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The Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Plan (CSFP) is an international programme under which
Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...
governments offer scholarships and fellowships to citizens of other Commonwealth countries.


History

The plan was originally proposed by Canadian statesman Sidney Earle Smith in a speech in Montreal on 1 September 1958 and was established in 1959, at the first Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers (CCEM) held in Oxford, Great Britain. Since then, over 25,000 individuals have held awards, hosted by over twenty countries. The CSFP is one of the primary mechanisms of pan-Commonwealth exchange.


Organisation

There is no central body which manages the CSFP. Instead, participation is based on a series of bi-lateral arrangements between home and host countries. The participation of each country is organised by a national nominating agency, which is responsible for advertising awards applicable to their own country and making nominations to host countries. In the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
, which is the biggest contributor to the Plan, this process is managed by the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission in Britain, a
non-departmental public body In the United Kingdom, non-departmental public body (NDPB) is a classification applied by the Cabinet Office, Treasury, the Scottish Government, and the Northern Ireland Executive to public sector organisations that have a role in the process o ...
, and funded by the
Department for International Development The Department for International Development (DFID) was a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the government of the United Kingdom, from 1997 to 2020. It was responsible for administering foreign aid ...
. Since 2008, the
Foreign and Commonwealth Office The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is the ministry of foreign affairs and a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the government of the United Kingdom. The office was created on 2 ...
no longer contributes financially to the plan and the number and type of scholarships available for students from more developed Commonwealth countries (Australia, The Bahamas, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Cyprus, Malta, New Zealand, and Singapore) to study in Britain has been reduce

Other countries, such as Australia, no longer offer scholarships as part of the CSFP. New reforms were developed to strategically align scholarships with mutual interests for business and innovation between Commonwealth nations. During the state visit of President
Tony Tan Tony Tan Keng Yam (; born 7 February 1940) is a Singaporean banker and politician who served as the seventh president of Singapore between 2011 and 2017. Prior to entering politics, Tan was a general manager at OCBC Bank. He made his polit ...
to the UK in October 2014, Her Majesty
Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...
announced that the Royal Commonwealth Society of Singapore would be re-established to promote the Commonwealth and to provide new Commonwealth Scholarships and Fellowships in Innovation for Singaporeans. The first Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship for Innovation were presented in August 2017 t
Joshua Cheong
and Dr Khoo Hsien Hui by the Rt. Hon.
Sajid Javid Sir Sajid Javid (; born 5 December 1969) is a British former politician who served as Secretary of State for Health and Social Care from June 2021 to July 2022, having previously served as Home Secretary from 2018 to 2019 and Chancellor of the ...
.


Notable past Commonwealth Scholars and Fellows


Politics

* Kenny Anthony, Prime Minister of St. Lucia *
George Brandis George Henry Brandis (born 22 June 1957) is an Australian former politician. He was a Australian Senate, Senator for Queensland from 2000 to 2018, representing the Liberal Party of Australia, Liberal Party, and was a Cabinet (Australia), cabin ...
QC, 36th
Attorney-General of Australia The attorney-general of Australia (AG), also known as the Commonwealth attorney-general, is the minister of state and chief law officer of the Commonwealth of Australia charged with overseeing federal legal affairs and public security as the ...
* Ross Cranston, Member of Parliament for Dudley North, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland * Bill English, Prime Minister of New Zealand * Babalola Borishade, Former Minister of Education, Aviation Nigeria * John Alexander Forrest, Member for Mallee, Australia * Leslie Gunawardana, Former Minister of Science, Sri Lanka * Hala Hameed, Maldivian Minister of State * Juma Athuman Kapuya, Minister of Labour, Employment and Youth Development * Kalombo Mwansa, Home Affairs Minister of Zambia * Satendra Nandan, Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Fiji * Rolph Payet, Seychellois Cabinet Minister *
Kamla Persad-Bissessar Kamla Susheila Persad-Bissessar Senior Counsel, SC Member of parliament, MP (, born 22 April 1952), often referred to by her initials KPB is a Trinidadian lawyer, politician and educator who has twice served as the sixth List of prime ministers ...
, Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago * Carlos Simons, Member, Interim Advisory Council, Turks and Caicos Islands * Abdullah Tarmugi, Singaporean politician and MP * Michael Tate, Minister for Justice, Australia


