A scholarship deadline is set in the provider’s time zone, not yours. Chevening closes at 11:00 UTC on 6 October 2026, which is 14:00 in Riyadh, Doha, Kuwait, Manama and Cairo and 15:00 in the UAE and Oman. Gates Cambridge’s 11:59pm UK time on 8 December 2026 is already 02:59 on 9 December in Riyadh.
This guide shows how each provider we list states its deadline, and converts each one to Gulf, Egyptian and Maghreb time.
How providers state their deadlines
Providers use four different styles:
- UTC: Chevening, “6 October 2026 at 11:00 UTC” (chevening.org).
- UK time: Oxford, “12:00 midday UK time” (ox.ac.uk), and Gates Cambridge, “11:59pm UK time” (gatescambridge.org). In December and January, UK time is the same as UTC.
- The provider’s local time: Knight-Hennessy, “1:00pm Pacific Time” (knight-hennessy.stanford.edu), and MBZUAI, “5p.m. GST” (mbzuai.ac.ae).
- A date with no time: KAUST (3 January 2027), HBKU (1 February 2027) and Fulbright Egypt (10 October 2026). None of these pages states a time of day or a time zone.
All pages were checked on 24 September 2026.
The deadlines in your time
| Deadline as stated | Riyadh, Doha, Kuwait, Manama (UTC+3) | Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Muscat (UTC+4) | Cairo | Casablanca, Tunis, Algiers (UTC+1) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chevening: 6 Oct 2026, 11:00 UTC | Tue 6 Oct, 14:00 | Tue 6 Oct, 15:00 | Tue 6 Oct, 14:00 (UTC+3) | Tue 6 Oct, 12:00 |
| Knight-Hennessy: 6 Oct 2026, 1:00pm Pacific Time (UTC-7) | Tue 6 Oct, 23:00 | Wed 7 Oct, 00:00 | Tue 6 Oct, 23:00 (UTC+3) | Tue 6 Oct, 21:00 |
| Clarendon, DPhil Engineering Science: 2 Dec 2026, 12:00 UK time | Wed 2 Dec, 15:00 | Wed 2 Dec, 16:00 | Wed 2 Dec, 14:00 (UTC+2) | Wed 2 Dec, 13:00 |
| Gates Cambridge: 8 Dec 2026, 11:59pm UK time | Wed 9 Dec, 02:59 | Wed 9 Dec, 03:59 | Wed 9 Dec, 01:59 (UTC+2) | Wed 9 Dec, 00:59 |
| MBZUAI: 15 Dec 2026, 5 p.m. GST | Tue 15 Dec, 16:00 | Tue 15 Dec, 17:00 | Tue 15 Dec, 15:00 (UTC+2) | Tue 15 Dec, 14:00 |
| Gates Cambridge: 6 Jan 2027, 11:59pm UK time | Thu 7 Jan, 02:59 | Thu 7 Jan, 03:59 | Thu 7 Jan, 01:59 (UTC+2) | Thu 7 Jan, 00:59 |
| Clarendon, MPhil Economics: 26 Jan 2027, 12:00 UK time | Tue 26 Jan, 15:00 | Tue 26 Jan, 16:00 | Tue 26 Jan, 14:00 (UTC+2) | Tue 26 Jan, 13:00 |
| Fulbright Egypt: 10 Oct 2026, no time stated | Not convertible | Not convertible | Not convertible | Not convertible |
| KAUST: 3 Jan 2027, no time stated | Not convertible | Not convertible | Not convertible | Not convertible |
| HBKU: 1 Feb 2027, no time stated | Not convertible | Not convertible | Not convertible | Not convertible |
GST in MBZUAI’s deadline is Gulf Standard Time, UTC+4.
Three places where clocks change
Cairo
The table assumes Egypt is on summer time (UTC+3) for the October deadlines and on standard time (UTC+2) from December. The IANA database, version 2026a, has Egypt moving back to UTC+2 at midnight between 29 and 30 October 2026. We could not open an official Egyptian government page that confirms the 2026 date, so check the Cabinet’s announcement before relying on it. None of the timed deadlines above falls near that date.
The UK and the U.S. West Coast
In the IANA database, UK clocks go back on 25 October 2026 and U.S. Pacific clocks on 1 November 2026. Knight-Hennessy’s 6 October deadline therefore uses Pacific Daylight Time (UTC-7). Oxford and Gates Cambridge deadlines in December and January use GMT (UTC+0).
Morocco
The IANA database has Morocco moving from UTC+1 to UTC+0 during Ramadan, from 7 February to 14 March 2027. We have not checked these dates against an official Moroccan source, so check them before any deadline in February or March. None of our timed deadlines falls inside that period.
What the providers themselves advise
Oxford asks applicants to submit “at least two weeks before your chosen deadline” and not to wait for deadline day (ox.ac.uk, checked 24 September 2026). KAUST says its dates “are tentative and may change based on application volume” (admissions.kaust.edu.sa, checked 24 September 2026), so check its timeline page again in December.
Our advice: when a provider gives a date with no time, treat the end of the previous day in your own time zone as your deadline. A date without a time can mean the provider’s midnight, which for KAUST and HBKU is UTC+3, the same as Riyadh and Doha.
