The University of Pretoria has set aside funding for up to two doctoral bursaries for students from Commonwealth countries, as part of South Africa’s participation in the Commonwealth Scholarship Plan. The university calls the award the University of Pretoria Commonwealth Doctoral Bursary and grants it on a competitive basis.
The award supports full-time doctoral study at the University of Pretoria over three years. Only citizens of Commonwealth countries may apply, and South African citizens and permanent residents are excluded.
The bursary is run by the Postgraduate Scholarship Office, part of the Graduate Support Hub in the Department of Research and Innovation, based at the Graduate Centre on the Hatfield campus in Pretoria. Applications for the 2027 academic year opened on 3 August 2026 and close on 1 October 2026.
Benefits & funding
- Up to two doctoral bursaries are awarded in this call.
- The bursary supports full-time doctoral study for three years.
- The university publishes the bursary value and what it covers in the flyer, applicant guide and terms and conditions attached to the official funding page rather than in the page text.
- The awardee pays for the medical insurance that a South African study permit requires for 2027.
Eligibility
- Open to citizens of Commonwealth countries.
- South African citizens and South African permanent residents may not apply.
- The award funds doctoral study, so applicants need the qualification that admits them to a University of Pretoria doctorate, normally a master’s degree.
- Applicants in employment must already hold the permission or leave from their workplace needed to take up a full-time three-year bursary at the time of applying.
- Applicants must be eligible to apply for a South African study permit.
- Applicants must be able to pay for the medical insurance that the study permit requires for 2027.
Can you apply?
Here's who can apply
Decoded from the official rules. A free account checks them against your passport, degree and age in seconds.
Eligible nationalities
Antigua and Barbuda · Australia · Bahamas · Bangladesh · Barbados · Belize · Botswana · Brunei · Cameroon · Canada · Cyprus · Dominica
+ 43 more
Eswatini · Fiji · Gabon · Gambia · Ghana · Grenada · Guyana · India · Jamaica · Kenya · Kiribati · Lesotho · Malawi · Malaysia · Maldives · Malta · Mauritius · Mozambique · Namibia · Nauru · New Zealand · Nigeria · Pakistan · Papua New Guinea · Rwanda · Saint Kitts and Nevis · Saint Lucia · Saint Vincent and the Grenadines · Samoa · Seychelles · Sierra Leone · Singapore · Solomon Islands · Sri Lanka · Tanzania · Togo · Tonga · Trinidad and Tobago · Tuvalu · Uganda · UK · Vanuatu · Zambia
Education required
Master
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Application process
- 1Open the official funding page and download the attached flyer, applicant guide, and terms and conditions.
- 2Check the eligibility bar: Commonwealth citizenship, not a South African citizen or permanent resident, workplace leave already secured where employment applies, and study-permit eligibility.
- 3Prepare and submit the application in the way the applicant guide sets out, before 1 October 2026 at 23:59.
- 4Send questions to the Postgraduate Scholarship Office at pgbursary@up.ac.za.
Program timeline
Applications open.
3 August 2026
Applications close.
1 October 2026 at 23:59
Doctoral study begins at the University of Pretoria.
2027 academic year