Chevening Scholarship Guide

What the Chevening Scholarship is

Chevening is the UK government's international scholarship programme, funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) and partner organisations. It supports outstanding individuals from eligible countries to study a one-year taught master's degree at a UK university.

Chevening is for taught master's study only — not undergraduate degrees and not PhDs. Applicants apply for the scholarship and for university places separately, and bring the two together during the process.

Headline eligibility

Chevening sets out clear, secular eligibility on its official site. In broad terms, applicants must be a citizen of an eligible Chevening country, hold an undergraduate degree that qualifies them for a UK master's, have a required amount of work experience, and intend to return to their home country after the scholarship.

• Be a citizen of a Chevening-eligible country
• Hold an undergraduate degree that qualifies you for a UK master's
• Have the required work experience (defer the exact amount to chevening.org)
• Apply to eligible UK university courses and meet the offer requirement
• Return to your home country after the scholarship period

The unconditional-offer requirement

A key feature of Chevening is that selected applicants must secure an unconditional offer from one of their chosen UK university courses by a set deadline. An unconditional offer means a confirmed place with no outstanding academic conditions.

Because this is a firm requirement with a fixed cut-off date each cycle, plan your university applications early. The exact deadline and the list of eligible courses are published on the official Chevening site and change each year — confirm them there.

How the application works

You apply through the official Chevening online application during the annual application window. The process typically involves your academic and work history, your choice of up to three eligible UK courses, and a set of application essays, followed by shortlisting, interviews, and final selection.

The steps, essay questions, and timeline are set out on chevening.org and can be updated each year, so follow the current official guidance rather than older summaries.

Apply safely — no guarantees

Chevening is free to apply for through the official website, and no one can guarantee you a Chevening award. Be cautious of any person or service charging a fee to "secure" the scholarship — that is not how Chevening works.

This guide is general information about how the programme is structured. It does not state amounts, deadlines, or the eligible-country list, because those change each cycle — verify all current details on the official Chevening site before applying.