Applications for 2025-2026 Chevening Scholarships are now open!
Study in the UK on a fully funded Chevening Scholarship
What is the Chevening Scholarship?
Chevening is the UK Government’s international scholarships programme. Funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and partner organisations, we offer awards to study in the UK for one year on a fully funded master’s degree course.
Successful Chevening candidates come from a diverse range of countries and backgrounds, but they all demonstrate the passion, vision and skills needed to shape a better world.
There are many benefits to being selected, including fully funded tuition fees, access to some of the best quality education in the world, exclusive networking opportunities, and the chance to explore the UK’s diverse culture.
At the end of your scholarship, you’ll join our diverse community of over 60,000 global alumni. You’ll return home equipped with the knowledge and networks to bring your ideas to life and thrive in your career.
Table of Contents
Required documents
All Chevening applicants must submit their education documents, references, and one unconditional UK university offer. The deadlines for these required documents are in the Chevening application timeline.
If you are conditionally selected for a Chevening Scholarship, it is essential that you submit these documents in order to remain in the process.
Selection updates and timelines
You will receive email updates about your application status at each step of the selection process. You can also check your status on the online application system. Log in using your registration details. Take a look at the Chevening application timeline and our FAQs for a better understanding of the upcoming stages of the selection process.
Chevening Scholarship 2025-2026 Important Dates
| 6 August 2024 | Applications open |
| 5 November 2024 | Applications close |
| Mid-November 2024 to January 2025 | Reading committee assessments |
| Mid-February 2025 | Applicants shortlisted for interviews |
| 19 February 2025 | References and education documents deadline |
| 26 February to 25 April 2025 | Interviews take place |
| From June 2025 | Results |
| 11 July 2025 | Offer deadline |
| September/October 2025 | Studies begin in the UK |
What is included under the Chevening Scholarship?
As Chevening Scholarships are fully-funded, your award includes the following:
- university tuition fees
- a monthly stipend
- travel costs to and from the UK
- an arrival allowance
- a homeward departure allowance
- the cost of one visa application
- a travel grant to attend Chevening events in the UK
How to apply:
On your Chevening Scholarship application form you will be need to submit three UK master’s degree choices in order of preference. It is up to you whether you apply for your courses before or after submitting your Chevening application. What’s important is that you don’t miss any UK university deadlines and that you secure an unconditional offer from at least one of your course choices by the offer deadline stated on the application timeline.
How to choose your courses
It’s up to you to research and choose the courses that align with your career goals. The guidelines below will support you to find the right fit:
- Research tools: Use the UCAS Postgraduate website and individual UK university websites for detailed information about courses, entry requirements, and deadlines.
- Backup options: Choose three similar courses at three different universities for more flexibility. Alternatively, select different courses at the same university. Ensure that course content is similar, even if the titles differ.
- Eligible courses: Use the Chevening course finder to ensure your choices qualify for a Chevening Scholarship.
Course requirements
Courses must be:
- Full-time.
- Start in the autumn term (usually September/October).
- Taught master’s courses (not research-focused MRes programmes).
- Leading to a master’s degree qualification.
- Based in the UK.
Courses cannot be:
- Part-time or distance learning.
- 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.
Eligibility
When applying for Chevening, you will need to pass an eligibility checker before you can access the application form. The eligibility checker will check if you meet all of the eligibility requirements set out on this page.
To be eligible for a Chevening Scholarship, you must:
- Be a citizen of a Chevening-eligible country or territory.
- Commit to returning to your home country for at least two years after your scholarship ends.
- Have at least two years of work experience (2,800 hours).
- Hold an undergraduate degree that qualifies you for a UK master’s programme.
- Apply to three different and eligible UK university courses. You must have received an unconditional offer from at least one of these course choices by the references and education documents deadline listed on the application timeline.
You are not eligible for a Chevening Scholarship 2025-2026 if you:
- Hold British or dual British citizenship (unless you are a citizen of a British Overseas Territory or hold BN(O) and are applying from Hong Kong).
- Hold refugee status in a country not eligible for Chevening. However, if you are a citizen of an eligible country and hold refugee status in another eligible country, you are eligible for a scholarship.
- 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. Employees, former employees, or relatives* of an employee of Chevening Partner organisations are eligible to apply, but if the employment took place within the last two years, you cannot receive a Chevening Partner Award from the organisation from which you work, previously worked, or are affiliated with through relatives.
- Have previously studied in the UK on a UK government-funded scholarship.
Please note that having a master’s degree does not prevent you from applying for a second master’s degree in the UK, providing you can articulate how it aligns with your career goals and will help you to drive positive change in your home country.
References
As part of your Chevening application, you’ll need to submit two references to demonstrate your suitability for a Chevening Scholarship and master’s degree in the UK.
As part of your Chevening application form you will only be required to submit the names and contact details of your referees. You will then need to upload your reference letters to the application system if you are invited for a Chevening interview.
Work experience : You must ensure that you meet the minimum work-experience requirement for the scholarship before submitting your Chevening application. Chevening Scholarships require that applicants have at least two years of work experience.
If you do not already have the required level of work experience, you will be unable to submit your application.
Eligible types of work experience
The types of work experience that are eligible for Chevening can include:
- Full-time employment
- Part-time employment
- Voluntary work
- Paid or unpaid internships
Work experience can be completed before, during, or after graduating from your undergraduate studies, however, any mandatory employment that counted towards your undergraduate or postgraduate course would not be eligible.
You do not need to meet the work experience requirement in one period of employment. Applicants can submit up to fifteen different employment periods in order to meet the requirement. If you have held more than fifteen positions then please enter the periods which make up the greatest number of hours worked.
If you are currently employed, it is not a requirement of Chevening that you resign from your position. You are advised to discuss your application with your employer and it is your responsibility to ensure that they will release you if you are selected for a Chevening Scholarship. You can refer them to the employers page on our website. The British embassy/high commission or the Chevening Secretariat cannot intervene in this.
How to calculate your work experience
- Your entries will be calculated automatically by multiplying the number of weeks worked by the number of hours worked per week.
- 2,800 hours of work equates to approximately two years of full-time employment, based on the assumption that full-time employees work on average 35 hours per week and 40 weeks per year.
- However, if you have worked over 2,800 hours in less than two years (i.e. by working more than 35 hours per week), you are also eligible.
- You may meet the 2,800 hours work experience requirement over a longer period than two years, if for example, you have worked part-time. To calculate the number of hours worked, the application system will automatically multiply your weekly hours by the number of weeks in the role.
Open for applications until 5 November 2024, at 12:00 (GMT)
