49th Annual Report (2007-2008) - Commonwealth Scholarship ...

2008 awards
The statistics reported in this year’s Annual Report continue to reflect the changes to the selection and application procedures adopted in
2006, when general Scholarships (DFID-funded), Academic Staff Scholarships (CASS) and Split-site Scholarships were merged into a single
competition. We also continue to report figures for Commonwealth Shared Scholarships alongside the other programmes, in order to reflect
the CSC’s desire to align the management of this programme with that of the other Commonwealth Scholarship schemes.
The overall number of selections for 2008 (excluding Distance
Learning and Shared Scholarship schemes) is 459, an increase of 10%
from 2007. 992 nominations were received (again, excluding Distance
Learning and Shared Scholarships), slightly fewer than the previous year.
Table 3: 2007-2008 – on award
Scheme
Number of award holders
Scholarships* 513
Shared Scholarships 147
Fellowships 60
Professional Fellowships 58
Distance Learning 696
Total 1474
*of which staff scholarships = 100 and Split-site = 39
Table 4: 2007-2008 awards – by region*
Region Awards held New awards
taken up
Sub-Saharan Africa 953 394
South Asia 366 222
Far East 13 9
Australasia 42 24
Pacific 8 2
Caribbean 45 37
North America 44 24
Europe 3 2
Total 1474 714
*including Shared Scholarships
Table 5: 2008 awards – DFID-funded Scholarships by region*
Region Target % Actual %
Sub-Saharan Africa 50 54
Asia 35 34
Small states 15 12
*includes Scholarships for postgraduate study, staff scholarships and
Split-site
Table 6: 2008 awards – Scholarships by level
Scheme Masters % Doctorate %
FCO-funded Scholarships 76 24
DFID-funded Scholarships* 64 36
Total 67 33
*excluding staff scholarships, Split-site and Distance Learning
UK universities directly recruit and select Distance Learning and
Shared Scholarship candidates, whose awards are confirmed by the
Commission’s selection committees. For Shared Scholarships, univer sit ies
approved 237 applications and the Commission made 196 awards (in the
previous year, 221 applications were approved and 163 were selected).
For Distance Learning Scholarships, universities approved the candidacies
of 242 applicants and the Commission made 162 awards (equivalent
figures in 2006-2007 were 166 and 101, and a further 188 awards were
made from 260 nominations, in a supplementary allocation of funding from
DFID for awards in health and education, tenable in sub-Saharan Africa).
The final number of Scholars on award in 2007-2008 and new awards
taken up in 2008 can be seen in Tables 3 and 4. It should be emphasised
that, before nomination to the Commission, most can did ates have under -
gone a highly competitive selection exercise in their own country.
Region
45 countries were represented in the 2008 intake for Commonwealth
Scholarships and Fellowships (see pages 28-30). When selecting can -
didates, the Commission’s primary concern is that successful applicants
should be of the highest calibre, and it does not operate specific quotas
for individual Commonwealth countries. It does, however, have broad
regional selection targets for those candidates funded by DFID. As can
be seen from Table 5, targets were broadly met, with sub-Saharan
Africa taking 54% of the awards, Asia 34%, and the remaining small
states (encompassing the Pacific, Caribbean, East Asia and Europe) 12%.
Level of study
The Commission continues to aim for a target of 60:40 for taught and
research provision, in order to reflect the increased number of highly
relevant and targeted Masters’ degrees available, and also to deal with the
increasing cost of doctoral scholarships. 64% of the 188 DFID-funded
Commonwealth Scholarships were awarded this year for Master's prog -
rammes – an increase of 3% from 2007 – and 36% for doctoral study.
However, doctoral-level scholarships remain a significant part of the
Commission’s portfolio of awards, both in traditional and split-site
modes, and it is committed to offering these for the foreseeable future.
In addition to the DFID-funded Scholarships already mentioned, and
those on Split-site awards, 84% of Scholarships awarded to university
staff in developing countries in this report year were for doctoral study.
From 2007, the Commission extended the option of applying for Splitsite
doctoral study to those nominated for general Scholarships (both
FCO- and DFID-funded) and Academic Staff Scholarships, thus opening
up further opportunities to potential doctoral applicants.
18 Commonwealth Scholarship Commission