The Gates Cambridge Scholarship for 2027/28 entry is open, and the first deadline is close: 14 October 2026 for US citizens living in the United States. Every other eligible applicant applies in a second round that closes on 8 December 2026 or 6 January 2027, depending on the course. The details below come from the scholarship’s own timeline page and eligibility page. If you are planning a Gates Cambridge application, the round you fall into determines everything.
Contents
- Which round applies to you
- Who can apply and what is excluded
- A working backwards plan
- Other UK funding to compare
- Applicant questions
Which round applies to you
Round 1 is only for US citizens resident in the USA. Applications opened on 11 September 2026 and close on 14 October 2026 at 11:59pm UK time. Applicants are told their result on 14 December 2026, and scholarships are offered in early February 2027.
Round 2 covers all other eligible applicants, which is the majority of candidates. It also opened on 11 September 2026. The deadline is either 8 December 2026 or 6 January 2027, depending on the course, so the Cambridge Course Directory entry for your course is the authority. Decisions are due on 8 March 2027, with scholarships offered in early April 2027. In both rounds, winners have 72 hours after an offer to accept.
Who can apply and what is excluded
You must be a citizen of a country outside the United Kingdom and be applying to Cambridge for a full-time PhD, a full-time MLitt or a one-year full-time postgraduate course. A part-time PhD is also included through a pilot scheme. Current Cambridge students can apply for a new degree, such as an MPhil student moving to a PhD, but you cannot apply for funding to complete a degree already under way.
The scholarship does not fund undergraduate degrees, MASt courses, part-time degrees other than the PhD, professional programmes such as the MBA, EMBA, MFin or PGCE, several medical programmes, or the Master of Conservation of Easel Painting. Consider a hypothetical Vietnamese biochemist with a master’s degree who wants a Cambridge PhD: she would sit in Round 2 and would need to confirm her course’s exact closing date before anything else. This example is illustrative, not a reported case.
A working backwards plan
Because the scholarship competition runs alongside the course application, the course application is usually the first task. Note your round, find your course deadline in the Course Directory, and set your own deadline about two weeks earlier for references and documents. International applicants who need a student visa afterwards can use our visa eligibility checker to see the route that fits their situation.
Other UK funding to compare
Gates Cambridge is one of several UK awards with open cycles. Our guides cover the Chevening 2027 deadline and the Reach Oxford scholarship. The Rhodes Trust also states that applications for the 2027 Rhodes Scholarship are open, with entry to Oxford in October 2027; constituency-level dates are on its own pages. The Rhodes page lists coverage including Oxford course fees, a stipend of £20,400 for 2025-26, and student visa and health surcharge fees.
Applicant questions
What is the Gates Cambridge deadline for US citizens living in the US?
The US round closes on 14 October 2026 at 11:59pm UK time, according to the scholarship’s timeline page. Decisions follow on 14 December 2026.
What is the deadline for everyone else?
Round 2 closes on either 8 December 2026 or 6 January 2027, depending on the course. Applicants must check Cambridge’s Course Directory for their course’s date.
Who is eligible?
Citizens of any country outside the United Kingdom applying for a full-time PhD, full-time MLitt or full-time one-year postgraduate course at Cambridge. A part-time PhD is also eligible under a pilot scheme.
Which courses are not funded?
Undergraduate degrees, MASt courses, part-time degrees other than the PhD, professional programmes such as the MBA, EMBA, MFin and PGCE, and several medical programmes.
How long do winners have to accept?
The timeline page says successful applicants have 72 hours after an offer to accept in both rounds.