Applications for the 2027–28 Chevening Scholarship cycle opened on 4 August 2026 and close on 6 October 2026 at 11:00 UK time — a two-month window for one of the most competitive, and most generous, fully-funded scholarships in the world.
What It Actually Covers
Chevening funds one full year of taught master's study at any UK university, in any subject. That includes tuition fees in full, return economy travel to the UK, a visa application, an arrival allowance, and a monthly stipend reported at roughly £1,347 to cover living costs. Around 1,800 scholarships are awarded each year out of a global applicant pool, making the realistic acceptance rate somewhere in the low single digits.
Who Can Apply
You need to be a citizen of one of more than 160 Chevening-eligible countries and territories, have completed an undergraduate degree at least two years before the deadline, and hold at least 2,800 hours (roughly two years) of relevant work experience. A distinctive feature of Chevening's process: you apply to the scholarship itself first, listing three different eligible university courses, and only need to secure at least one unconditional university offer by a later deadline in mid-2027 — you do not need an offer in hand before you apply for the funding.
Scholars commit to returning to their home country for at least two years after finishing, in keeping with Chevening's aim of building leadership capacity that stays where it is needed rather than fuelling permanent emigration.
What the Selectors Are Actually Looking For
Chevening's own guidance is consistent year to year: assessors weigh leadership and influence, networking ability, a clear and specific career plan, and the quality of your study proposal — not simply grades. Shortlisted candidates are typically interviewed between February and April 2027.
One detail worth knowing before you start writing: Chevening explicitly prohibits AI-generated responses in the application itself, and reviewers are reportedly attentive to generic, templated-sounding answers. Write your own essays, in your own voice, well before the deadline — not the week of.
Chevening is not the only fully-funded route into a UK master's — Commonwealth Scholarships and Gates Cambridge run on similar timelines — and applying to more than one in parallel is a common, sensible strategy rather than something that counts against you.