What the BDGS Actually Covers
Stipend, accommodation, airfare, medical coverage — and what living in Brunei costs on BND 650 a month.
ScholarshipUnion Editorial
3 min read
Updated Oct 6, 2026
The complete package
The BDGS is described as fully funded, and in the core sense — tuition, housing and living costs — that is accurate. Here is every benefit listed in the MFA’s general terms and conditions for the 2026/2027 call:
Exemption from tuition fees for the whole programme — including acceptance, examination, registration and orientation fees.
University or polytechnic residential college provided for the full scholarship duration. No rent to pay.
BND 500 personal allowance + BND 150 meals allowance = BND 650 total per month in cash.
BND 600 per year for academic materials.
Economy class from your country of origin or domicile to Brunei before the course starts, and back on completion.
Comprehensive insurance cover for the full scholarship duration. The MFA urges scholars to buy extra insurance at their own expense. UBD’s scholarship page also mentions free medical treatment at Brunei Government hospitals.
Baggage allowance on departure
The baggage allowance covers shipping your belongings home on completion only — not on arrival.
What BND 650 actually buys in Brunei
Brunei has an unusual cost-of-living profile. The country is a major oil exporter and fuel and many basic services are subsidised. For daily basics, BND 650 is workable. The prices below are our rough estimates, not official figures.
The key factor is that accommodation is provided on campus. Once housing is removed from the equation, BND 650 covers:
- Daily food — canteen meals on campus cost roughly BND 1–3 per meal. Cooking in shared facilities brings costs down further.
- Local transport — public buses in Brunei are infrequent, and most students use on-campus shuttles or informal carpooling. Grab (ride-hailing) is available but adds up with regular use.
- Phone and internet — a local SIM with data costs around BND 10–20 a month.
- Toiletries, clothing and personal items — comparable to regional Southeast Asian prices.
What BND 650 does not cover comfortably: international travel during semester breaks, higher-end restaurants, shopping and any emergency expenses. The book allowance (BND 600 a year, or BND 50 a month) helps with academic materials but is paid separately. The MFA also advises new scholars to bring enough money for their first month in Brunei.
The scholarship has no provision for dependants. No marriage allowance, no child allowance and no family accommodation. The residential college accommodation is for scholars only. If you are married or have children, the financial reality of supporting a family on BND 650 — or separately on your own — should be weighed very carefully before accepting an offer.
The PhD stipend confusion
Across scholarship blogs and aggregator sites, you will regularly see the BDGS described with a stipend of BND 2,200 a month. That figure is wrong for the BDGS. It comes from a completely separate programme — the UBD Graduate Research Scholarship (UGRS) — which funds PhD researchers at Universiti Brunei Darussalam. Its terms for the August 2024 intake paid BND 2,200 a month. UBD’s current UGRS terms (dated 26 May 2026, for the September 2026 intake onwards) pay BND 1,200 a month for 36 months, so even the BND 2,200 figure is now out of date for the UGRS itself.
These two scholarships share no administrative overlap. The BDGS is administered by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The UGRS is administered directly by UBD. They have different eligibility criteria, different application processes and different stipend levels. If you see BND 2,200 associated with the BDGS on any third-party site, that source has mixed up the two programmes.
| Feature | BDGS | UBD GRS |
|---|---|---|
| Administered by | Ministry of Foreign Affairs | UBD directly |
| Levels covered | Diploma, UG, Master’s | PhD only |
| Monthly stipend | BND 650 (personal + meals) | BND 1,200 for 36 months (from the September 2026 intake) |
| Apply through | MFA portal | UBD directly |
What is not covered
Being clear about what the BDGS does not include helps you plan finances before arriving:
- Personal travel within Brunei or internationally during the scholarship period
- Marriage or family allowances of any kind
- Private accommodation if you choose not to use the residential college
- Any costs arising from programme failure or academic dismissal
- Entertainment, subscriptions or personal electronics
- Visa renewal fees after arrival (contact your institution for current guidance)
- The medical fitness report you need after accepting the offer
- Travel insurance for the journey to Brunei
Ready to apply? The How to Apply page walks through every step.