Chevening Scholarships 2025

Chevening Scholarships are one of the prestigious awards by the government of the UK to outstanding international students who possess strong leadership qualities. Funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office and partner organizations, the scholarship does not look for typical academically strong candidates but rather finds someone who has the passion and determination to make a difference. The scholarship is offered to study a one-year postgraduate course in the UK. Besides being fully funded, there are many benefits of this scholarship such as access to top-tier education globally, unique networking opportunities, and the opportunity to experience the UK’s rich and diverse culture

Aspects	Details
Type of Award	Government funded
Level of Study	Postgraduate (one-year course)
Subjects/ Fields	All fields
Deadline	November 5th, 2024
Website	https://www.chevening.org/

Eligible Countries for Chevening Scholarships

Students from around 160 countries and territories from all over the world are eligible for the Chevening Scholarships. For accurate data, you can check the list of eligible countries here. 

Types of Chevening Awards

The Chevening offers two types of awards – Chevening Scholarships and Chevening Fellowships. The recipients of these awards are personally selected by the British embassies and high commissions throughout the world. The Chevening Fellowships are offered to mid-career professionals who are at in influential positions already and look forward to increasing their networks and knowledge. So, we’ll just be focusing on scholarships here and talk about fellowships in detail in another article.

Scholarship Benefits

As mentioned earlier, the Chevening scholarships are fully- funded. This fully- funded award includes:

• Your monthly tuition fees
• Monthly stipend
• Travel costs 
• Arrival and departure allowance
• Visa application cost
• A travel grant to attend Chevening events in the UK

Eligibility Criteria

• Must be a citizen or hold a refugee status of a Chevening- Eligible Country. 
• A bachelor’s degree equivalent to an upper second-class 2:1 honors degree in the UK.
• At least two years (equivalent to 2,800 hours) of work experience. This can include full-time, part-time, voluntary work, or internships (paid and unpaid).
• You should commit to returning to your home country for at least two years after your scholarship ends. 
• You must apply to three different UK universities and courses and receive an unconditional offer from at least one of these course choices by the references 

There are special instructions for the choice of course. Your courses must be:

• Full-time.
• Start in the autumn term (usually September/October). 
• Should be taught master’s courses and not research-focused 
• Leading to a master’s degree certification. 
• Based in the UK. 

And cannot be:

• Part-time or distance. 
• Less than nine months or more than 12 months in duration. 
• PhD or DPhil. 
• Taught with more than one month of study outside the UK.

Ineligibility of Chevening Scholarships

You are held ineligible for a Chevening Scholarship if you:

• Hold British or dual British citizenship 
• Hold refugee status in a country not eligible for Chevening
• Are an employee, former employee, or relative of an employee of the UK government, British Embassies/High Commissions, the British Council, the Association of Commonwealth Universities, or sponsoring UK universities.
• Have previously studied in the UK on a UK government-funded scholarship.

Application Process

• Complete the online registration form using your email and phone number.
• You will then receive an email with a link to the application portal.
• Assess and pass the eligibility checker
• Once you have followed the link in your email to continue your application, you will see an access code displayed on your screen. Make a note of it.
• Start your Chevening applications and fill out the application form. Complete each section of the application form carefully and remember to save your progress as you work through each stage! 
• Give your consent to the statements and submit them.
• Once shortlisted for an interview, you’ll have to submit your references and documents and attend the interview.
• You will receive email updates of your application status at each step. You can also check the status of the online application system by logging in.

Important Dates

Applications for 2025-26 Chevening Scholarships closed on 5 November 2024 at 11.59 UTC/GMT for students starting classes from September/ October 2025. The applications will begin again next year around August for the next session and we’ll be updating every information as soon as the notification comes out. 

Selection process and criteria

The process of selecting Chevening Scholars takes around eight months from the application deadline to when applicants are conditionally selected for an award. The most suitable applicants are personally selected by British embassies and high commissions around the world based on their passion and eligibility.

Tips for Applicants

• Strong Leadership Examples: Highlight concrete instances where you’ve demonstrated leadership and made an impact.
• Clear Career Plan: Articulate how your chosen course and UK experience will benefit your career goals and your home country.
• Research Thoroughly: Ensure that your chosen courses align with your career objectives and demonstrate this alignment in your application.
• Seek References Early: Obtain strong, supportive references from individuals who know you well professionally or academically.
• Chevening Essay: There is a 500-word count limit for each of the four essay questions. You must not exceed this limit.

No plagiarism: Try and submit your original work. Using AI software to generate answers for Chevening’s essay questions is strictly prohibited.