Chevening eligibility criteria

Chevening Scholarships and Fellowships are awarded to people who are:

• Passionate about creating lasting change in their local communities and beyond
• Open to collaborating across borders to achieve greater impact 
• Committed to growing their networks and field of influence

If this sounds like you, take our quiz or keep reading to find out if you’re ready to apply.

Take our eligibility quiz

To be eligible for a Chevening Scholarship you must: 

• Be passionate about creating lasting positive change and a realistic career plan for achieving it.
• Have lots of examples of your leadership and influencing skills.
• Have at least two years of work experience (2,800 hours), acquired after the completion of your undergraduate degree. 
  
• Be a citizen of a Chevening-eligible country or territory.  
• Commit to returning to the country of citizenship from which you applied for at least two years after your scholarship ends. 
• Hold an undergraduate degree that qualifies you for a UK master’s programme. 
• Apply to three different and eligible  UK university courses. If you are conditionally selected for a Chevening Scholarship, you must have received an unconditional offer from at least one of these course choices by the deadline provided. We recommend applying to UK universities as soon as possible.

Read our application FAQs

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 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. 

Work experience requirement

Before applying for a Chevening Scholarship, you need at least two years (2,800 hours) of work experience.  

This can include: 

• Full-time employment
• Part-time employment
• Voluntary work
• Paid or unpaid internships 

Experience gained during mandatory employment for your degree does not count. You can combine up to fifteen different work periods to meet the requirement.

Find out more about the Chevening work experience requirement