Margaret Busby New Daughters of Africa Award

Key information

Deadline date: 25 April 2026
Amount: £30,000 for tuition fees and maintenance

Scholarship overview

The total value of the Margaret Busby New Daughters of Africa scholarship will be at least £30,000.

Accommodation for the scholar will be generously provided at International Students House. Tuition fees will be deducted from this amount and any remainder may be used towards maintenance.

Application deadline

Scholarship applications must be received by 12 noon UK local time on 25 April 2026. Late or incomplete applications will not be considered.

In order to be considered for the scholarship, you must submit a complete online application to your programme. We recommend you apply for the programme about six weeks before the scholarship deadline to ensure you have an offer at the time of shortlisting. Please note that complete applications for admission can take up to 4 weeks to be considered by the Department, although this duration can vary depending on the time of year. You should be prepared to wait up to 6 weeks in busy periods.

Eligibility

Eligible programmes

Full-time MA African Studies
Full-time MA Comparative Literature
Full-time MA Translation (in African Languages)

Part-time programmes are not eligible.

Candidate criteria

Applicanst must:

Be a new admission, starting in September 2026.
Have a particular interest in African Literature with the aim to support a new generation of African female writers.
Be a Black, female student ordinarily resident in Africa.
Hold an offer to purpose one of the eligible degree programmes at SOAS by the time the scholarship panel meet.
Meet the English language condition of their offer of admission to study at SOAS as soon as possible.

Please note that this scholarships does not cover funding or even allow for pre-sessional programmes.

How to apply

Step one

Apply for your programme; find out more about how to apply for postgraduate study.

Applicants must have submitted a complete admission by the scholarship application deadline. The panel will be considering your scholarship application together with your online application for admission.

Step two

Apply for the scholarship by 12 noon UK local time on 25 April 2026. You must apply for this scholarship via the admissions portal. You will need to have applied for a course to get login credentials for this.

Assessment and notification of results

Candidate assessment

Candidates will be assessed on academic merit by a Selection Panel. Academic degree result, CV, Scholarship Application and other relevant information in your study application will be considered to assess the above criteria.

Notification of results

Due to the competitive nature of the award only the successful candidates will be notified by the end of June 2026. If you have not heard from us by then, you should assume your application was unsuccessful.