Chevening Scholarship for African Students (2027/28)
Chevening pays tuition in full, a monthly living allowance and return flights for a one-year taught master's in the UK, and all nine of the countries we work with are eligible. Applications for the 2027/28 cycle close on 6 October 2026, with decisions from Mid-June 2027 onwards. The catch: Return to the home country (country of award) for at least two years after the scholarship ends. ---
What is the Chevening Scholarship?
Chevening Scholarships are the UK government’s awards for study in Britain, funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office with partner organisations. One level is funded: master. The award length: One academic year — a full-time taught master's starting in the autumn term.
The destination is the UK, and the award is not tied to one institution. You may hold it at any UK university, provided the course itself passes Chevening’s eligibility check.
Chevening does not publish an annual award count. No figure for awards per year appears on chevening.org — we checked the about, impact and partnerships pages in September 2026. If another site quotes a number of Chevening awards for your country, treat it as unverified.
Your application is administered by the British embassy or high commission in the country of award, which also holds the interview — you compete and interview at home, not in London.
What does it cover?
Chevening pays tuition in full for one eligible master’s, plus a monthly living allowance that you spend on rent and daily costs. Travel is included: Economy return travel between the country of residence and the UK by an approved route, for the scholar only, plus a travel top-up allowance.
Beyond fees and flights the package adds: Arrival allowance, departure allowance, the cost of one entry clearance (visa) application for the scholar, a contribution of up to GBP 75 towards TB testing where required, and the Chevening engagement and networking programme.
Two limits matter before you budget, as of September 2026. No accommodation is provided, so rent comes out of the monthly living allowance. The award covers you alone: travel and the visa application are stated as “for you only”, and no dependants’ allowance is listed.
Chevening funds one person for one year — a partner or child travelling with you is your own cost. For what an unfunded year costs instead, see our study in the UK guide.
Who can apply from our countries?
All nine origin countries we work with are eligible for the 2027/28 cycle: Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Egypt, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Morocco. Chevening runs on citizenship rather than a regional quota, so there is no Africa-wide allocation to fight over and no Commonwealth filter — Zimbabwe, Egypt and Morocco qualify on the same terms as Nigeria or Kenya.
The citizenship rule in full: Citizen of a Chevening-eligible country or territory, meeting the ODA residency requirement where one applies. Holders of British or dual British citizenship are excluded, with limited exceptions, as are applicants resident in the UK at the time of application.
On qualifications: An undergraduate degree that qualifies the applicant for a UK master's programme, with undergraduate study finished at least two years before the application deadline.
The work test is what removes most applicants: At least 2,800 hours acquired after the undergraduate degree and over a minimum of two years — roughly two years of full-time work at 35 hours a week; full-time, part-time and voluntary work and paid or unpaid internships count, entered as up to 15 employment periods.
One exclusion catches returning students: Applicants who have previously studied in the UK on a UK government-funded scholarship are ineligible. And the condition you accept when you sign: Return to the home country (country of award) for at least two years after the scholarship ends.
No age limit is published and no minimum grade is set — the real filters are citizenship, the degree, the hours and the return commitment.
Deadline and timeline for 2027/28
Applications opened on 4 August 2026 and close on 6 October 2026. Both times are set in UTC, not in your local time, and the portal does not reopen afterwards.
What follows is a long chain of stages: eligibility sifting from October 2026; reading-committee assessment from mid-October 2026 to January 2027; a shortlist in mid-February 2027; interviews at the British embassy or high commission in your country in March and April 2027; results from Mid-June 2027 onwards. Courses start in September or October 2027, and the money is paid across that academic year, not before.
One date sits outside Chevening’s own process and ends more applications than the interview does: the unconditional offer from one of your three courses is due in July 2027. UK universities make offers on their own calendar, so apply to the courses early in 2027 instead of waiting for a Chevening decision.
How to apply for the Chevening Scholarship
There is one online application, on the scheme’s own portal at https://www.chevening.org/ — no university applies on your behalf.
- Check your eligibility and choose three different eligible full-time taught master’s courses. Each must start in the autumn term, and you confirm each one in the Chevening course finder before you list it.
- Register on the online application system with an email address and a mobile number you will still be using in 2027, since the shortlist message goes there.
- Answer the online eligibility questions. The system caps how many attempts you get, so read each question fully before you answer it.
- Complete the application form: personal, immigration, education and work sections. Enter your employment as separate periods so the hours add up correctly, and have your passport or another form of identification ready.
- Write the four answers on leadership and influence, networking, your choice of UK courses, and your career plan. These are what the reading committee scores. Use named results — the programme you ran, the number of people it reached, what changed.
