll see a list of these funds in the portal." The programme: "During your application, opt in for funding" to see the funds open to you; "If you meet your chosen course's entry requirements, you'll be able to select the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program." Select it.

If the programme is not in your list: it shows only to someone who meets her course's entry grade, on a course it funds. Check the grade you entered in the application against Cambridge's table in Part 1, and your course against the four the programme does not fund (MACC, MBA, MCL, MFIN). If both are right and it still does not show, write to admin@mastercardfoundation.fund.cam.ac.uk with your full name, the email you applied with and your course, well before your funding deadline, and do not submit until the programme shows in your list or they have answered.

The scholarship statement. The programme asks you to write about:

• "Your career / education history"
• "Leadership potential"
• "How the scholarship will help you achieve your goals and aspirations"
• "How you hope to contribute to sustainable futures in Africa"

The portal sets its length. Write it yourself: Cambridge forbids AI for your statements, even to improve your English.

How it is used. Your department chooses on your course application alone: "Selection is based on your course application and not your scholarship statement." The programme then chooses "based on both the course application and scholarship statement." So your course statement wins the place, and this statement wins the scholarship.

How to write it. Draw one line from what you have done (your degree, your work, what you have led in your community), through the course, to what you will do in Nigeria or Africa after it, and tie it to climate resilience or a sustainable future. Use real examples with dates and numbers. People who did it wrote online in 2026 that the programme's letter to those it did not choose said the panel weighed how they wrote about "climate-resilient and sustainable futures for Africa". People who did it wrote online in 2025 that they wrote it at the last minute. Never copy a statement someone has shared online: Cambridge withdraws an application with false or misleading content.

If you also apply for Gates Cambridge. In the same funding section, Gates Cambridge has its own part. It pays the University fee, a living allowance of £23,152 for 12 months at the 2026-27 rate (about ₦41.3 million; less for a shorter course), one economy flight at the start and one at the end, and the visa and health surcharge. It offers around 70 scholarships a year, about two-thirds of them to PhD students, and does not fund the MBA or the MFin. You answer four questions: your academic excellence and why this course, about 200 words each (up to 1,400 characters); your commitment to improving the lives of others and your leadership, about 300 words each (up to 2,100 characters). You also need the third reference (Stage 6). Its deadline is the same as your course's funding deadline. You can apply for both; the programme and Gates Cambridge decide separately.

Cost and time. Free. A week of evenings for the statement; another for the Gates questions.

You are done when the box is ticked, the programme is selected, and your statement is in the portal and saved.

Next. Choose your College and submit (Stage 8).

Stage 8. Choose your College, and submit by your funding deadline

Back to the short stages

Do.

1. Choose a College, or let Cambridge choose. You may name up to two Colleges, or none. "Your College preferences do not affect" the department's decision, and places at each College are limited, so you may get a College you did not name. All 31 are within 3 miles of the city centre. If you have no reason to choose, leave it to Cambridge. People who did it wrote online in 2025 and 2026 that the scholars of a year are spread across many Colleges. You can change your choice once, before an offer.
2. Check every section. Your documents uploaded as PDFs, your statement and CV, your referees named, the funding box ticked and the programme selected, and the fee section: do not pay while your waiver answer is pending (Stage 5).
3. Submit by your funding deadline: 8 December 2026 or 6 January 2027, 11:59pm UK time (12:59am the next morning in Lagos). Submit by the end of the day before.

What Cambridge needs by the deadline. "You must submit your complete application, including supporting documents, by the relevant application deadline or your application will be withdrawn." And for funding: "your complete application, including references, by 23:59 GMT on the relevant deadline."

Cost and time. Free with the waiver; £85 (about ₦152,000) without it, paid in the portal by Visa or Mastercard debit or credit card (not American Express) before you submit. Cambridge refunds the fee if you cancel within 14 days.

You are done when Cambridge emails to say it has your application. Your 8-digit application number appears in the portal within 48 hours; use it in every email to Cambridge.

If it goes wrong. The portal will not let you submit: a required document is missing ("you won't be able to submit it without them"). A referee is late: you can submit, but the letter must be in by the deadline.

Next. The waiting: the department's answer (Stage 9).

