October 2026 Study Abroad Scholarships: Two Deadlines Still Open for Indian Students

Two of the four scholarships Indian students were tracking this month have already closed: Chevening and Knight-Hennessy Scholars both closed on October 6. Two full-funding awards remain open, the Commonwealth Master’s Scholarship (closes October 20) and DAAD’s doctoral funding in Germany (closes October 21), a day apart from each other. This update covers what is still open, what just closed, and when each cycle is expected to reopen.

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Status: CLOSED (closed October 6, 2026, 11:00 UTC / 4:30 PM IST)

The UK government’s flagship scholarship funds a one-year taught master’s at any UK university. India runs the largest Chevening program in the world: 4,000 Indian awardees since 1983, and over 75% of scholars in the 2026 cohort came from tier 2 and tier 3 cities (British High Commission New Delhi, August 4, 2026 announcement). 

For the full eligibility breakdown and essay strategy, see our Chevening Scholarship eligibility and application guide.

This cycle has closed. Applications for the 2027-28 Chevening cycle ran from August 4 to October 6, 2026. Chevening has followed an August-to-October application window in recent cycles, so the next cycle is expected to open around August 2027, but the exact date has not been announced. Watch chevening.org for the official opening.

• Full tuition fees at a UK university.
• Monthly living stipend.
• Return economy airfare between India and the UK.
• A one-time arrival allowance and additional grants for visa costs.

Why it stands out: Chevening selects for leadership potential as much as academics, and alumni include sitting ministers, CEOs, and journalists across 160 countries. State government partners (Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Nagaland, and Karnataka) and industry sponsor TVS Motors fund additional India-specific scholarships within the same cohort (British High Commission New Delhi, August 4, 2026 announcement).

• Indian citizenship.
• An undergraduate degree completed at least two years before the deadline.
• A minimum of two years (2,800 hours) of work experience, paid or voluntary.
• Unconditional offers from three eligible UK master’s courses by July 8, 2027.

Closed October 6, 2026, 11:00 UTC. Track the 2027-28 reopening at chevening.org

Status: CLOSED (closed October 6, 2026, 1:00 PM Pacific Time)

Knight-Hennessy funds graduate study at any of Stanford’s seven schools, JD, MA, MBA, MD, MFA, MS, DMA, or PhD, alongside a three-year, cross-disciplinary leadership program. It is open to applicants of any nationality.

Read our detailed Knight-Hennessy Scholarship guide before you start the concurrent Stanford application.

This cycle has closed. The application for the 2027 cohort closed October 6, 2026, 1:00 PM Pacific Time. Knight-Hennessy has opened a new application cycle each year, so a 2028 cohort cycle is expected, but Stanford has not yet announced its opening or closing dates. Watch knight-hennessy.stanford.edu for the announcement.

• Full tuition for up to three years of graduate study.
• Living stipend and funding for academic travel.
• An enrichment fund for personal and professional development.
• The King Global Leadership Program runs alongside the degree.

Why it stands out: Up to 100 scholars are selected each year from a pool that includes every discipline Stanford teaches, from law and medicine to engineering and the arts, making it one of the few scholarships that funds a professional degree (JD, MD, MBA) in full.

• A bachelor’s degree completed in January 2020 or later (or completion by September 2027).
• Applicants must submit a separate, concurrent application to an eligible full-time Stanford graduate degree program, as coterminal degrees and a few other program types are not eligible.
• No fixed GPA cutoff, but a track record of independent thinking, leadership, and civic engagement.

Closed October 6, 2026, 1:00 PM Pacific Time. Track the next cohort at knight-hennessy.stanford.edu

Status: OPEN NOW | Deadline: October 20, 2026, 16:00 BST (CSC portal)

Funded by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, this scholarship covers a one-year taught master’s at a UK university for candidates from eligible Commonwealth countries, including India. Unlike Chevening, there is no work-experience requirement, which makes it more accessible to recent graduates. Our Commonwealth Master’s Scholarship guide walks through the nomination route in more detail.

