The Light and Bells Health Foundation Scholarship gives $100 in tuition support to medical, nursing and allied health students at government-owned institutions in Africa, including Nigeria. There are three categories with two awards each, so six students win, and the money goes straight to the school. The deadline is 2 October 2027.
The amount is small, but only health students can enter and the application is a short online form. If you study Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Physiotherapy, Public Health or a similar course at a federal, state or local government school, it is worth the time.
Light and Bells Health Foundation Scholarship summary
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Sponsor | Light and Bells Health Foundation (LBHF) |
| Value | $100 per winner |
| Number of awards | 6 (2 in each of 3 categories) |
| Who can apply | Health students at government-owned institutions in Africa |
| Payment | Directly to your university or institution account |
| Applications open | 6 July 2027 |
| Deadline | 2 October 2027, 11:59 pm WAT |
| How to apply | Online Google Form |
The foundation describes its aim as improving health experiences in Africa by supporting the people who will staff its hospitals and clinics. It has run more than one call: an earlier 2025/26 round closed on 19 December 2025 with results promised by email by 12 January 2026, and the 2026 round with the three named categories ran from July to October 2026.
Light and Bells scholarship categories
| Category | Courses | Awards |
|---|---|---|
| G&G Tuition Support Scholarship | Medicine (MBBS or MD) | 2 |
| JSI Tuition Support Scholarship | Nursing (B.N.Sc, BSN or HND Nursing) | 2 |
| Vision Tuition Support Scholarship | Other allied health courses, such as Pharmacy, Physiotherapy, Public Health, Medical Laboratory Science, Radiography, Optometry and Dentistry | 2 |
Apply under the category that matches your course. Your institution can be federal, state or local government owned. Private universities are not covered. The foundation has not explained what the category names G&G, JSI and Vision stand for.
Light and Bells scholarship deadline
| Stage | Date |
|---|---|
| Applications open | 6 July 2027 |
| Deadline | 2 October 2027, 11:59 pm WAT |
| After the deadline | Review, assessment, then winners announced |
Deadline: 2 October 2027 (based on this year’s date; confirm on the official page when the call opens). The 2026 round ran from 6 July to 2 October 2026. Late or incomplete forms are not considered. If you are outside Nigeria, 11:59 pm WAT is 10:59 pm GMT and 1:59 am the next day in Nairobi.
Payment goes to the school
The $100 is paid into your institution’s account, not your personal account, except in rare cases where the school’s policy does not allow direct payment. Have your school’s fee payment details ready when you apply.
Who can apply for the Light and Bells Health Foundation Scholarship
- Location: a student in an African country. Nigerian students are eligible.
- Institution: a government-owned (federal, state or local) university, polytechnic, college of nursing or similar.
- Course: Medicine, Nursing or an allied health programme in one of the three categories.
- Information: every required field completed with accurate, verifiable personal, academic and institutional details.
The foundation allows AI tools only for light grammar or spelling help. Your personal statement and achievements must be your own, and forms with heavy AI-written content are disqualified.
Eligibility edge cases
- Which level? The 2025/26 call said all undergraduate levels could apply, full time. The 2026 call did not set a level limit either.
- Mission and faith-based schools: institutions owned by churches, missions or private proprietors are not government owned, even when they train nurses for public hospitals. Check who owns your school before applying.
- Schools of nursing and midwifery run by state hospitals: these are usually government owned, so they appear to fit. Midwifery alone is not named in the course list; the JSI category names B.N.Sc, BSN and HND Nursing.
- Postgraduate and housemanship: the award is described as undergraduate tuition support, so house officers and master’s students are outside it.
- Students from outside Nigeria: any African country is accepted. Students in Ghana, Kenya, Uganda or elsewhere apply on the same form, as long as the school is government owned.
How to apply for the Light and Bells scholarship, step by step
The 2026 listings describe the form fields without listing uploads. The earlier 2025/26 call asked for the following, so have them ready in case the 2027 form asks again: proof of identity (passport, national ID or birth certificate), your admission or enrolment letter, academic transcripts or result slips, a personal statement and one recommendation letter from a lecturer or mentor, each as a PDF under 2 MB.
- Read the call: check the 2027 details on the Light and Bells scholarships and grants page when it opens in July.
- Pick your category: G&G for Medicine, JSI for Nursing, Vision for other allied health courses.
- Gather your details: your personal details, institution, course and level, plus your school’s fee payment details (account name, bank and number, or the payment portal used for fees).
- Ask for a reference early: if a recommendation letter is required, give your lecturer at least two weeks. Our recommendation letter guide has samples you can share with them.
- Fill the form: the 2026 round used this Light and Bells Google Form. Answer every required field.
- Write your own statement: say what you study, what the money would pay for and what you plan to do in health care.
- Submit before 11:59 pm WAT on 2 October: and keep your confirmation.
Applying is free. Never pay anyone who offers to submit, “fast track” or guarantee your application.
