France - South Africa Scholarship Programme

Every year the Embassy of France in South Africa awards scholarships to South African students completing their Master’s or PhD degree in France. We are proud to continue and to expand this initiative in order to support even more South African students in their endeavours to study in France!

We are working in partnership with our South African partners (DHET, DSI, NRF and USAf), as well as French businesses present in South Africa. They constitute the Advisory Board whose role is to serve as a forum to reinforce the mobility of students between the two countries, to provide an informed opinion on each scholarship candidate and to explore collectively the funding opportunities from public agencies and private organizations in order to satisfy all deserving applicants.

Furthermore, we have transformed the scholarship into a programme that truly benefits the applicants. All students who are shortlisted after the interview process and the Advisory Board review are provided with a specific track before their departure to France. This track includes French lessons to assist in their preparations for their time in France and, where available, relevant internships offered within French businesses in South Africa. In this way, we are able to help cultivate soft skills amongst the candidates, which will be highly beneficial as they enter their professional careers after having completed their studies in France. This is also a productive use of the months that are otherwise lost due to the difference between the academic calendars in the Northern and Southern hemispheres.

As a means to facilitate access to information for potential candidates, and to streamline the application process, we have created a dedicated website

www.southafrica-france-scholarships.com

Here, students can find all the information that they need about the programme, all-year-round, and they can also create and submit their online scholarship application during the relevant period.

The 2021 campaign was the first time that the dedicated website was used and the results were clear: almost 1300 users created an account and 236 students fully completed their applications. Of these submissions, 67 were pre-selected for interviews and 32 were shortlisted after the interview and Advisory Board review process which was finalised in April 2022. Shortlisted candidates complete their French lessons and their 2-month internships (if relevant) before their departure to France for the academic year which starts in September.

The 2024 campaign provides even greater opportunity to shortlisted candidates. Applications were from June to October 2024. Campus France South Africa is providing regular webinars in order to provide all the necessary information to applicants and to connect students with higher education institutions from France. The application results will be announced in December 2024. This leaves more time for French lessons and for longer internships in 2025, which will take place from February to July 2025, with departure to France in time for the start of the new academic year (September 2025).

The French Embassy, with its public and private partners from France and South Africa, is excited at the prospect of supporting more students in a more holistic manner.

Embassy of France in South Africa