Chevening Scholarships for International Students in uk
The Chevening Scholarship is an international scholarship scheme which enables students with leadership qualities from over 160 countries and territories to undertake postgraduate study or courses in universities in the United Kingdom.
Who can apply for a Chevening Scholarship?
Chevening enables outstanding emerging leaders from all over the world to pursue one-year master’s degrees in the UK.
There is no such thing as a ‘typical’ Chevening Scholar, but those who are successful tend to have ambition, leadership potential, and a strong academic background.
We encourage you to apply if you meet our eligibility criteria and other requirements. Your gender, age (there is no upper age limit), sexual orientation, religion, marriage or parenthood status, caste, class, or other attributes do not matter to us. What matters is your ability to submit a strong application that demonstrates you are capable of excelling on an intense master’s course in the UK, and that you have a clear vision for your future – and maybe even that of your sector or your country.
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 ten different employment periods in order to meet the requirement. If you have held more than ten 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. For this calculation, a working week comprises 35-60 hours and a working year comprises 40-50 weeks. Anything that exceeds the upper limit for full-time employment will be deemed ineligible.
The minimum number of hours an applicant must have before applying for a Chevening Scholarship is as follows:
- Chevening Scholarships – two years’ work experience = 2,800 hours
If you have worked part-time, the minimum requirement will have been accumulated over a longer period.
Eligibility
Ineligible applications will be rejected, so it is important that you check that you meet our eligibility criteria before you start your application.
To be eligible for a Chevening Scholarship you must:
- Be a citizen of a Chevening-eligible country or territory.
- Return to your country of citizenship for a minimum of two years after your award has ended.
- Have completed all components of an undergraduate degree that will enable you to gain entry onto a postgraduate programme at a UK university by the time you submit your application. This is typically equivalent to an upper second-class 2:1 honours degree in the UK but may be different depending on your course and university choice.
- Have at least two years (equivalent to 2,800 hours) of work experience.
- Apply to three different eligible UK university courses and have received an unconditional offer from one of these choices by 15 July 2022.
- Meet the Chevening English language requirement by 15 July 2022.
You are not eligible for a Chevening Scholarship 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 non-Chevening eligible country. Applicants who are citizens of a Chevening-eligible country and who hold refugee status in a Chevening-eligible country are eligible for a scholarship.
- Are an employee, a former employee, or relative* of an employee (since July 2017) of Her Majesty’s Government (including British embassies/high commissions; the Department for International Development; the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy; Department for International Trade; the Ministry of Defence; and the Home Office), or a staff member of the Association of Commonwealth Universities.
- Employees, former employees, or relatives* of an employee (since July 2017) of Chevening Partner organisations are eligible to apply, but cannot receive a Chevening Partner Award from the organisation from which they work, previously worked, or are affiliated with through relatives.
- Have previously studied in the UK with funding from a UK Government-funded scholarship.
Once submitted, applications undergo an electronic sift against our eligibility criteria. Any applications deemed ineligible will be removed from the selection process. Please see the list of common errors here. If you make these errors in your application form, your application will be ineligible. Please note that once your application has been submitted, it is not possible to change it retrospectively.
*Relatives are defined as parents or step-parents, siblings or step-siblings, children or step-children, spouse, civil partner or unmarried partner (where the couple have been in a relationship akin to marriage or civil partnership for at least two years)
English language
| We are aware that a large number of English language test centres around the world are currently closed, and that many candidates will not be able to take a test before July.Therefore, the Chevening English language requirement has been removed for applicants applying to study in 2020/2021. You will not need to provide evidence that you meet the Chevening English language requirement to be eligible for an award.Candidates will still need to meet the requirements of their chosen university and secure an unconditional offer from one of their three course choices by the Chevening deadline.You can find answers to other frequently asked questions about how coronavirus is affecting Chevening applications here. |
Below you will find information about the Chevening English Language requirement that will be relevant for those applying to study in 2021/2022.
