Chevening Scholarship 2027-2028 in UK – Fully Funded – Closed

Status: Closed. Applications for the Chevening Scholarship 2027-2028 opened in August 2026 and closed in October 2026. This article describes the 2027-2028 cycle as published by Chevening, so that readers can see exactly what the award offers, who it is for, and how the selection process runs — and so that anyone planning a future application can prepare in good time. Do not try to apply for the 2027-2028 cycle now. The next cycle will be announced on the official Chevening website, and this article will be updated when it is.

Chevening is the United Kingdom government’s global scholarship programme. It is funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and partner organisations, and it offers fully funded scholarships for a one-year master’s degree at a UK university. Its stated purpose is to support future leaders, influencers and decision-makers from around the world, and to build a network of people who have studied in the UK and will go on to lead change in their own countries. That purpose shapes everything about the award: it is not only a way to pay for a degree, it is a selection of people Chevening believes will use the year well and stay connected afterwards.

Summary

What the scholarship covers

Chevening describes its scholarships as fully funded, and its scholarships page lists what that includes. The award covers university tuition fees, a monthly stipend, travel to and from the UK, an arrival allowance, a departure allowance, the cost of one visa application, and a travel grant to attend Chevening events in the UK. That is the published list, and it is worth reading in full, because it shows that the award is designed to cover the main costs of the year — not only the tuition fee, but the cost of getting to the UK, living there, and taking part in the Chevening network while you study.

The monthly stipend matters in practice. A year in the UK is expensive, and a scholarship that paid only the tuition fee would still leave a student to find rent and living costs. Chevening’s stipend is meant to cover those day-to-day costs, and the arrival and departure allowances are meant to cover the extra costs at the start and end of the year. The travel grant for Chevening events is a smaller detail, but it is a telling one: Chevening expects its scholars to meet each other, to attend events, and to build the network that the programme is built around.

Who can apply

Chevening publishes a clear list of eligibility criteria, and applications that do not meet them are rejected. To be eligible for a Chevening Scholarship, you must be a citizen of a Chevening-eligible country or territory, and you must commit to returning to your home country — the country of the award — for at least two years after your scholarship ends. That return rule is central to the programme: Chevening is investing in people who will go home and lead, not in people who plan to stay in the UK after the degree.

There are three further conditions. You must have at least two years’ work experience, gained after completing your undergraduate degree, equivalent to 2,800 hours. You must hold an undergraduate degree that qualifies you for a UK master’s programme, and you must have finished your degree by the application deadline, even if you have not yet received your certificate. And you must apply to three different and eligible UK university courses, and have received an unconditional offer from at least one of them by the offer deadline, which for the 2027-2028 cycle was 8 July 2027.

Chevening also lists who is not eligible. You are not eligible if you hold British or dual British citizenship, unless you are a citizen of a British Overseas Territory or hold BN(O) status and are applying from Hong Kong, as set out by Chevening. You are not eligible if you hold refugee status in a country that is not eligible for Chevening, if you are resident in the UK at the time of application, or if you are an employee, a former employee within the last two years, or an immediate relative of an employee of His Majesty’s Government, the British Council, a sponsoring UK university, or the Association of Commonwealth Universities. You are also not eligible if you have previously studied in the UK on a UK government-funded scholarship. Having a master’s degree already does not prevent you from applying for a second master’s degree.

Before you spend time on an application, use the eligibility guidance on the official Chevening website and check your country or territory page. Eligibility depends on your citizenship and residence, and your country page also carries the deadline that applied to you. Pakistan, for example, is listed among the Chevening-eligible countries.

Choosing your courses

The requirement to apply to three different UK courses is not a formality. Your course choices are part of the evidence Chevening judges, and they should make sense together: three choices that fit the career plan you describe, rather than three unrelated degrees. They must be eligible UK master’s courses, and you must have an unconditional offer from at least one of them by the offer deadline. That means you are running two applications in parallel — one to Chevening, and one to the universities themselves — and the university offers need to arrive in time.