Stage 9. The department's answer: an interview, and a conditional offer of a place

Back to the short stages

What happens. Your department reads your application, may interview you, and decides whether to recommend you. The Degree Committee approves it (about 10 days), then the Postgraduate Admissions Office checks it and sends a conditional offer of admission, an offer you hold once you meet its conditions (about 10 days more). Cambridge: "If you submitted your application before the funding deadline in December or January, you should receive a decision by the end of March. We make most offers in February and March." The programme's timeline puts departmental selection from December to February.

An interview. "Most departments will want to interview you if they are considering you for a place." It may be online or in person; your department tells you how. It is "typically conversational and informal". Cambridge forbids AI help during it.

Your College. After the offer, Colleges consider you. "You will usually be told which College has accepted you within 3 weeks." You accept the College's offer in your Self-Service account.

Your Self-Service account. With the offer, Cambridge sends you a link, an ID number called your USN and a password. From now on this account, not the Applicant Portal, holds your offer, your conditions and your College.

Do.

1. Check your email, and its spam folder, every day from December.
2. If your department invites you to interview, accept the first interview time you can keep. Read your application again, and prepare to talk about your work and why this course. If you work, arrange cover for the hour well before.
3. When the offer comes, log in to Self-Service and download your "conditional offer of admission certificate". Cambridge: "This is the only document that constitutes a conditional offer of admission."
4. Start your conditions the same week (Stage 11), even before the scholarship's answer.

What runs at the same time. If you applied for Gates Cambridge, Gates tells every applicant the outcome of their application by 11:59pm UK time on Monday 8 March 2027 (12:59am on Tuesday 9 March in Lagos), and its panels sit on 22 and 23 March 2027.

You are done when you hold your conditional offer certificate and your College's offer.

If it goes wrong. "If your application is unsuccessful, you may find out sooner than those who receive an offer." You can apply again in another year. If you have heard nothing within the time your course page states, write to your department.

From people who did it. People who did it wrote online in 2025 and 2026 that their course offers came from late January onward, some a few weeks after an interview in December, and that a course decision still pending in late March left them unsure whether the programme would consider them. So submit well before your funding deadline, not on its last day.

Next. The scholarship's answer (Stage 10).

Stage 10. The scholarship's answer

Back to the short stages

What happens. "The team reviews applicants who have been offered a place on their chosen course and selects scholars based on both the course application and scholarship statement." The programme's timeline puts its selection in late February or early March and its offers in March or April; its How to apply page says "Offer letters are sent in late March or early April." The place and the scholarship are two separate answers: a place can come without the scholarship.

Do.

1. From late March, check your email and spam every day.
2. When the offer letter comes, read it whole. It says how long you have to accept: "Normally 10 working days from the date the offer was made." Accept inside that time, as the letter tells you.
3. Accept your place at Cambridge too, in Self-Service, by the date on your offer certificate. You can accept "if you are still waiting for a funding decision and before meeting your other conditions."

If you also applied for Gates Cambridge. Gates offers its scholarships by early April 2027 and asks for an answer within 72 hours. If both come, read both letters before you answer either: Gates Cambridge says that if you "have another substantial scholarship, the Trust reserves the right to reduce or not pay the standard maintenance allowance". Answer each within its own time.

You are done when you have accepted the scholarship and your place.

If the answer is no. The scholarship "cannot be transferred to the following year", and a place without funding is a place you must pay for. If you cannot pay, withdraw before the course begins: "If you withdraw your application before registration you will not be liable for course fees." You cannot carry the place to next year: Cambridge says "In general, you cannot defer your place to another academic year" and "You will need to submit a new application and pay the application fee again." Then apply again in the next window (Part 8). People who did it wrote online in 2025 that some were offered the scholarship on a second application after a place without funding the year before.

From people who did it. People who did it wrote online in 2025 and 2026 that the letters came in the first week of April, the letters saying no a day or two before the offers, some landing in spam and some addressed in a batch. They wrote that someone who heard nothing after the offers went out had not been chosen. Most of them wrote that there was no interview for the scholarship itself. They also wrote that the acceptance came as a form to sign online within the time the letter gave.

Next. Your conditions (Stage 11).

Stage 11. Meet your conditions, by 31 July 2027

Back to the short stages

Your offer is "conditional until you've met all the conditions of your offer". For a course starting in October, Cambridge's deadline is 31 July, and the programme asks the same: "submit any outstanding documents by 31 July. This will usually include IELTS test results." Start the week your offer comes: you need every condition met before your CAS, and your CAS before your visa.

