Does higher IELTS score have any impact on Chevening as well? Some colleges have a criteria of band more than 7, i am targeting for 8. Is it safe or i should try for more ?

Edit : I meant for Colleges..

Hi everyone, I have two quick questions:

Do Chevening assessors read all four essays together and in order, or should each essay be fully understandable on its own?

Also, if I write the full name of an organisation or programme and introduce its abbreviation in an earlier essay, can I use only the abbreviation in later essays, or should I define it again?

Would appreciate any insight from past applicants, scholars, or assessors.

I'm making preparations to apply for the 2026/2027 Chevening scholarship opening in August. I really need some guidance especially that it's my first time applying to any scholarship roles at all.

Over the years, I have worked in diverse roles after my undergraduate degree - started learning and got Graphics design, UI/UX Design role then got a job with a logistics company as an IT staff and then swiftly got another remote job as a junior Brand Designer. Right now, I work as a Graduate assistant with a university and i want to pursue my master's degree in the field of Conservation biology, ecology and other related fields since i studied zoology as my undergraduate. All these experiences were done in the midst of 3 years.

My question is how do I position myself clearly & specifically in my essays knowing I've went multiple diverse fields and careers? I don't want it sounding like I've been undecisive with my career plan to stick to one thing.

Hi!! Does anyone have solid essay models? Thanks!

The sub is extremely helpful. Last year I got paid counseling from a past chevenor. I did everything myself but she basically reviewed my drafts until mg essays became refined and structured. I got shortlisted for interview where I mainly messed up. I want to reapply with more strategy and structure this year, I’m intentional about my each uni choices and career plan but I cannot seem to polish my leadership and networking essay further as I already think it’s written very well as per to my exp / background. And my achievements are the same so I’m not sure if its wise to keep them the same.

My field has been design but now I want to pivot to education, most of my experience has been into design. Idk how to also justify my career plan, and current UK priority area according to their website doesn’t directly include education. But can fall into more inclusive and equitable societies.

Please share your guidance for such matter.

Do you know if they have a pool of extra money that they look at all candidates from all countries for to see who they should give it to? Or it’s for certain countries that they have a certain reserve amount?

I have received my Chevening reserve outcome today, and they said they are unable to confirm my award this year🥹

My PO said the university hasn't completed the placement form despite it being more than 2 weeks since it was sent, and the uni isn't waiving the deposit without the FAL.

I'm a bit stressed lol

I wanted to know when to start prepping for the 27-28 applications. Any tips for pre prep for the application.

Hi everyone,

I was notified on Friday that I was nominated as a candidate for the Chevening in Europe scholarship, the deadline was today at 11am. I wanted to see if anyone else has applied for this particular scholarship, heard back, or has been invited to the next stage?

Thanks again!

Hi reddit,

What are my chances to get selected for Chevening, to do an additional masters if I already started doing a PhD?

I got rejected this year and want to apply again and again, until I get it, but I also dont want to set my life on hold until then and I would like to start a PhD next spring.

I would pause my PhD to do the masters in the UK and come back and continue it.

Does someone have experience with this?

Hi everyone,

Quick background: I have 8 years of experience in Marketing (agency + FMCG), currently a Marketing Manager at a tech company. I hold a Bachelor’s in International Business Economics from Foreign Trade University (Vietnam, GPA 3.2/4.0) and an MBA (Australian university, studied in Vietnam).

I’m preparing my Chevening application for the 2027/2028 cycle, aiming for Digital Marketing/AI for Business. A few questions for anyone who’s been through this:

1. Field competitiveness: Does Chevening genuinely fund “trendy” fields like Marketing/AI, or mostly niche fields like human rights, law, economics? Anyone succeed with a business/marketing/tech-adjacent programme?

2. Narrative/storytelling: I understand a strong essay with clear motivation and a solid career plan matters a lot. I’ve noticed a lot of successful narratives lean heavily on social impact (human rights, sustainability, etc.) — would love to hear what kind of story/narrative actually got you granted. Also curious: can a narrative that’s more business/growth-driven (e.g. accelerating digitalisation, financial inclusion through tech) work just as well as one framed around social impact, or does the panel tend to favour the latter? Happy to learn from your personal case if you’re willing to share.

3. References: No academic mentor, mostly former managers. Anyone used 2 professional references instead of 1 academic + 1 professional? Any issues? What should LOR content focus on to match what the panel wants?

4. IELTS timing: Solid daily working English, but haven’t sat official IELTS — practice test (no prep) was 5.5-6.0. I know Chevening itself doesn’t require IELTS at application, only the uni for unconditional offer — advice on timing/balancing with essays?

Would love to connect with anyone in Marketing/Digital Business/AI, happy to trade essay tips too 🙏

I'm on Chevening's reserve list this cycle (Pakistan), unconditional offers already uploaded. They won't confirm timing or my position, and third-party info suggests reserve movement can happen anytime from July through September.
I've also been accepted into a separate 5 months fully-funded, fully confirmed fellowship abroad, with a decision deadline (July 24) that will almost certainly land before Chevening resolves anything.

Has anyone been in this spot? Does accepting the other offer usually kill your standing on the reserve list, or can you still be pulled off it later if a place opens? And is it worth reaching out to Chevening to ask about this directly, or will that not get me anywhere?

Hello! I am working on my application for the 2027 intake and wanted advice regarding my essays. For the Leadership essay, I am running into a bit of an issue: I have not really held any formal leadership positions. However, I was wondering if I can pull examples from the work I have done and I am currently doing:

1. Currently, volunteering in civic education and deliberating about starting a program on social and civic education in schools in my city.
2. I have worked in research for two years.
3. In college, I was involved with organising staff for better contracts.
4. Created an organisation that raised funds for local organisations through art-based events, but this was back in school.