Judiciary

* Shirani Bandaranayake, 43rd Chief Justice of Sri Lanka * Patrick Keane, Judge of the High Court of Australia * Ross Cranston, Former Solicitor General of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland * George W. Kanyeihamba, Judge of the Supreme Court of Uganda * Professor Vijender Kumar, Professor of Family Law, NALSAR University of Law * Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd,
Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales The Lord or Lady Chief Justice of England and Wales is the head of the judiciary of England and Wales and the president of the courts of England and Wales. Until 2005 the lord chief justice was the second-most senior judge of the English and ...
*
Yahya Afridi Yahya Afridi (; born 23 January 1965) is a Pakistani jurist who is currently serving as the chief justice of Pakistan since 26 October 2024. He previously served as a Justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan since 28 June 2018. Prior to his ele ...
, 30th Chief Justice of Pakistan


Government

*
Mark Carney Mark Joseph Carney (born March 16, 1965) is a Canadian politician and economist who has served as the 24th and current Prime Minister of Canada, prime minister of Canada since 2025. He has served as Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, lead ...
, former Governor of the Bank of England, in 2025 became
Prime Minister of Canada The prime minister of Canada () is the head of government of Canada. Under the Westminster system, the prime minister governs with the Confidence and supply, confidence of a majority of the elected House of Commons of Canada, House of Commons ...
* Michael Omolewa, Permanent Delegate and Ambassador to UNESCO, Nigeria * Carolyn McMaster, Canadian Deputy High Commissioner to New Zealand * Manumatavai Tupou-Roosen, Director General of the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency


