A Cambridge master’s degree is one of the most competitive academic prizes in the world. For students who have lived through displacement, conflict or the long wait of refugee status, the cost of that prize can look impossible. The Quantedge Cambridge Refugee Scholarship exists to close that gap.
Established in 2020 by the Quantedge Foundation in Singapore, the award now supports two full-time master’s students a year at King’s College, Cambridge. For 2027/28 entry it is designed to cover university fees, recommended living costs, the student visa and the Immigration Health Surcharge. Combined, that package is listed at roughly £30,000 to £70,000 for the year, depending on fee status and course.
If you hold refugee status in the UK, previously held that status, or come from an area of instability or conflict, this is one of the most complete Cambridge funding routes still open to you. The sections below explain who can apply, what the money actually pays for, and how the Cambridge Applicant Portal decides who gets it.
Scholarship Summary
- Host Country: United Kingdom
- Host University: University of Cambridge (King’s College)
- Scholarship Type: MSC Scholarships (full-time MPhil and some other one-year master’s courses)
- Eligible Countries: All nationalities, provided the applicant has UK refugee status, formerly held refugee status, or is from an area of instability or conflict
- Scholarship Benefits: Full University Composition Fee (Home or International), recommended maintenance, student visa cost, Immigration Health Surcharge. Partial awards possible if other funding already exists.
- Application Deadline: Same as the funding deadline for the chosen course. King’s College lists 6 January 2027 as the deadline for consideration for 2027/28.
- Award value: £30,000 ~ £70,000 (annual)
- Award purpose: Fees (Home), Fees (International), Maintenance, Student visa cost, Student immigration health surcharge
- Award duration: Course length
- Who can apply? Prospective applicant
- Level of study: Masters
- Mode of study: Full Time
- Application results date: May – June
- Award year: 2027/28
- Number of awards: 2
What the Quantedge Cambridge Refugee Scholarship Actually Is
The official name on the King’s College site is the Quantedge – Cambridge Masters Scholarship (International). Older Cambridge funding listings still call it the Quantedge-Cambridge Refugee Masters Scholarship. Both refer to the same annual studentship.
Quantedge Foundation is a Singapore philanthropic organisation whose stated vision is a more inclusive society in which people can reach their potential. Since 2020 it has funded master’s places at King’s specifically for students whose education was interrupted by forced displacement or conflict. King’s may also partner with other funders, including in some years the Cambridge Trust, to make the package whole.
This is not a general “international student” award. There is a separate Quantedge – Cambridge Masters Scholarship (Singapore) for financially disadvantaged Singaporean applicants. Do not confuse either award with sanctuary scholarships at King’s College London, which is a different university.
See More Posts in Jobs, Scholarships, Technology, Career/Motivations, Football News Feeds
Join Job Whatsapp Channel, Scholarship Whatsapp Channel, Tech Whatsapp Channel, Follow Our Twitter (X) Channel.
The holder is expected to send updates on their work for donor reports and possible College publications, and later to describe their time at King’s and plans after the degree. That is a reporting duty, not a bonded job.
What the Award Pays For
Cambridge postgraduate costs split into two large lines: the University Composition Fee and maintenance (living costs). International fees on many MPhil courses already sit well above £30,000. Home fees are lower. The University’s own 2027/28 living-cost estimate for a full-time postgraduate without dependants is around £20,700 for a year. Visa and Immigration Health Surcharge fees sit on top of that.
The Quantedge award is intended to cover:
- University Composition Fee at Home or International rate
- Recommended maintenance for the length of the course
- Student visa cost
- Immigration Health Surcharge
The published range of £30,000 to £70,000 a year reflects that mix of fee statuses and course prices. Candidates who already have partial funding are still welcome to apply; King’s can top up rather than duplicate support. The award is not extendable beyond the normal course length.
See Also:
- Hertz Foundation Graduate Fellowship 2027: Fully Funded Scholarship in USA
- Mastercard Foundation Scholarship at ASU 2027–2028: Fully Funded Master’s Awards in USA
- Breakthrough Junior Challenge 2026: Win a $250,000 Scholarship With a 2-Minute Science Video
Who Can Apply for Quantedge Cambridge Refugee Scholarship
Eligibility is unusually specific and unusually wide at the same time.
You can be considered if you are a prospective full-time master’s applicant and you meet one of these conditions:
- You have been awarded refugee status in the UK
- You formerly held refugee status
- You are from an area of instability or conflict
King’s defines a UK refugee, for this purpose, as a person who fled their country, sought protection because of a well-founded fear of persecution on grounds of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, and holds official refugee status confirmed by a UKVI letter.
Nationality is not limited to a published country list. The deciding facts are status and background, plus academic merit and financial need, including hardship. Selection is made at the discretion of the relevant course Director of Studies together with the Graduate and Senior Tutors at King’s.