English language tests
You are free to take tests as many times as necessary to meet Chevening’s English language requirement. Please note that Chevening does not pay for costs associated with English language testing. You are responsible for booking and paying for costs associated with these tests.
Chevening accepts English language tests from five providers:
• Academic IELTS (paper or computer-based)
• Pearson PTE Academic
• TOEFL iBT
• C1 Advanced (formerly Cambridge English: Advanced [CAE])
• Trinity ISE II (B2)
The English language test must have been taken from one of these providers on or after 1 October 2019. If you do not already have an existing eligible test certificate, it is your responsibility to ensure that you have booked a test date so that you can obtain the required results.
Applicants are not permitted to take pre-sessional courses to fulfil Chevening’s English language requirement. You will be required to take one of the approved English language tests unless you fall into one of the exempt categories.
Applicants are not permitted to enrol on pre-sessional courses to fulfil their university’s English language requirement or any other conditions of a university offer. Any offer from a university with a requirement to undertake a pre-sessional course will be considered conditional.
Chevening English language requirement: Breakdown of scores
| ACADEMIC IELTSFIND A TEST CENTRE | |
|---|---|
| Overall score of 6.5 with a minimum score in each component of: | |
| Listening | 5.5 |
| Reading | 5.5 |
| Speaking | 5.5 |
| Writing | 5.5 |
| PEARSON PTE ACADEMICFIND A TEST CENTRE | |
|---|---|
| Overall score of 58 with a minimum score in each component of: | |
| Listening | 42 |
| Reading | 42 |
| Speaking | 42 |
| Writing | 42 |
| TOEFL IBTFIND A TEST CENTRE | |
|---|---|
| Overall score of 79 with a minimum score in each component of: | |
| Listening | 17 |
| Reading | 18 |
| Speaking | 20 |
| Writing | 17 |
(Chevening will only accept Toefl scores that meet the Chevening requirements and not ‘MyBest’ scores.)
| C1 ADVANCEDFIND A TEST CENTRE | |
|---|---|
| Overall score of 176 with a minimum score in each component of: | |
| Listening | 162 |
| Reading | 162 |
| Speaking | 162 |
| Writing | 162 |
(Should an applicant take the test and score between 176 and 180, and achieve only a B2 certificate, the Secretariat would accept that result providing the 162 score in each category is met.)
| TRINITY ISE II (B2)FIND A TEST CENTRE | |
|---|---|
| Overall pass and minimum pass in each skill across both modules: | |
| Listening | 2 |
| Reading | 15 |
| Speaking | 8 |
| Writing | 14 |
In some countries, the availability of test centres is limited, so we recommend you organise a test at the earliest opportunity. If there are no English language test centres in your country, you may be required to travel to a neighbouring country to take a test. Please see your country page for further guidance.
Please note that the turnaround time for English language tests varies:
• IELTS results will be available in 13 days.
• PTE Academic results will be available in five business days.
• TOEFL results will be available in approximately ten days.
• C1 Advanced results will be available in two weeks for computer-based tests or seven to nine weeks for paper-based tests.
• Trinity results will be available in 21 days.
English language test results are sometimes withheld or delayed due to standard auditing procedures carried out by the test provider. Please note that extensions to the 15 July 2021 deadline will not be granted in any circumstances and applicants should, therefore, ensure that they take their test well in advance of the deadline.
Remember to prepare for your English language test in advance. Tips on how to prepare for the tests and practise test papers are available on each of the test provider’s websites.