How to write the Light and Bells personal statement
The 2025/26 call asked for 300 to 500 words on why the scholarship matters to your journey in health care and how you plan to contribute to health in Africa. Expect a similar prompt in 2027. With only two awards per category, the statement is where you separate yourself from classmates with similar grades.
The foundation’s stated focus is the next generation of health workers for Africa. So the reader wants a student who is serious about the course, has a realistic picture of health care at home and has a plan. A structure that fits 300 to 500 words:
- A real moment from clinical or community life: one scene that shows why you are in this course.
- Where you are now: course, level, school and your academic standing.
- The money gap: what the $100 would pay towards, in one or two sentences.
- Your plan for African health: a specific area (maternal care in rural areas, mental health, laboratory quality) and one step you have already taken towards it.
A sample opening, invented for illustration: “During my community health posting in 300 level, I watched a mother walk eleven kilometres to a primary health centre that had no one trained to read her baby’s malaria test. That is why I am studying Medical Laboratory Science at a state university, and why I want to work in rural diagnostics after I qualify.” Use your own experience, in your own words. The foundation disqualifies statements that read as AI-written, so do not paste one from a chatbot.
Common mistakes
- Wrong category: a Pharmacy student applying under G&G, or a Nursing student under Vision, makes the reviewer’s job harder.
- Applying from a private university: it will be rejected on eligibility.
- Missing school payment details: the money goes to the school, so incomplete fee account details can hold up payment.
- AI-generated statements: the call says these are disqualified.
- Waiting for the last night: the cut-off is 11:59 pm WAT, and a slow upload at 11:50 pm may not make it.
What happens after you apply
After the deadline, applications go through review and assessment before winners are announced. In the 2025/26 round, the foundation said it would email all applicants with results within about three weeks of the deadline. It has not published a results date for the October round, or whether there is an interview. Keep an eye on the email you used on the form.
If you win, the $100 is sent to your school’s fee account. Ask your bursary department for a receipt so you can see it credited. Winners may then be asked for a one to two minute video testimonial or a short written story by email. The foundation only publishes it with your consent.
What $100 covers, and what it does not
School charges vary a lot across Africa and even between Nigerian universities, so $100 may cover a large share of one student’s yearly charges and a small part of another’s. Because the money goes to the school, it cannot be used for:
- Hostel rent paid to private landlords, feeding and transport.
- Textbooks, stethoscopes, ward coats and dissection kits.
- Clinical posting costs outside your campus.
- Professional exam and induction fees.
Other scholarships health students can combine with this one
| Scholarship | Main benefit | Who it targets |
|---|---|---|
| Light and Bells Health Foundation | $100 paid to the school | Health students at government institutions in Africa |
| Carewave Aspire Scholarship | ₦500,000 a year | Federal university students, including health courses |
| Female Scholars Foundation Scholarship | Full university funding | Young women |
| Gabriel Ezenri Foundation Scholarship | Up to ₦500,000 | Nigerian undergraduates |
Nothing in the Light and Bells call bars you from holding other awards, so treat it as one of several applications rather than your only plan.
Who should apply, and who should not
Apply if you are an undergraduate in Medicine, Nursing or an allied health course at a government-owned institution anywhere in Africa, and you can write an honest statement about why you are in health care. The form is short, so even a modest award is worth an evening’s work.
Skip it if you attend a private or mission-owned school, you are a postgraduate or house officer, or your course is outside health. The rules are clear on those points.
FAQ
How much is the Light and Bells Health Foundation Scholarship?
Each winner gets $100, paid directly into their school’s account. Six students win, two per category.
Can Nigerian nursing students apply for the Light and Bells scholarship?
Yes. Nursing students (B.N.Sc, BSN or HND Nursing) at government-owned institutions apply under the JSI category.
Can private university medical students apply?
No. Your institution must be owned by a federal, state or local government.
When is the Light and Bells scholarship deadline?
The deadline is 2 October 2027 at 11:59 pm WAT, and the form opens on 6 July 2027.
Sources and updates
This post uses the foundation’s 2026 call as listed by ScholarshipAir (categories, $100 value, payment rule and Google Form), ICAN Student (opening date, deadline time, the wider allied health course list, AI policy and testimonial request) and ScholarshipSet. Details of the earlier 2025/26 round (documents, the 300 to 500 word statement, all undergraduate levels, the December 2025 deadline and January 2026 results) come from ICAN Student’s listing of that call. The foundation has not published what the category names mean, the 2027 form questions or a results date for the October round. The foundation’s own form and its scholarships page are final. Last checked 24 October 2026.
I am Jude Chinecherem, a final-year MBBS student at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. I know what it feels like to want an education your family cannot afford. When my parents could not pay for my schooling, I had to learn how to find scholarships and work the system out on my own, with nobody to guide me. I came out the other side, and now I share everything I learned so the next student does not have to figure it out alone. This is the advice I wish someone had given me back then.