How. You upload a document for each condition in your Self-Service account. "Do not email or post documents to us". Cambridge aims to check each within 5 working days (its web page) or ten working days (its 2027/28 guide), longer near 31 July: plan on ten. "You will not be notified if anything changes": check Self-Service yourself every few days.

Your conditions, one by one.

1. English: your IELTS result. Nigeria is not on the UK's list of majority English-speaking countries that Cambridge uses, so an English test is a condition even if your degree was taught in English. Cambridge takes IELTS (Academic), IELTS for UKVI Academic, TOEFL iBT and the Cambridge C1 Advanced and C2 Proficiency (the last two for some courses), among others; "It is not possible to combine scores from different language test certificates", and the result must be "dated no more than 2 years before the start of your course". Most courses ask 7.0 or 7.5 overall; your course page gives each part's score. IELTS Academic at a test centre on computer costs ₦299,000 at IDP Nigeria, booked online with a scan of your passport and a card. Book IELTS Academic: Cambridge takes it, and once you meet Cambridge's line the visa asks no further English proof, so you do not need the UKVI version. Upload the Test Report Form; Cambridge does not accept results sent to it by IELTS directly. If you narrowly miss your score, your offer may let the University's Language Centre assess you instead: "Do not contact the Language Centre or PAO (the Postgraduate Admissions Office) for an assessment unless you are told to do so." People who did it wrote online in 2026 that some offers named that assessment in the language condition and some did not; open yours and see.
2. Your final transcript, sent securely. Cambridge verifies your degree by a secure electronic service your university uses, or by its partner Qualification Check, which costs you £49 (about ₦87,000); "if you previously received an application fee waiver, contact us using our Contact Form so that the Qualification Check fee can also be removed". Your transcript must show your final grade, the date of the degree, its title and, for a degree from outside the UK, the marking scheme in English; if any is missing, upload your certificate too. Bring the originals to Cambridge.
3. Your money: the financial condition. Cambridge asks every offer holder to show how her fees and living costs are paid, usually on its Financial Undertaking Form; a student with a full award from one of the University's own funders uploads the award notice instead, and often the funder uploads it for her. Whether the programme counts as one of those funders, so that its letter replaces the form: we cannot tell yet. Upload the programme's award letter, and check that it states the amount of funding by year, the start and end dates, any conditions and the programme's full details; if it lacks one, ask the programme for a letter that has them. If Self-Service still shows the condition open after the check time, fill the Financial Undertaking Form's line for a full scholarship ("I confirm that I have received a full scholarship that will both pay my full fees and fund my full living costs, AND I have uploaded official notification of the award to my self-service account.") and upload both. People who did it wrote online in 2025 and 2026 that they were unsure who uploads the letter and that the condition did not update at once.
4. Your passport. Upload a copy of the passport you will travel on: "The CAS includes your passport number". It need not cover your whole course, but it must be valid for your visa, your travel and the start.
5. The no-previous-UK-visa declaration. If you hold no UK visa and have not studied in the UK before, upload the "No Previous UK Study or Current UK Visa/Immigration Status Declaration Form".
6. ATAS, for some science and technology courses. If your offer names it, apply for this UK security clearance yourself, free, with the statement Cambridge puts in Self-Service, no more than six months before your course; it takes at least 30 working days. Nigeria is not exempt.
7. A photograph, passport style, with no editing of any kind, "for example through photo enhancement options on a phone".

Accepting. Accept your place by the date on your offer certificate, and your College's offer, or "your admission will not be confirmed". If you have an unspent criminal conviction, you declare it when you accept.

You are done when Self-Service shows "Admission Confirmed" and you can download your "confirmation of admission certificate", "the only document that constitutes confirmation of admission". "Under no circumstances should you come to Cambridge to begin your course until your admission is confirmed."

If it goes wrong. Your IELTS score falls short: book again, early enough to upload before 31 July. You cannot meet your academic condition by 31 July: you may ask for an extension from 1 June, usually only if every other condition is met. Your College housing: many Colleges "will not offer accommodation until all conditions are met", so a late condition can cost you a College room.

What runs at the same time. Your TB test (Stage 12) can be booked in June, and your passport renewed if it would expire.

Next. Your CAS and your visa (Stage 12).

Stage 12. Your CAS and your UK student visa

Back to the short stages

Why. To study in the UK for a year you need a Student visa, decided by UK Visas and Immigration. To apply you need your CAS (Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies), a number Cambridge gives you once your admission is confirmed.

