King s Studentships - Frequently Asked Questions Q. Who is eligible for funding from King s College? A. Any individual beginning a new graduate degree as a member of King s College and the University of Cambridge is eligible to apply for funding from a King s Studentship. Q. How do I apply for a King s Studentship? A. To apply for a King s Studentship, you will need to complete a King s Studentship Application Form. Applicants are also required to submit a detailed research proposal and two academic references which must be sent directly from the referee, (either via post or via e-mail) or if enclosed with the application form, the reference must be in a sealed envelope with the referees signature across the seal. The e-mail address to send applications and references to is graduate.tutor@kings.cam.ac.uk. If sent by post the address is the Graduate Tutor, King s College, Kings Parade, Cambridge, CB2 1ST, UK. Applicants must also submit a course application by completing a Graduate Admission and Scholarship Application Form (GRADSAF) and submitting it to the Graduate Admissions Office by the closing date advertised in the Qualifications Directory. For details on how to apply to Cambridge University and deadline dates for applications see the University of Cambridge Graduate Admissions Q. Where else can I apply for funding? A. Cambridge University website has details of funding sources at: Cambridge University - Funding Q. Do I need to come and meet the Studentship Electors/Graduate Tutor to discuss my application for funding? A. No, it is not necessary to meet with anyone at King s regarding your application for funding. Interviews are not part of the selection process. Q. When do I apply for a King s Studentship, before or after I apply for my course? A. You can apply for a King s Studentship at any time before the studentship closing date which is the 31 January. You do not have to wait until you have submitted your course application to the University or until you have been accepted for the course. Q. How will my application for funding be assessed? A. Applicants are assessed in competition with all other applicants who have applied for a King s Studentship. The award winners will be those with the best academic achievements to date and potential for academic excellence in future research. Q. Do I have to choose King s as my first College choice?
A. Yes, you should choose King s as your first choice College as by doing so, it offers you a better chance of being offered membership here, without which you would not be eligible for funding from King s. Q. Do I have to be a member of King s College to receive/be considered for a King s Studentship? A. Ultimately yes, you must either be a member or at some point before we close for graduate admissions have been offered membership to King s, via a GRADSAF application. You cannot apply direct to the College for membership. Q. When will I know if I have been successful? A. Applications are shortlisted at the end of June and applicants will be advised by mid July if they have been shortlisted or not. Final decisions are usually made known from the beginning to mid July. Q. How many studentships does King s offer per year? A. The number of Studentship we are able to award varies from year to year. It largely depends on how many students we are already committed to fund i.e. funding for a PhD will continue for three years and some years there are more than others who have yet to complete. Also the amount of money we have to award will vary depending on how well the capital investment for each individual fund has made. Generally we are able make between 6 and 15 new awards per annum. Some of these will be full awards i.e. covering all tuition and College fees plus maintenance, and some will be partial awards covering one or two of these elements. Q. How many applicants apply to King s for studentships? A. We usually receive around 130 applications out of which around 50 become eligible for consideration. Q. How likely am I to receive funding? A. The King s Studentship Competition is very competitive as you will be able to ascertain from some of the answers above see replies to the two questions immediately above to give you an idea of how likely you are to win an award from King s. Q. How many studentships do you award to any particular subject? A. No subject is given priority for funding by the Studentship Electors. All applications are assessed on academic achievement to date and potential regardless of the subject. Therefore we cannot put a figure on how many studentships are available for any particular subject. Q. Are there any other funds I can apply to from Kings if my application for a King s Studentship is not successful? A. When you submit an application for a King s Studentship you are considered for ALL funding King s has for Studentships. Therefore if your application is not successful there is no other funding you can apply for from King s to fund your course.
Q. How much is a King s Studentship worth? A. There is no fixed sum for a King s Studentship award. The sum you are offered will vary depending on whether full or partial funding is awarded or required, i.e. applicants may already have been offered some funding from elsewhere. Full awards will cover the University Tuition fee, College fee and maintenance (living expenses) at the rate advertised in the Studentship information. Partial awards may cover one or more of these elements. Q. If my application for funding is not successful for this year, can I apply again/be considered for next year? A. You cannot be considered again for the same course. However, if you are starting a new course i.e. a PhD after completing the first year as an MPhil, you can apply again for a King s Studentship. Q. When does King s close for applications for College membership for Graduate courses? A. There is no pre decided date for when we close as it is not possible for us to know how many applications we will receive or offers we will have made by any given date. Generally we close between the end of March and the end of April for courses starting the following October. Q. My course application won t be processed in time to meet the deadline date for the Studentship what should I do? A. You do not have to wait for your course application to be processed before submitting an application for funding from King s. However, it is important that your application for College membership gets to us before we close for graduate admissions which is usually around the end of March end of April. Therefore we would advise that you apply to the University Graduate Admissions as early as you can as the application process can be lengthy. If you are concerned at any time about your College application not getting to King s on time, you can track its progress on your self service page on CamSIS and, if necessary, depending where your application is, contact the Department or the Graduate Admissions Office to check on its progress. Q. My transcripts are not yet available and won t be until after the deadline date can I submit my application without them? This is usual and expected. Therefore you may send transcripts as soon as they become available. However, you must remember to do so as soon as the transcripts are received as the College will not be responsible for chasing individuals if transcripts are missing from the application. Q. I am an overseas student Am I eligible for funding from a King s Studentship? A. The studentship competition is open to all individuals applying for a new graduate degree at the University of Cambridge and King s, regardless of nationality, subject, sex or religion.
Q. I don t have any money and won t be able to come to Cambridge unless I receive funding from King s will I be given priority for funding? A. The award winners will be those with the best academic achievements to date and potential for academic excellence in future research. However, in cases where there is known financial hardship, the Electors may give preference to such an applicant over an academically equal applicant who does not have financial difficulties. Q. I have more than two possible referees. Should I send more than the two requested? A. It should not necessary to send more than two references but if you wish you can include an additional reference. Q. Would it help my application if I enclose samples of written work/published papers? A. It is not necessary to send samples of written work or publications unless you are specifically asked to do so. Such material would not be included when your application is circulated to the Electors, only the information requested on the application form is used to assess applicants. If a sample of your written work is required, we would contact you after the Studentship meeting, which is held each year at the end of June. Q. What should I write in my research statement A. It would be very difficult to supply a clear formula for a research statement, given the huge variety of subjects and disciplines represented by potential awardees. However it is worth pointing out that the awarding committee will include some academics with some broad understanding of your discipline, and certainly some without. So a suitable research statement should be sufficiently detailed and specific to satisfy the committee that you have a clear understanding of what you want to do, and that the project is viable, and also sufficiently comprehensible for the non-specialist to be able get the main point. Quite often that balance is best achieved by presenting a general explanatory paragraph alongside the more detailed proposal. Q. I am applying for an MPhil therefore what do I write in place of a research statement? A. You should write a brief statement of what original research you hope to carry out in the course of your graduate studies. Q. If I have been accepted by another College, can I change to King s if I am offered funding from King s. A. This would not happen as you must first have an offer for College membership to King s in order for your application for a King s Studentship to go forward for consideration. We do not assess applicants for College membership from the Studentship application, only via a GRADSAF application, on which applicants will have had the opportunity to choose King s as either first or second choice for College membership.
Q. I m an overseas student. Will a King s Studentship pay enough to cover the overseas rate? A. Should an offer be made for a full King s Studentship the University Fee will be covered for the overseas rate. However, in some cases, depending on how much funding King s has available to offer, a set figure may be offered towards the University fee which may not cover the University overseas rate in full.