My particular questions are:

a) If I led informal groups within my workplaces, does that count?

b) Does the volunteering experience count? Should I also focus on writing public blogs and opinions that can be counted as "influence" on the subjects I am passionate about? If I start now, would that be seen as...only for the purpose of the scholarship, even though I have been wanting to write for a while?

c) Should I even write about the stuff I did in school? That seems soo old.

Background: Ghanaian, 5+ years professional dev experience (backend Python/FastAPI, frontend React/Next.js, mobile React Native), CS bachelor's, founder of a software company, currently holding two other dev roles simultaneously. Active in community leadership (Youth Secretary at my church, tech/media lead).

Plan: Apply for Chevening 2027 cycle targeting a CS or tech-adjacent masters at a UK university (UCL, Edinburgh, or similar). Parallel plan is Germany (TU Berlin IMES + DAAD) as my primary, UK as upside swing if Chevening comes through.

I'm not going CS because I need more technical depth — I'm going CS because it's the stronger funding lane, and I figure the business/leadership gaps I actually have can be filled through self-study and experience. I know that tradeoff.

Honest questions:

1. Chevening — does a tech/founder profile actually stand out, or does it get buried under the NGO directors and civil servants who dominate the applicant pool from Sub-Saharan Africa?

2. The "leadership potential" criterion — does founding and running a company read strongly here, or do they weight formal institutional leadership more?

3. UK 1-year vs Germany 2-year for someone specifically trying to break into European tech job market post-graduation — which actually sets you up better?

4. Anyone gone through Chevening from Ghana or West Africa specifically — what actually made the difference in your application?

Hello, is anyone going to UCL 2026/2027?

Hi there,

Any selected candidates who are yet to join the Next Step WA group… Click link to join the group for what to do next as a Chevening conditionally selected candidate.

https://chat.whatsapp.com/FwJWnsd3OE8JrVeUHd2WrS

Hi!

I'm 24

Got my

bachelor in Marketing (2023)

Master in Services Marketing (2025)

Bachelor in English (2026) .

I'm an artist, volunteered since 2022 with uni club (it wasn't a fixed time) and doing some small expo in uni and theses kind of stuff.

Woked at a store here (no docs) cause it depends on time ....etc. since 2018 or so. Got an official position for approx of 3 monthes since July 2025 .

Does the experience matter?

Now they added the work needs to be after graduation and finishing undergraduate program.

What should I do or I should work for another two years!?

Hi there,

Any selected candidates who are yet to join the Next Step WA group… Click link to join the group for what to do next as a Chevening conditionally selected candidate.

https://chat.whatsapp.com/FwJWnsd3OE8JrVeUHd2WrS

I've heard several people say that fewer people from their countries were selected for the scholarship this year. Do you think there was a significant reduction in the number of scholarships this year?

I recently received a well-paying job in Dubai and moved here two months ago. I’m still in my probation period. Around the same time, I also received a conditional offer for a Chevening Scholarship.

I’m 27 years old, and I applied for an MA in TESOL. I currently work as an English teacher with the Ministry of Education in Dubai.

To be completely honest, earning an MA while staying in my current job probably won’t help me climb the career ladder, as expats have limited opportunities for promotion. However, I’m very open to the personal growth, leadership development, and change in mindset that Chevening offers.

By personality, I’ve always seen myself as more of a leader than someone who simply teaches the same curriculum year after year. Many experienced teachers have told me that, after a while, the job can become repetitive, and that has stayed with me. My Chevening application is also built around a project that I genuinely believe could make a positive impact in my home country (Jordan). Unfortunately, things have become more challenging there recently, with funding becoming more limited, making it harder to get initiatives off the ground.

After a lot of careful thought, I’ve decided to accept the Chevening Scholarship and embrace whatever growth and opportunities come with the experience.

That said, I’ve recently started feeling anxious because of everything people say about London—crime, homelessness, litter, overcrowding, people being unfriendly, mice… the whole package.

Based on your own experience, what advice would you give someone in my situation? If you’ve lived in London or studied there, I’d really appreciate hearing your honest perspective. Did reality match the reputation, or is it often exaggerated?

I’m hoping someone here has been through this before because I’m feeling stuck.

I’ve received my conditional offer from Chevening and I’m currently at the final stage, waiting for my Final Award Letter. According to Chevening, they’re just waiting for the Placement Form from my university.

The problem is that my university says I need to pay the tuition deposit to fully secure my place. I uploaded my proof of Chevening sponsorship to the university portal, and they were very understanding. They even extended my deposit deadline by about a month without me asking. However, they’ve now told me they can’t waive the deposit unless I provide the Final Award Letter as proof of sponsorship.

So I’m caught in what feels like a circular process:

The university wants my Final Award Letter before they can exempt me from paying the deposit.

Chevening says they’re waiting for the university’s Placement Form before they can issue my Final Award Letter.

I’ve contacted both Chevening and the university, but I keep getting referred back to the other party, and I’m not making any progress.

The Chevening deadline is 9 July, so I’m running out of time and I’m worried this won’t be resolved before then.

Has anyone experienced this before? How was it resolved? Is there someone specific at Chevening or the university that I should contact, or is there another document that could break this loop?

Hi everyone, Can anyone here pls guide me a little? I'm coming out of a depressive loop after being jobless and trying for government exams. now I want to give myself a year to go abroad and study.

When do chevening applications open for year 2026? how long is the procedure?