Your CAS. Cambridge prepares it "only after you have met all your offer conditions, your admission has been confirmed, and you have completed the Visa Information Request Form" (the link comes in the email confirming your admission). For an October start, "You can expect to receive your CAS from: June". Check every detail on it and ask casinfo@admin.cam.ac.uk to correct any error "before making your visa application". If your visa is delayed, your CAS shows a latest start date by which you must arrive.

Your money for the visa. The UK asks a student to show her living money, held for 28 days, unless an official financial sponsor (a university or an international organisation, among others) pays her full fees and living costs and that sponsorship is either written on her CAS or in a letter from the sponsor. Cambridge: "Funding appears on the CAS only when it is provided by the University or your College." Whether your award is written on your CAS: we cannot tell yet. When your CAS comes, look at its money lines. If the scholarship is on it, you need nothing more. If it is not, ask the programme at admin@mastercardfoundation.fund.cam.ac.uk for a sponsor letter that shows your name, the programme's name and contacts, the date, the length of the sponsorship and that all your fees and living costs are covered. Without either, the visa would ask £1,203 a month (about ₦2.15 million) for nine months (£10,827, about ₦19.3 million), held for 28 days, for an application made from 30 November 2026.

Do.

1. The TB test. gov.uk asks a TB test of anyone coming to the UK for 6 months or more who has lived 6 months or more in a listed country, and Nigeria is on the list. You need a certificate from a clinic the UK approves. In Nigeria, IOM in Abuja, Benin City and Lagos charges $94 (about ₦125,000) for anyone 11 and above, paid in naira; Q-Life Family Clinic, St. Nicholas Hospital and The Consultants Practice charge ₦120,000. "At busy times you may have to wait 10 days for an appointment, especially during the UK student visa peak season between June and September." The certificate is given on the day if you are clear, and lasts 6 months from the X-ray. The list is on gov.uk's Tuberculosis testing in Nigeria, opens in a new tab page.
2. Apply online on gov.uk's Student visa, opens in a new tab pages, from Nigeria, with your CAS number, no more than 6 months before your course and as soon as you have the CAS. Cambridge's guidance answers the form's questions; one of them, "Do you have a Marshall, Chevening or commonwealth scholarship?", is answered No for this scholarship ("This is not relevant to scholarships awarded by the Collegiate University").
3. Pay the visa fee and the health surcharge on the form: the visa fee is £558 (about ₦995,000); the Immigration Health Surcharge, which gives you the UK's health service, is £1,164 for a master's of 10 to 12 months (about ₦2.08 million) or £776 for 9 months (about ₦1.38 million), in Cambridge's own table. The programme covers both. Whether it pays them before you apply or repays you after: we cannot tell yet. Ask the programme before you open the form: will you pay my visa fee and health surcharge for me, or repay me after I pay? If they pay, wait for their instruction and do not pay yourself. If they repay, you need £1,334 (about ₦2.38 million) for a 9-month course or £1,722 (about ₦3.07 million) for 10 to 12 months, on a card that can pay in pounds online, until they repay you: line it up from the day your scholarship letter comes. Cambridge notes the charge may be taken in another currency, so the amount you pay "is likely to be higher than the stated cost in Pound Sterling".
4. Book and attend VFS. After paying, gov.uk sends you to VFS Global to book an appointment at a UK visa application centre in Nigeria (Abuja, Lagos Ikeja or Lagos Victoria Island; premium centres in Benin, Enugu, Ibadan, Kano and Port Harcourt cost more). You go in person; your fingerprints and photograph are taken and your passport scanned. Bring your TB certificate and your documents.
5. Wait for the decision. "You'll usually get a decision on your visa within: 3 weeks, if you're outside the UK"; Cambridge notes it can take longer between July and September. You may pay £500 (about ₦892,000) for priority or £1,000 (about ₦1.78 million) for super priority where offered. Most students are not interviewed, but you may be asked to a short "credibility interview".
6. Your eVisa. The visa is "an online record of your immigration status. You will not receive a physical document." You set up your UKVI account to see it.

Cambridge's free help. Cambridge's International Student Office answers visa questions from offer holders at international.students@admin.cam.ac.uk, within about 3 working days, never by phone.

You are done when your eVisa shows your Student visa and its start date.

If it goes wrong. Refused: tell the International Student Office and send the decision letter; you need a new CAS for a new application, and "It is the University's decision whether to issue a new CAS." The surcharge is refunded on a refusal; the visa fee is not. Late: if your visa is delayed, your CAS carries a latest start date; arrive by it or "your visa sponsorship will be withdrawn".

