CSC Scholarship China 2027: How to Fill the Online Form

The Chinese Government Scholarship (often called the CSC scholarship) is applied for online, in the Chinese Government Scholarship Information System. The form itself is short. The mistakes that cost people their application happen in two boxes near the start: the Program Category and the Agency Number.

This guide follows the China Scholarship Council's own instruction sheet for applicants, as attached to the Chinese Embassy in Indonesia's notice for the 2027/2028 scholarship, and the 2027 notices of several universities. We read all of them on 12 November 2026. We could not open the system itself to check each screen, so button names below are the ones the instruction sheet uses.

Before you open the form

Use the official website. The instruction sheet names one site: www.campuschina.org. It says the China Scholarship Council "never entrust[s] any individual or intermediary agent" to process applications, and that this is the only official website where it publishes Study in China information. Nankai University's 2027 guide gives the address of the system as studyinchina.csc.edu.cn.

Know which office you are applying through. You need its agency number before you start:

• Type A goes through the Chinese embassy or another authority in your country. The embassy publishes the number in its yearly notice.
• Type B goes straight to a Chinese university. The university publishes its own number.

Our CSC scholarship guide explains the two routes, and the deadlines page lists the embassy rounds we have checked.

Get your pre-admission document first if you can. The Indonesian embassy's 2027/2028 notice says all applicants must provide a pre-admission document from a university. Beijing Foreign Studies University lets you into the CSC system step only after you have its pre-admission notice. See how to get a pre-admission letter.

Scan your documents. The embassy notice says uploads must be "clear, authentic and valid" and recommends a proper scanner. You bear the consequences if a file cannot be read.

The eight steps

These are the steps in the instruction sheet.

1. Create an account. On www.campuschina.org, click "Scholarship Application for Students", register through Create an Account, and log in.
2. Enter your personal details. Click Edit Personal Details, fill in every item, verify and save, then click Finish. You cannot start the application itself until this part is complete.
3. Select the Program Category: Type A or Type B.
4. Enter the Agency Number. The name of the office appears on the page automatically. Check that it is the one you expect.
5. Enter the application information. Fill in "Language Proficiency and Study Plan", upload the "Supporting Documents", check everything, then click Submit.
6. Withdraw only if you must. After submission you cannot change anything. Before the office starts processing, you can click Withdraw, edit, and submit again.
7. Download the form. Click Print the Application Form.
8. Send what your office asks for. Follow the instructions of the embassy or university you applied through.

Fill in everything in Chinese or English. The sheet recommends the Firefox browser, or Internet Explorer 11 with compatibility view turned off.

Program Category and Agency Number

The instruction sheet says the two are "directly matched", and both are required. If either one is wrong, the office will not receive your application, and the sheet adds that an application with an incorrect agency number will not be processed.

Examples from notices we read:

Always take the number from this year's notice of your own embassy or university. Do not copy one from a video or from another applicant.

Type A: choosing universities. When you reach "Preferences of Institutes", the system shows only the universities that fit the student category and teaching language you selected, and you choose from that list. The "Help" menu has a catalogue of disciplines and majors.

Type B: one application. The University of Shanghai for Science and Technology's 2026/2027 guide and Sichuan University's copy of the instruction sheet both say each applicant can submit only one Type B application in an academic year. If you like more than one university, decide which one gets it.

What you upload

The Indonesian embassy's 2027/2028 notice lists these. Your embassy's or university's list may differ in detail.

• Passport information page. If the passport has less than 12 months left, counted from the date your studies are due to start, renew it first.
• Highest diploma, notarized. If you have not graduated yet, a letter from your school proving you are a student.
• Transcripts. Documents in any language other than Chinese or English need a notarized translation.
• Language certificate: HSK for Chinese-taught programs, or IELTS, TOEFL or similar as the university requires.
• CSCA score report, for bachelor's applicants only, from a test taken after 1 March 2025. See our CSCA guide.
• Pre-admission document from the university.
• Study plan or research proposal in Chinese or English: at least 200 words for bachelor's applicants, 500 for non-degree students and 800 for postgraduates.
• Two recommendation letters from professors or associate professors, for master's, PhD and senior scholar applicants.
• Foreigner Physical Examination Form, if you will stay more than 6 months. The result is valid for 6 months, so time the check-up.
• Non-criminal record certificate, usually issued within the 6 months before you submit.
• Guardian's documents if you are under 18, and samples of your work for art and design.

The university's own system comes too

For Type B, the CSC form is only half. Each university also has its own application system, and the order differs:

• Northwestern Polytechnical University: apply in the university's portal first (first batch 1 November to 31 December 2026, second batch 1 January to 28 February 2027, 17:00 Beijing time). After you finish the CSC form, email your CSC serial number to the admissions office.
• Beijing Foreign Studies University: apply in the university's system until 31 January 2027. Those who pass receive a pre-admission notice, then fill in the CSC system between 5 January and 28 February 2027.
• Nankai University: fill in the CSC form, download it, and upload it to Nankai's own online system. The window is November 2026 to March 2027; Nankai says the exact dates follow that year's scholarship notice.

For Type A in Indonesia, everything goes into the CSC system before 14 February 2027, and the embassy says there is no need to send paper documents. Other embassies set their own dates and may ask for more.

After you submit

• The embassy or university reviews applications and sends the recommended ones to the China Scholarship Council. The Indonesian embassy does this between 15 February and 1 March 2027.
• Results come in July to August 2027. Applicants can check the result in the system themselves; winners download the admission notice and the JW201 visa form there.
• You cannot hold another Chinese government or university scholarship at the same time, apart from one-time awards. The embassy notice says the scholarship is cancelled if this is found.

Free help from us

You can complete this form yourself, and nobody needs to be paid to submit it for you. If you are stuck on a step, or are not sure which university to put down, ask for free application help. Advice and application help are free for students, and we send your details to a university only after you agree.