English language exemptions
Applicants who are nationals of one of the following countries are exempt from submitting an English language test for a Chevening Scholarship:
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Australia
- The Bahamas
- Barbados
- Belize
- British Overseas Territories
- Canada
- Dominica
- Grenada
- Guyana
- Ireland
- Jamaica
- New Zealand
- St Kitts and Nevis
- St Lucia
- St Vincent and the Grenadines
- Trinidad and Tobago
- The United States
Applicants who have been awarded a bachelor’s degree or higher that was taught in full in a university located and accredited in one of the following countries are also exempt from submitting an English language test for a Chevening Scholarship*:
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Australia
- The Bahamas
- Barbados
- Belize
- British Overseas Territories
- Dominica
- Grenada
- Guyana
- Ireland
- Jamaica
- New Zealand
- Singapore
- St Kitts and Nevis
- St Lucia
- St Vincent and the Grenadines
- Trinidad and Tobago
- The United Kingdom
- The United States
| * The exemption from the Chevening English language requirement will not be granted for distance-learning courses or studying at the overseas campus of a university-based in an exempt country. However, evidence of studying abroad in one of the exempt countries for at least one academic year as part of an accredited degree course will be granted the English language exemption. |
English language requirements for UK universities
As well as meeting Chevening’s English language requirement, you may also have to meet certain English language criteria to be eligible for your university course. Universities may only accept a certain type of test or ask for higher minimum test scores. Be sure to check with your university what test they require you to take, even when you fall into one of Chevening’s exempt categories above.
Online application system
All Chevening applications must be submitted through our online application system (OAS). This system will be used throughout the application and selection process, and you may be asked to log back in at various points during the process to receive updates on your application status, or to submit documents.
We have collated tips and advice for you when using the online application system:
- 1) Where possible, use the Google Chrome web browser, as this is recommended for the best experience. We recommend using a laptop or PC, rather than a mobile or tablet.
- 2) When completing your application form, work in a full-sized window. This will make the application form easier to read in its intended format.
- 3) Don’t use your browser’s ‘back’ and ‘forward’ buttons. This will take you out of the system and you will lose all unsaved work. Navigate through the pages of the application form by using the menus on the form.
- 4) Remember your username and password. This saves time when you want to log back into the online application system.
- 5) Enter information accurately, especially your contact details. Please ensure that you enter a valid email address. If this changes after you have submitted, please ensure you update it in your application otherwise you may miss important updates about your application. If you provide a second email address, please ensure that it is valid and different from your first.
- 7) The application form may take some time to complete, so consider preparing your answers offline and then pasting them into the online form later – although do remember to delete the question to avoid duplication! This is particularly relevant if you’re using a public computer, in an internet café for example.
- 8) Application questions have word counts. In the application form, there is a set of questions you are required to answer. The minimum word count is 100 words per answer and a maximum of 500 words per answer, so please ensure you meet these requirements. Answers that are less than 100 words will not be considered.
- 9) Save as you go! There is no automatic save function on the system and each session will close after 60 minutes, even if you are still actively editing the form. Any unsaved entries will be lost, so you are strongly encouraged to save regularly to avoid losing your work.
- 10) You do not have to complete the form in one session. Use the ‘Logout’ button (top right corner of the page) and keep a note of your username and password so that you can come back and finish off your application later. You will also be able to access your application via a link you will receive in an email.
- 11) Do not plagiarise. If content from other sources is used to answer the application questions, it will be considered as plagiarised and your application will not be passed on to the reading committee, the independent body that undertakes the first review of all eligible applications received. You should, therefore, check your answers thoroughly, ensuring they are original and not copied from other sources.
- 12) Applications must be submitted in English. Any application not submitted in English is ineligible.
- 13) Check the size and format of the files you intend to upload and ensure they meet the requirement. The online system will only accept JPG/PNG/PDF documents of no larger than 5MB. Please ensure that the length of file names do not exceed 50 characters.
- 14) Only submit your application once you’re completely satisfied with it. When you are satisfied with your application, click the ‘Submit’ button. Please note that once you have done this, you cannot modify your application except for the contact details section, and to upload documentation. We do anticipate a high volume of applications, so please give yourself enough time to submit the strongest application possible.
- 15) Remember, you can only submit one application and we will only accept your first application. In order to withdraw from the process, you will be asked to provide a reason for doing so before the withdrawal is final. If you choose to withdraw your application you will not be able to start another application until applications open again in 2021.
- SUBMISSION ENDS IN : 1 November 2022