Next. Travel (Stage 13).

Stage 13. Travel, and your first weeks in Cambridge

Back to the short stages

When you can fly. Your visa starts at most one month before your course, and you cannot enter the UK before that start date: "It is not possible to enter the UK earlier as a Visitor (tourist) and then 'switch' inside the UK to your Student visa." Your College tells you when to arrive. Scholars arrive in September for a week of orientation before term.

Your flight and the ride from the airport. The programme covers your flight. Whether it books your ticket or repays one you buy: we cannot tell yet. Do not buy a ticket until the programme tells you how. For the ride: "We arrange transport from the airport to Cambridge and will share a logistics note with details of transfers before you travel." If you travel alone from a London airport, Cambridge's page gives a coach from Stansted from about £10 (about ₦18,000, about 50 minutes) and from Heathrow from about £29 (about ₦52,000, about 2 hours 25 minutes). Carry some pounds in cash for the first days: "Opening a bank account can take time".

Your first week.

1. Orientation: the programme's week-long orientation with the other scholars and mentors from the year before.
2. Your visa check at your College, before your studies begin: your passport, a share code from your UKVI account so the College can see your eVisa, and proof of the day you arrived (the stamp in your passport, or your flight ticket if you used the eGates). The UK no longer asks students to register with the police.
3. Registration: Cambridge's Student Registry emails you from early September to register and get your IT accounts.
4. Matriculation: your formal joining of the University, in an academic gown.
5. Fees: "Fees are paid through your College"; how the programme pays your course fee to your College: we cannot tell yet. Do not pay a course fee yourself; show your College your award letter.
6. A bank account: your passport and your visa record; most banks accept a letter from your College as proof of address.
7. A doctor: register with a GP as soon as you arrive. The health surcharge covers your care; a prescription is £9.90 an item (about ₦18,000).
8. Council tax: a full-time student is normally exempt; you apply online with Cambridge City Council.

Where you live. Cambridge asks you to live within 10 miles of the city centre during your course (within 3 miles for the LLM and the MASt). A College room is not promised with College membership. Whether your living allowance is meant to cover your rent or the programme pays a room: we cannot tell yet; Cambridge's own estimate counts £925 a month (about ₦1.65 million) for a room. Do not pay for a room online that you have not seen: Cambridge warns that some listings "may be fraudulent".

You are done when you have passed your College's visa check, registered and matriculated, and your course has begun on 1 October 2027. You have arrived.

From people who did it. A scholar wrote on the programme's own site in August 2026: learn to cycle, "make it one of the first things you learn after arriving", and make a budget for your monthly stipend and save what you can.

Stage 14. The year, and after it

Back to the short stages

Your allowance. Paid monthly. Its amount and first payment date: we cannot tell yet. Keep money of your own for the first weeks until it comes.

What the programme asks of you. Cambridge's funding search lists "Attendance at induction programme and termly leadership sessions" and "Participation in post-course programming at an African partner institution (three to six months post-course)" as requirements; the programme's own page speaks of "Support to take up a 3-6-month placement in a leading Africa-based organisation". Plan your year knowing that three to six months with an organisation in Africa follow your course (Cambridge's funding search, award year 2026/27).

Work. A full-time Student visa allows up to 20 hours of work a week in term; Cambridge recommends 6 to 10 and asks a taught master's student to get her department's permission first.

Keeping your visa. Attend your course in person; your department records it. Change your address and passport details yourself in your UKVI account.

After the course. The programme's Transition Project supports four directions: a placement or internship, a job, a venture in Africa, or a PhD.

Part 4. What can stop you

Your deadlines

What stops people, and what you do

• A grade below the course's. Choose a course whose grade you meet, before you write a word (Stage 2).
• No passport by 19 November. Pay the £85 at submission; start the passport anyway (Stage 4).
• A slow transcript. Request it this week; follow it up by the university's own email.
• The funding box unticked. The scholarship never appears (Stage 7).
• Working to the wrong deadline. The funding deadline, not the course deadline, decides the scholarship.
• A referee who never writes. Cambridge does not chase; you do, and you replace a silent one in time (Stage 6).
• Paying someone. No agent, no consultant, no fee to anyone to get you in. Cambridge withdraws an application an agent submits.
• A statement written the night before. Give it a week of evenings, written by you.
• A place without the scholarship. Withdraw before the course if you cannot pay, and apply again next window.
• Your IELTS left to July. Book it the month your offer comes.
• Family plans. On a taught course your husband, wife or children cannot come on this visa; on a research master's of nine months or more they can, at your own cost (Part 1).