You must be willing to be a member of King’s College. You do not have to name King’s as first-choice college on the admissions form, but you must be prepared to transfer if the studentship is offered. That is standard for Cambridge college awards.
The core course type is a full-time MPhil at King’s. Applicants for some other one-year, full-time master’s courses may also be considered. Part-time study is not covered. Undergraduate and PhD programmes sit outside this scheme.
Eligible Courses and Academic Fit
King’s admits graduate students across a large share of Cambridge’s one-year master’s map. Earlier funding-search entries listed well over 100 eligible courses. Always check the current University of Cambridge course directory and confirm that King’s will take students on that programme.
Strong applications usually show three things at once:
- Academic results that would get you into the course without funding
- A clear reason the chosen MPhil is the next necessary step
- Evidence of displacement or instability that is consistent with the eligibility wording
The scholarship will not rescue a weak academic file. Cambridge departments still have to offer you a place.
Click Here to See other Scholarships.
Get Standard CV and Scholarship Essay/Statement of Purpose/Motivation Letter from a Professional.
- Join this Whatsapp Channel to Get More Infos and Tips
- Join Telegram Channel for Daily Jobs, Scholarships, Business and Career Updates
How to Apply for Quantedge Cambridge Refugee Scholarship
There is no free-standing public PDF that replaces the Cambridge portal. The current process for 2027/28 is:
- Apply for your course through the University of Cambridge postgraduate application process.
- In the funding section of the Applicant Portal, tick that you wish to apply for funding.
- If the system judges you potentially eligible, it will present information and additional questions for this studentship.
- Submit a complete application, including references, by the funding deadline that applies to your course.
Queries go to graduate.admissions@kings.cam.ac.uk. Do not wait until the last week. Referees, transcripts and English-language evidence routinely delay otherwise eligible files.
Useful official pages:
- King’s College official scholarship page
- Cambridge Postgraduate Funding Search
- Graduate fees
- King’s graduate funding overview
- Postgraduate funding deadlines
The URL many sites still recycle, including older “2026” slugs on the funding search, can return a 404. Treat the King’s opportunities page as the live source.
Deadlines and Results
For 2027/28 the University’s main funding deadlines are 8 December 2026 and 6 January 2027, plus an earlier Gates Cambridge date for US citizens. Course pages decide which of those dates applies to you. King’s states that the deadline for consideration for this studentship is 6 January 2027.
Results are typically released in May to June. In a previous cycle, King’s said that if you had not heard by 30 June you had not been selected. Do not treat silence as a pending offer.
Because college transfer may be required, keep your Cambridge Self-Service account active and read every funding email.
How to Make a Competitive Application
A complete portal file is the minimum, not the strategy. Applicants who tend to survive shortlisting do the following:
- Apply early enough that both references arrive before the funding deadline, not after it
- Write the additional portal answers in plain, specific language about status, need and academic plan
- Match the research or taught focus of the MPhil to a realistic next step, not a generic “Cambridge prestige” sentence
- Document refugee status or conflict background only as the official process asks; oversharing sensitive detail in the wrong box does not help
- Apply for other Cambridge funds at the same time, including Trust awards where eligible, because Quantedge can sit alongside partial funding
If your status is still in process and you do not yet have a UKVI refugee letter, read the “formerly held refugee status” and “area of instability/conflict” wording carefully and ask King’s admissions before you assume you are out.
Related Funding Worth Checking
Two awards a year is a narrow gate. While you prepare the Quantedge file, compare:
- Cambridge Trust postgraduate awards, including schemes that consider applicants seeking asylum or holding refugee status
- College studentships listed in the Postgraduate Funding Search
- Other one-year master’s awards that cover visa and IHS, since those two costs are often the hidden barrier after a fee waiver
Keep the institutions distinct. King’s College Cambridge is not King’s College London. Sanctuary packages at KCL do not transfer to this studentship.
Why This Scholarship Matters
Cambridge already attracts more qualified applicants than it can fund. For displaced students the problem is not only competition. It is the combination of international fees, proof-of-funds rules, visa charges and the practical difficulty of producing a polished application while status, housing or family circumstances are unstable.
A full-fee, full-maintenance award that also pays the visa and health surcharge removes the usual “you have the offer but not the bank letter” collapse. That is the practical design of the Quantedge Cambridge Refugee Scholarship. The academic bar remains the Cambridge bar. The money is there so the bar can be attempted.
If you meet the status test and you can make a serious MPhil case, the next action is not another listicle. It is the course page, then the Applicant Portal, then the 6 January 2027 consideration date.
Confirm every figure on the King’s College page before you submit. Funding rules, partner contributions and course lists can move between cycles. The official college page, not a third-party summary, is the version that will be used to decide your file.