Commonwealth Professional Fellowships 2024/2025 (Funded): (Deadline 5 August 2024)

The Commonwealth Professional Fellowships 2024/2025 are for mid-career professionals from low- and middle-income countries to spend a period of time at a UK host organisation working in their sector for a programme of professional development.

The purpose of the Commonwealth Professional Fellowships is to provide professionals with the opportunity to enhance knowledge and skills in their given sector, and to have catalytic effects on their workplaces.

These fellowships are offered under six development themes:

• Science and technology for development
• Strengthening health systems and capacity
• Promoting innovation and entrepreneurship
• Strengthening global peace, security and governance
• Strengthening resilience and response to crises
• Access, inclusion and opportunity

Benefits of Professional Fellowships 2024/2025

Each Fellowship provides:

• Approved return airfare from the Fellow’s home country to the UK.
• Reimbursement of the standard visa application fee.
• Stipend (living allowance) payable monthly (or pro rata) for the duration of the award at the rate of £1,944 per month, or £2,397 per month for those at organisations in the London metropolitan area (rates quoted at 2022/23 levels).
• If a Fellow declares a disability, a full assessment of needs and eligibility for additional financial support will be offered by the CSC.
• Arrival allowance of up to £1,061.10 (rates quoted at 2022/23 levels), including an element for warm clothing.
• A maximum of £3,000 per Fellow can be agreed by host organisations for short courses/conferences as well as travel to visit other UK organisations where this forms an integral part of the programme. Host organisations should bear in mind the restrictions set out in our guidance on claimable costs.

Eligibility for Professional Fellowships 2024/2025

Prospective fellows must:

• Be a citizen of or have been granted refugee status by an eligible Commonwealth country, or be a British Protected Person.
• Be permanently resident in an eligible Commonwealth country.
• Have at least five years’ full-time, or equivalent part-time, relevant work experience, in a profession related to the subject of the fellowship programme, by the proposed start of the fellowship – voluntary work experience will not be counted towards this minimum.
• Be in employment at the time of application at an organisation that they will return to upon completion of the fellowship.
• Provide at least two references, one of which must be from their current employer. Any applications for which references are not received by the reference closing date will be considered ineligible.
• Not have undertaken a Commonwealth Professional Fellowship within the last five years (at the time of taking up the award).
• Not be seeking to undertake an academic programme of research or study. Academics are eligible to apply for the scheme, but only to undertake programmes of academic management, not research or courses relevant to their research subject.
• Be available to undertake their fellowship from the prescribed start date.

Application

In the application form, prospective Fellows are asked to:

• List all undergraduate and postgraduate university qualifications obtained (where applicable)
• List up to 10 publications and prizes (if applicable).
• Provide details of your employment history and explain how each job is relevant to the programme you wish to undertake in the UK (up to 100 words per employment).
• Provide a statement on the relevance of your previous work experience to the proposed fellowship (up to 300 words).
• List names and positions of up to three referees who are qualified to comment on both your capacity to benefit from your proposed fellowship in the UK and your ability to deliver development impact afterwards. One of your referees must be your current employer.
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