Start the university side early. A UK university application takes time, and some courses ask for extra material. If you choose well, your three choices also give you a fallback: if one university does not offer you a place, the others may. Choose courses that genuinely fit your experience and your plans, because an interview panel will ask you about them, and the answer is stronger when the choice is real.

Deadline and timeline: 2027-2028 cycle

For the 2027-2028 cycle, Chevening published the following timeline. Applications opened in August 2026 and closed in October 2026. The exact closing date and time varied by country and was published on each country or territory page; Chevening’s timeline notes that the closing time is 11:00 UTC and warns applicants to check what that is in their own time zone. Applications are then sifted against the eligibility criteria from October 2026, and independent reading committees assess the eligible applications from mid-October 2026 to January 2027.

The later stages run through 2027. Applicants shortlisted for interviews are told in mid-February 2027. Interviews take place in March and April 2027, conducted by panels at British embassies and high commissions, and candidates invited to interview must upload their documents to the online application system. Results are announced in mid-June 2027, and the offer deadline — the date by which successful candidates must have an unconditional offer from at least one of their three course choices — is 8 July 2027. Scholars then begin their studies in the UK in September or October 2027.

That timeline is the reason the article is marked Closed. By the time you read this, the application window for 2027-2028 has passed, and the selection process for that cycle is already running. The useful date for a new reader is not the 2027-2028 deadline, but the opening of the next cycle, which Chevening will publish on its own website.

How to prepare for the next cycle

The best preparation for Chevening is not a last-minute essay, but a record built over time. The two-year, 2,800-hour work experience requirement means planning ahead is essential, and Chevening counts work experience gained after your undergraduate degree. Keep a record of your work, your responsibilities and what you achieved, and think about the leadership and networking examples you would use — the programme is looking for people who lead and who bring people together, not only people with good grades.

Your career plan also needs to be clear. Chevening scholars are expected to return home for at least two years, and your application should show what you will do with a UK master’s degree when you get there. The strongest applications connect three things: what you have already done, what you will study in the UK, and what you will do next at home. If any one of those is vague, the application is weaker.

Finally, prepare your documents before the window opens. Candidates invited to interview must upload their documents to the online system, and your university applications need their own supporting material. Reading Chevening’s application guidance before the next cycle opens — its guidance on preparing an application, on references and on common application errors — will save time when the window is open and the deadline is fixed.

Is Chevening worth it?

For a candidate who meets the eligibility rules, Chevening is one of the most complete scholarships available for study in the UK. It covers the main costs of a one-year master’s degree, it is designed for people early in a leadership career, and it comes with a network that continues after the year ends. Its limits are also clear: it is for a one-year master’s degree only, it requires two years of work experience after your undergraduate degree, it requires a two-year return home, and it is highly competitive. Those conditions mean it is not for everyone, and that is the point. If you are eligible and your career plan fits, it is worth preparing for properly. If you are not eligible, your time is better spent on awards that are open to you.

Frequently asked questions

Is the Chevening Scholarship fully funded?
Yes. Chevening describes its scholarships as fully funded. The award covers tuition fees, a monthly stipend, travel to and from the UK, arrival and departure allowances, the cost of one visa application, and a travel grant for Chevening events in the UK.

How much work experience do I need?
At least two years, equivalent to 2,800 hours, gained after your undergraduate degree.

Do I need to return home after the scholarship?
Yes. You must commit to returning to your home country for at least two years after your scholarship ends.

Can I apply if I already have a master’s degree?
Yes. Having a master’s degree does not prevent you from applying for a second master’s degree with Chevening.

Is the 2027-2028 application still open?
No. It opened in August 2026 and closed in October 2026.

Official source

All eligibility, funding and timeline details in this article were checked against the official Chevening website on 13 November 2026.

Official page: Scholarships — Chevening
Official page: Application timeline — Chevening
Official page: Eligibility criteria — Chevening

Last checked: 13 November 2026. Dates and conditions can change; the official Chevening website is the authority.