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
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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
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George Brandis
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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
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, 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
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
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, 30th Chief Justice of Pakistan
Government
*
Mark Carney
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, former Governor of the Bank of England, in 2025 became
Prime Minister of Canada
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University of Mysore
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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 ...
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 ...
Australian Astronomical Observatory
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Germaine Greer
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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
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, 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
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Jeremy Waldron
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, 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
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, Vice Chancellor of
Jamia Millia Islamia
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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