Academia

* B. K. Misra, neurosurgeon * U. R. Ananthamurthy, professor and writer,
University of Mysore The University of Mysore is a public state university in Mysore, Karnataka, India. The university was founded during the reign of Maharaja Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV and the premiership of Sir M. Visvesvaraya. The university is recognised by t ...
, Karnataka * Gunapala Amarasinghe, professor of apediatrics, Institute of Indigenous Medicine,
University of Colombo The University of Colombo (informally Colombo University or UoC) is a Public University, public research university located primarily in Colombo, Sri Lanka. It is the oldest institution of modern higher education in Sri Lanka. Specialised in t ...
* Anisuzzaman (1937-2020), professor of Bengali,
University of Dhaka The University of Dhaka (), also known as Dhaka University (DU), is a public university, public research university located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Established in 1921, it is the oldest active university in the country. The University of Dhaka w ...
* Anisuzzaman (born 1951), professor of philosophy, former vice-chancellor, Global University Bangladesh * Richard Alexander Arnold, professor of English, Alfaisal University in Riyadh * Ishbel Campbell, British chemist researcher and lecturer. Held one of the first Commonwealth fellowships awarded to a woman. * Robert M. Carter, Director of Australia's Secretariat for the Ocean Drilling Program * Warrick Couch, astronomer, Director of the
Australian Astronomical Observatory The Australian Astronomical Observatory (AAO), formerly the Anglo-Australian Observatory, was an optical and near-infrared astronomy observatory with its headquarters in North Ryde in suburban Sydney, Australia. Originally funded jointly by the G ...
and President of the Australian Institute of Physics. * John Gallas, poet and educator * Professor Alan Robertson Gemmell Professor of Biology at Keele University (1950–1977) *
Germaine Greer Germaine Greer (; born 29 January 1939) is an Australian writer and feminist, regarded as one of the major voices of the second-wave feminism movement in the latter half of the 20th century. Specializing in English and women's literature, she ...
, Australian feminist author; former professor of English Literature and Comparative Studies at the University of Warwick *
Robert Gavin Hampson Robert Gavin Hampson FEA FRSA (born 1948) is a British poet and academic. Hampson was born and raised in Liverpool, studied in London and Toronto and settled in London. He is currently Professor Emeritus at Royal Holloway. He was Visiting Profess ...
, Professor of English, Royal Holloway, University of London * Charles Jago, President of the University of Northern British Columbia * Karuppannan Jaishankar, Founder / Principal Director & Professor of Criminology, International Institute of Justice and Police Sciences, India * Abu Hena Mustafa Kamal, poet, songwriter & professor at
University of Dhaka The University of Dhaka (), also known as Dhaka University (DU), is a public university, public research university located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Established in 1921, it is the oldest active university in the country. The University of Dhaka w ...
* Will Kymlicka, Canada Research Chair in Political Philosophy, Queen's University at Kingston * Nissim Mannathukkaren, Associate Professor, Dalhousie University Department of International Development Studies * Angus McIntosh, Forbes Professor of English Language and General Linguistics, University of Edinburgh * Lynette Mitchell, Professor in Greek History and Politics,
University of Exeter The University of Exeter is a research university in the West Country of England, with its main campus in Exeter, Devon. Its predecessor institutions, St Luke's College, Exeter School of Science, Exeter School of Art, and the Camborne School of ...
* Bridget Ogilvie, Director of the Wellcome Trust * Pratapaditya Pal, Curator-Emeritus and formerly, Curator, Los Angeles County Museum of Art * Peng Tsu Ann, Professor of Mathematics,
National University of Singapore The National University of Singapore (NUS) is a national university, national Public university, public research university in Singapore. It was officially established in 1980 by the merging of the University of Singapore and Nanyang University ...
*
Raja Ramanna Raja Ramanna (28 January 1925 – 24 September 2004) was an Indian nuclear physicist. He was the director of India and weapons of mass destruction, India's nuclear program in the late 1960s and early 1970s, which culminated in Smiling Buddha ...
, chairman, Atomic Energy Commission of India * B. N. Suresh, Director, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre * Ghulam Mohammed Sheikh, Professor of Art, Baroda University * Lalji Singh, Director, Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad * Sheung-Wai Tam, President Emeritus of The Open University of Hong Kong * Stephen Toope, President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of British Columbia * Sunil Kumar Verma, Principal Scientist, Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, India *
Jeremy Waldron Jeremy Waldron (; born 13 October 1953) is a New Zealand legal philosopher. He holds a University Professorship at the New York University School of Law, is affiliated with the New York University Department of Philosophy, and was formerly the ...
, Professor of law and philosophy, New York University School of Law * Alexandra Walsham, Professor of Modern History, University of Cambridge * Fiona Williams, Professor of Social Policy, University of Leeds * Kamta Prasad, former professor of economics, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur *
Najma Akhtar Najma Akhtar (born 1953) is an Indian academic and academic administrator. She served as the Vice Chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia from 12 April 2019 until 12 November 2023. She is also the first woman to hold the post in JMI. In 2022, she was ...
, Vice Chancellor of
Jamia Millia Islamia Jamia Millia Islamia is a Public university, public and research university located in Delhi, India. Originally established at Aligarh, United Provinces of Agra and Oudh, United Provinces (present-day Uttar Pradesh, India) during the British R ...


Journalists

* Edward Greenspon, Editor-in-Chief, ''The Globe and Mail'', Canada * Charles Krauthammer, Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist * Chandan Mitra, Editor and managing director of ''The Pioneer'', New Delhi


Performing arts

* Walter Learning, Founder of Theatre New Brunswick * Shyamaprasad, Leading Indian (Malayalam) film Director, President, Amrita Television


Social entrepreneurs

* Kirthi Jayakumar, Gender and Peace activist, Founder of The Red Elephant Foundation


See also

*
Association of Commonwealth Universities The Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) is a charitable organization that was established in 1913, and has over 400 member institutions in over 40 countries across the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth.Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship PlanCommonwealth Scholarship Commission in the United Kingdom website
{{Global Scholars Group Government scholarships Commonwealth Family Education awards Student financial aid Non-departmental public bodies of the United Kingdom government Department for International Development Scholarships in the United Kingdom Education finance in the United Kingdom