• Full tuition fees, paid directly between the CSC and the UK university.
• Return airfare from India to the UK.
• A monthly stipend of Rs. 2.19 lakh (£1,712), or Rs. 2.56 lakh (£2,000) for universities in the London metropolitan area, at Rs. 128/GBP.
• A study travel grant for study-related travel within the UK or overseas.

Why it stands out: MBAs are explicitly excluded, so the award is squarely a scholarship for one-year taught master’s degrees in development-relevant subjects, and the CSC states it is specifically for candidates who could not otherwise afford to study in the UK.

• Indian citizenship and permanent residence in India.
• A first degree of at least upper-second-class (2:1) honours, or a lower second plus a relevant postgraduate qualification.
• A demonstrated inability to fund UK study without the scholarship.
• Nomination through India’s national nominating agency (the Ministry of Education), in addition to the CSC’s own online form. Important: the Ministry’s internal nomination deadline is typically earlier than the CSC’s October 20 date, so confirm it directly with the nominating agency rather than relying on the CSC date alone.

CSC portal deadline: October 20, 2026, 16:00 BST. Apply via your national nominating agency and CSC Central

Status: OPEN NOW | Deadline: October 21, 2026

DAAD, Germany’s academic exchange service, funds full-time PhD study at German universities, including doctorates jointly supervised by an Indian and a German academic (cotutelle arrangements). India is now Germany’s largest source country for international students. See our DAAD Scholarship eligibility guide for a full breakdown by program.

• A monthly stipend intended to cover living expenses in Germany (exact amount varies by applicant status; check the listing for your category on the DAAD scholarship database).
• Health insurance.
• A travel allowance for the trip to and from Germany.
• German public universities charge near-zero tuition, so the stipend goes almost entirely toward living expenses.

Why it stands out: The cotutelle route lets a doctoral candidate keep an Indian supervisor while also working with a German academic adviser, which is useful for students who want the degree recognized on both sides without relocating for the entire doctorate.

• A master’s degree (or, in exceptional cases, a bachelor’s) in a relevant field.
• Written confirmation of supervision from a professor at a German university.
• For doctoral candidates already enrolled: the doctorate must not have started more than three years before the application deadline.

Deadline: October 21, 2026. Search your specific program and apply at funding-guide.de or daad.de

Chevening and Knight-Hennessy have closed for this cycle; if either was your target, the action now is to prepare early for the next cohort rather than scramble this week. For the two awards still open, the Commonwealth Master’s Scholarship (October 20) and DAAD’s doctoral funding (October 21), triage by profile:

• If you are a recent graduate without work experience: The Commonwealth Master’s Scholarship does not require it, but you must also clear your national nominating agency’s internal deadline. Confirm that date with India’s Ministry of Education immediately, not on October 20.
• If you are set on a PhD and already have, or are close to securing, a supervisor in Germany: DAAD’s October 21 deadline is a day later than Commonwealth’s, but a confirmed supervisor letter is a hard requirement, so start that conversation now if you have not already.
• If you missed Chevening or Knight-Hennessy this year: start your essays, references, and (for Knight-Hennessy) your separate Stanford graduate application well ahead of next year’s expected August–October window, rather than waiting for the official opening announcement.

Book a free session with a Leap Scholar counselor to work out which of these fits your profile and timeline and what a competitive application for Chevening, Knight-Hennessy, Commonwealth, or DAAD actually requires.

Sources: Chevening Scholarship application timeline, Chevening Secretariat | Applications open for 2027 to 2028 Chevening Scholarships, GOV.UK / British High Commission New Delhi, August 4, 2026 | Knight-Hennessy Scholars admissions page, Stanford University | Commonwealth Master’s Scholarships, Commonwealth Scholarship Commission in the UK | DAAD scholarship database (Doctoral Programmes in Germany, Bi-nationally Supervised Doctoral Degrees), DAAD regional portal