The government of Kenya, through the Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA), has opened up fully funded scholarship opportunities for Kenyans to study in the United Kingdom (UK).
In a public notice in My Gov newspaper on Tuesday, February 17, IRA said it was offering eight scholarship opportunities to Kenyans interested in pursuing a Master of Science degree in Actuarial Management at the Bayes Business School in the UK for the 2026/2027 academic year.
The opportunity is open to Kenyans with a Bachelor of Science degree in Actuarial Science and who have attained at least second class honours upper division, or an equivalent actuarial science qualification.
However, applicants with first-class honours will have an added advantage. According to the authority, the scholarship shall cover tuition fees, travel costs, accommodation expenses, and incidental and living expenses.
To qualify, applicants must have graduated within the last five years and have made significant progress towards becoming a fellow of the institute and faculty of actuaries, with a minimum of five professional papers completed.
To apply, interested individuals are required to download an application from the IRA website, complete it, and submit it, together with other documents, to the authority’s office in Nairobi or by email to scholarships@ira.go.ke.
Applicants are required to attach several supporting documents to their application forms. These include a copy of their identification document, academic certificates, official transcripts, result slips, a birth certificate, and a school-leaving certificate.
The authority has set the application timeline for Monday, March 2, 2026, at 5.00 p.m., noting that only candidates who are successfully shortlisted will be contacted.
The authority also cautioned applicants that any form of canvassing will lead to automatic disqualification from the recruitment process.
IRA has been offering scholarships annually since 2011, which play an essential role in addressing the shortage of actuarial professionals in Kenya. At the time the authority started giving out the scholarships, Kenya had fewer than 10 qualified actuaries.
The scholarship has contributed to the growth of the actuarial profession in Kenya, where the number of qualified actuaries has risen to over 70.
Initially, it awarded six scholarships annually, but in recent years, it has increased to eight per academic cycle-Kenyans.co.ke.