If this is not for you

• An HND (even with a PGD or a master's after it), or a grade below every course you want: this programme is not open to you. Other funded master's on Rekoja ask different grades: tell us about yourself, opens in a new tab and see the ones that fit.
• You want a PhD: not from this programme. Gates Cambridge funds PhDs (about two-thirds of its awards).
• You want an MBA or a master's in Finance, Accountancy or Corporate Law: not covered.

Part 5. If you already did some of this

• You have chosen your course: go to Stage 3 and open your application tonight.
• Your application is open: send the waiver form (Stage 5) as soon as your transcript and passport are scanned.
• You sent the waiver form: ask your referees (Stage 6) and write your statement (Stage 7).
• You submitted without ticking the funding box: write the same day to the programme at admin@mastercardfoundation.fund.cam.ac.uk with your 8-digit application number, before your funding deadline.
• You hold a conditional offer of a place: go to Stage 10 for the scholarship's answer, and start your conditions now (Stage 11).
• You hold the scholarship: accept it in time (Stage 10), then Stage 11.
• Your admission is confirmed: Stage 12, your CAS and visa.

Part 6. The time, stage by stage

• Stage 1, check that you can apply: one evening.
• Stage 2, choose your course: an evening or two.
• Stage 3, open your application: one evening.
• Stage 4, your papers: a day to weeks for the transcript; 21 to 42 days for a passport.
• Stage 5, the waiver form: under an hour, by 20 November 2026.
• Stage 6, your referees: ask in week one; letters in by your funding deadline.
• Stage 7, the funding box and statement: a week of evenings.
• Stage 8, College and submit: one evening, by 8 December 2026 or 6 January 2027.
• Stage 9, the department's answer: December 2026 to March 2027.
• Stage 10, the scholarship's answer: late March or early April 2027; about 10 working days to accept.
• Stage 11, your conditions: from your offer to 31 July 2027.
• Stage 12, CAS and visa: CAS from June 2027; visa usually within 3 weeks.
• Stage 13, travel and arrival: September 2027; term from 1 October 2027.

Part 7. The money, all of it

What you pay yourself, from tonight to your flight: about ₦424,000 to ₦449,000 (your transcript, IELTS and the TB test), ₦100,000 more if you have no passport, and £85 (about ₦152,000) if the waiver does not come, with £49 (about ₦87,000) more for the transcript check if your university has no secure service. If the programme repays the visa fee and surcharge rather than paying them, you carry those too until it repays you (Stage 12).

For scale, Cambridge estimates a single student needs about £1,725 a month (about ₦3.08 million) to live in Cambridge in 2027/28.

Part 8. If the window has closed: the closed plan

The window for October 2027 closes with the last funding deadline, 6 January 2027 (8 December 2026 for courses that take that date; see "After your course's deadline" in From today). After your course's funding deadline you cannot be considered for the scholarship on that course this round. The programme's timeline: "Applications open" in "Early September" each year.

What you do now, so that next September you apply in one evening:

Stage C1. Check your fit for the next window

Back to the short stages

Read Part 1 again against your papers. If your CGPA is below your course's line, a Nigerian master's of 4.0 out of 5 or more may carry you past the University's lowest grade (Part 1). Write down the grade and the course you aim for.

Stage C2. Get your papers out now

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Your transcript (Stage 4) and your international passport. A passport takes up to 42 days and is needed for the waiver form and the visa.

Stage C3. Choose your course and read its page

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Read the course page in the Course Directory now (Stage 2); when it reopens in September, check its funding deadline again.

Stage C4. Line up your referees

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Tell two lecturers now that you will ask them next autumn. If you have left university more than three years ago, read the referee rules in Stage 6.

Stage C5. Draft your statement, and do something worth writing

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Draft the programme's four points (Stage 7) now, yourself. Use the year: work, lead something in your community, and tie it to climate resilience or a sustainable future in Africa.

Stage C6. Your English, if you want it done early

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IELTS is a condition only after an offer, and a result must be no more than two years old at the start of your course, so a test taken now still counts for a course that starts within two years.

Stage C7. Watch the window

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Watch the programme's news page, opens in a new tab from August: it posted "Applications now open" on 11 September 2026 for this round.