News
Read the latest news about the CSC community and find out more about our current Scholars and Fellows, Alumni and partners.
Latest News
Development in Action webinar series: Breadbasket in peril – strategies to combat wheat blast for food security
On Friday 30 August, the CSC Alumni Team invited Commonwealth Alumnus Dr Tofazzal Islam to deliver a webinar on ‘Breadbasket in peril: strategies to combat wheat blast for food security’. This webinar addressed the CSC development theme of strengthening resilience...
Meet the 2024 CSC Alumni Community Engagement Fund organisers
The CSC Alumni Team are pleased to announce the winners of the 2024 CSC Alumni Community Engagement Fund (ACEF). Over the next nine months, they will plan and deliver community-focused engagement activities to raise awareness across one of five chosen themes. Keep...
Development in Action webinar series: Gender and development in Fiji and the Pacific: A practitioner’s perspective
On Wednesday 31 July, the CSC Alumni Team hosted a webinar on “Gender and development in Fiji and the Pacific: a practitioner’s perspective”, delivered by Commonwealth Alumnus Kaushal Sharma. This webinar addressed the CSC development theme of Access, inclusion and...
Alumni in Ghana support students in preparing for life after school
On 24 July, the Commonwealth Scholars and Fellows Alumni, Ghana (CoSFAG) delivered an interactive workshop for final year undergraduate students at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST). The workshop sought to help students to prepare for...
Highlighting the role of geospatial data in sustainable development in Malawi
On 19 July, the Malawi Commonwealth Alumni Network (MCAN) held an event to discuss the role of geospatial technology and data in achieving sustainable development. The event brought together an expert panel representing government, academia and data science. Through a...
Scholars explore youth development in CSC’s 65th anniversary year
To mark the 65th anniversary of the CSC, and last year’s Commonwealth Year of Youth, the CSC’s London and South East Regional Network hosted an event exploring youth development and the Youth Development Index (YDI). Professor Terri-Ann Gilbert-Roberts, a double...
Time Limited Programme 2024 & 2025: Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Job Creation
In the last three decades, participation in higher education has seen unprecedented growth around the globe. Whilst the number of skilled graduates has grown, huge population growth in parts of the Commonwealth has meant many of these young graduates can’t access...
Celebrating this year’s Commonwealth Scholars at Farewell 2024
On Tuesday 2 July 2024, we welcomed Commonwealth Scholars to the Farewell event at Alexandra Palace in London to celebrate their success and mark the end of their time in the UK. In partnership with the Chevening and Marshall Scholarship schemes, the Farewell event...
Development in Action webinar series: Corporate Sustainability: An organisational approach to build a sustainable world
On Friday 28 June, the CSC Alumni Team hosted a webinar on “Corporate Sustainability: An organisational approach to build a sustainable world”, delivered by Commonwealth Alumnus Souvik Ghosh. This webinar addressed the CSC development theme of Promoting innovation...
Understanding wealth creation in Kenya
On 20 June, the Commonwealth Scholarships Alumni Association of Kenya (CSAAK) launched their year-long series of talks and activities on wealth creation. The first talk of the series focused on understanding taxation and financial well-being. CSAAK President, Sarah...
Latest Publications and Resources
Alumni Voices: Exploring the Outcomes and Impact of Commonwealth Scholarships
The CSC has long known that its Alumni go on to become change agents in their institutions and communities and that their Scholarships and Fellowships are a key contributor to this work. The establishment of the CSC’s dedicated Evaluation and Monitoring programme has facilitated the systematic gathering of evidence and data to support this knowledge, initially through surveys but increasingly through more innovative and rich methodologies including, most recently, a case study approach. This approach, as applied by the CSC, has involved investigation of individual Alumni trajectories through in-depth interviews, giving them an opportunity to share details of their experiences and developmental activities following the Scholarship. The case study approach allowed for a much more thorough investigation and understanding of the wider benefits of the Commonwealth Scholarships as well as the wide variety of contexts that have facilitated or hindered the achievement of Scholarship outcomes and impact.
CSC @ DHG 2021
After co-hosting the 10th Donor Harmonisation Group Forum in London in partnership with the Association of Commonwealth Universities and British Council, the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission was pleased to attend the 11th Donor Harmonisation Group Forum in Basel,...
Experiences of Commonwealth Scholars and Alumni: Enabling Factors and Barriers to Scholarship Impact
The CSC offers a wide range of Scholarships and Fellowships which provide opportunities for talented and motivated individuals from across the Commonwealth to gain knowledge and skills with the aim of contributing towards sustainable development. Over the years, data collected from the Commonwealth Alumni has reinforced anecdotal evidence that the wide variety of contexts that Commonwealth Scholars and Fellows return to can act as barriers or enabling factors (or in some cases both) when it comes to Alumni securing relevant employment, applying the skills and knowledge acquired during their studies to their full potential, and realising their potential for development impact.
Forging connections and collaboration across the Commonwealth: A Review of the Commonwealth Academic Fellowship Programme
As well as offering Scholarships for postgraduate and doctoral study, the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission has funded almost 2,500 Academic Fellowships since 1969, providing early and mid-career academics from across the Commonwealth with the opportunity to work and undertake research at UK universities. The CSC Evaluation Team recently undertook a review of the programme using data gathered from the 2015-2017 cohorts. The aim was to identify the outcomes, impact, and the scope of the potential short and long-term benefits of the Academic Fellowships on the Fellows’ Host institutions in the UK and their employing institutions in their home countries, as well as on the Fellows themselves.
Learning more about the Commonwealth Split-site programme
The CSC has proudly offered Scholarships for Split-site doctoral study for over twenty years and is delighted to announce the launch of the 2021 programme. Since 1998, this programme has provided a unique opportunity for more than 500 Commonwealth Scholars studying...
Twenty Years of Commonwealth Distance Learning Scholarships
The CSC is proud to have supported over 3,000 exceptional scholars from 41 countries across the Commonwealth to undertake Commonwealth Scholarships by Distance Learning over the last two decades. In the run-up to the twentieth anniversary of the programme, the CSC is preparing to undertake an in-depth programme evaluation, beginning with the publication of a short rapid analysis summary and infographic highlighting the unique attributes and impact of the programme.
Commonwealth Doctoral Scholarships 1960 – 2015
The CSC is extremely proud of its support for doctoral research and of the thousands of Commonwealth Alumni who have obtained their PhD as a result. This review, completed in 2017 looked at the Commonwealth PhD Scholarship programme from 1960-2015 by which point over...
Successes and complexities: the outcomes of UK Commonwealth Scholarships 1960-2012
The CSC's commitment to evaluation and monitoring and to understanding the post award experiences of its Scholars and Alumni led to the further expansion of its data gathering, with a refined survey building on the experience of the initial alumni impact survey...
A study of research methodology used in evaluations of international scholarship schemes for higher education
International scholarship schemes for higher education are widely supported by governments, supranational bodies, and charitable organisations as part of both public diplomacy and developmental assistance commitments. Although the objectives of many scholarship...
