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Great Wall Fellowship paperwork: applying through your National Commission for UNESCO

Sources checked · Chinese Government Scholarship

UNESCO does not accept individual applications for the UNESCO/China Great Wall Co-Sponsored Fellowships Programme. The programme page says that only applications endorsed by the National Commissions for UNESCO will be considered, so your papers go to the National Commission for UNESCO of your home country. For the 2026-2027 edition, the candidate deadline was Friday, 23 January 2026, and the nomination deadline was Tuesday, 10 February 2026. Both dates have passed.

Who the application goes through

The programme page says: "Due to the intergovernmental character of UNESCO, individual applications will not be accepted by UNESCO."

It also says: "Applicants should submit their application documents through the National Commissions."

The page states that candidates must be nationals of the invited Member States. It lists the invited Member States by region, with Annex I - the List of Invited Member States linked from the page.

Application steps, in the order the page gives

The programme page numbers six steps. The numbering below follows the page.

Step 1 Read the Application Guidelines for the 2026-2027 UNESCO/China Co-Sponsored Fellowships Programme carefully. The guidelines set out the requirements for eligible candidatures and the procedure for submitting an application.

Step 2 Contact the National Commission for UNESCO of your home country. Ask the National Commission about the application procedures at the national level. The page says: "A pre-admission letter is mandatory for application in the current edition." If you have received an admission notice, a pre-admission letter or an invitation from professors, attach those documents in your online application.

Step 3 Submit your online application in the Chinese Government Scholarship Information System. Submit the required supporting documents in the same system, as the Application Guidelines describe. The page refers to the Instructions for Online Application for UNESCO/China - the Great Wall Co-sponsored Fellowships Programme for guidance on the online submission.

Step 4 Submit your online application form to the National Commission for UNESCO of your home country. Submit all the supporting documents to the same National Commission by Friday, 23 January 2026.

Step 5 After the National Commission informs you that you are nominated, send your online application form and supporting documents to the programme email address printed in Step 5. The page says: "Only applications nominated by the National Commission will be accepted by UNESCO." The page also says: "It is mandatory for each nominated candidate to submit his/er application in the Chinese Government Scholarship Information System before the application deadline." It adds: "Application without online registration will not be considered."

Step 6 The National Commissions submit their letters of nomination, with the application documents, to UNESCO by Tuesday, 10 February 2026 at the latest. The page says: "Candidates who submit incomplete applications, or submit the online applications beyond this deadline won't be considered."

How candidates are selected

The "Submission and Selection of Candidates" part of the page gives three points in this order.

The National Commissions of invited Member States select qualified candidates. They then send UNESCO copies of the online Application Forms and the application documents of the nominated candidates.

The page says the selection of fellowship recipients is made by the concerned Chinese universities. It says the selection is approved by the Chinese authorities and UNESCO, taking gender equality and diversity into consideration.

UNESCO informs the National Commissions of the selected fellows.

Documents the page lists

The page lists the following documents and conditions. Each item comes from the part of the page named in brackets.

  • Online application form. The page says: "Without successfully submission of application on the Chinese Government Scholarship Information System, candidates will not be able to get the Application Form for Chinese Government Scholarship, which is one of mandatory application documents." (Questions on the page)
  • Pre-admission letter. The page says pre-admission documents "may include pre-admission notice issued by the international students' admission department, or an invitation letter from the university or a professor, among others." (Step 2 and Questions on the page)
  • Language certificates. For English-taught programmes, the page says candidates should submit "a certificate of international English proficiency tests, such as IELTS or TOEFL." If a candidate cannot provide one, the page says it is mandatory to submit the UNESCO Certificate of Language Knowledge, which is linked as Annex IV. For Chinese-taught programmes, the page says candidates "must submit valid HSK score reports as required by the applied study programmes."
  • Diploma copies. The page says: "Applicants are required to submit notarized photocopies of their highest diploma." Prospective diploma recipients "must instead provide official proof of student status issued by their current educational institution." The page also gives an example for prospective graduates: "an official letter issued by the university."
  • Translations. The page says: "If the original documents are in languages other than English or Chinese, candidates should submit the original documents, along with the notarized translation in English or Chinese."
  • Passport. The page says: "Applicants must submit an ordinary passport when applying for the Fellowships Programme."
  • Physical examination. The page says: "Applicants must submit the Foreigner Physical Examination Form completed in English." The form is linked as Annex III. The page says records that are incomplete, or that lack the signature of the attending physician, the official stamp of the hospital, or a sealed photograph of the applicant, will be considered invalid. It says the result is valid for 6 months.

The page names no file format for the supporting documents.

The page's notes on the Chinese Government Scholarship Information System show that the programme uses Agency Number 00001 and Programme Category "Type A Application." The page says candidates enter these in the system, and that the matched agency name UNESCO then appears. These values belong to this programme's page. For the category and number to use, contact your National Commission.

Dates for the 2026-2027 edition

  • Candidate deadline to the National Commission: Friday, 23 January 2026.
  • Nomination deadline to UNESCO: Tuesday, 10 February 2026.
  • The page says candidates who do not receive notification from UNESCO by 15 August 2026 "should consider that their application has not been successful."

These dates belong to the 2026-2027 edition and have passed. Look for the current notice from UNESCO for the next edition.

Suggestion, not a rule: the page says "Member States may lay down different recruitment procedures and deadlines, which they consider appropriate in their countries." Contacting your National Commission early gives you time to learn its own steps.

Questions people ask

Can an educational institution nominate a candidate?

No. The page says: "nomination of applications must be made by the National Commission for UNESCO."

Can a fellowship be renewed or extended?

The page says: "It is impossible to renew or extend a fellowship under the same UNESCO fellowships programme." It also says UNESCO "has no objection if a fellow continues his/her studies in China with other types of funding."

Does UNESCO provide accommodation for spouses or dependents?

No. The page says: "Neither UNESCO nor the Government of China provide financial support or accommodation for the spouse or dependents of a fellow."

Sources

Checked 10 October 2026

This page is an unofficial summary. It is not published by or affiliated with the Ministry of Education, the China Scholarship Council, the National Immigration Administration, any embassy or any university, and it is not legal advice. If the official text differs from this summary, the official text and the current notice of the office handling your case prevail.