- Enter contact details for two referees, then submit by 6 October 2026. Entries cannot be edited or reopened after submission.
- Wait through eligibility sifting and reading-committee assessment. If you are shortlisted, upload two reference letters in the online system by the date Chevening sets, and attend the interview at the British embassy or high commission in person.
- From Mid-June 2027 onwards you receive the result. If you are selected, submit an unconditional offer letter from one of your three courses by the July 2027 deadline, then apply for your visa — see UK student visa requirements.
Which universities and programmes
The course rule is broad: Any Chevening-eligible full-time taught master's at a UK university; applications are assessed on how the course relates to UK priority areas. There is no subject list to memorise, but the connection between the course and what you will do at home carries weight in the scoring.
Universities in our dataset that host Chevening scholars include Oxford, Imperial College London, the London School of Economics, King’s College London, Durham, Warwick, Bristol, Birmingham, Nottingham and Southampton. Durham runs partnership awards alongside the open awards; King’s adds a tuition-fee reduction for Chevening scholars.
In every case you apply through Chevening, not through the university, and the Secretariat verifies that the course you picked qualifies. Course-level eligibility, not university ranking, is what decides your shortlist.
Odds, and what to do if you miss it
Be honest about the arithmetic: Chevening publishes no annual award count, so nobody can quote you a genuine success rate, and anyone who does is guessing. What is visible is the funnel — eligibility sift, reading committee, shortlist, interview — and that most applicants clear the basic criteria, so the four written answers and the interview decide it.
If you are not selected, you may apply again in a later cycle, and the extra hours and results you gain in the meantime strengthen the file. In parallel, compare the Commonwealth Scholarship, the university awards on our UK scholarships page, and the other fully funded schemes on our scholarships hub.
What works in your favour
- All nine of our origin countries are eligible, and the rule is citizenship, not region — Zimbabwe, Egypt and Morocco are in, with no Commonwealth membership test.
- Chevening sets no English test of its own. Your university’s requirement is the only language bar you must clear.
- No minimum grade is published, and non-standard careers count: part-time work, voluntary work and paid or unpaid internships all go towards the hours.
- You apply before you hold a university offer, so a weak-looking admissions position does not stop you starting the application now.
- Tuition is paid in full and one visa application is reimbursed, so the year does not require proof of personal funds in the way a self-funded course does.
The honest downsides
- The hours requirement must already be met at the deadline, so a recent graduate cannot apply, however strong the degree.
- The award is for the scholar alone. No dependants’ allowance is listed, and family travel, visas and living costs are entirely yours.
- The return commitment is binding: this is not a route to staying in the UK after the master’s, and you should not treat it as one.
- Only a one-year taught master’s is funded. There is no Chevening PhD, no research master’s, no bachelor’s.
- The cycle is long and unforgiving — you apply in October 2026 for teaching that starts in autumn 2027, entries cannot be edited after submission, and a missed unconditional-offer deadline in July 2027 costs you the award.
Our core guidance is free, because universities pay us commission when you enrol — we never charge for eligibility checks, course shortlists or deadline planning. Premium Placement is our optional paid service for applicants who want the whole file managed. Either way we vet your documents before submission: degree transcripts, the employment periods behind your hours, referee details and the offer letters that Chevening will check. Our pricing is published on our [pricing page](/pricing/).
How to apply for a Chevening Scholarship from Africa
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Check eligibility and choose three courses
Confirm your citizenship, your undergraduate degree and your work hours, then choose three different eligible full-time taught master's courses that start in the autumn term.
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Register on the application system
Create an account on the Chevening online application system with an email address and a mobile number you will still use in 2027, when shortlist messages are sent.
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Answer the eligibility questions
Complete the online eligibility questions. Attempts are capped, so read each question in full before answering, then start the main application form.
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Complete the application form
Fill in the personal, immigration, education and work sections. Enter each employment period separately so your hours total correctly, and keep your passport to hand.
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Write the four answers
Write the four answers on leadership and influence, networking, your choice of UK courses and your career plan, using named results rather than general claims.
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Add referees and submit
Enter contact details for two referees and submit before the closing time on 6 October 2026. Applications cannot be edited or reopened once submitted.
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Attend the interview if shortlisted
If shortlisted in February 2027, upload two reference letters by the date set and attend the interview in person at the British embassy or high commission in your country.
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Submit your unconditional offer
From mid-June 2027, if selected, submit an unconditional offer letter from one of your three courses by the July 2027 deadline, then apply for your UK student visa.
Frequently asked questions
Chevening is the UK government's award for a one-year taught master's at a UK university, funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office. It pays tuition in full, a monthly living allowance, return economy flights, arrival and departure allowances and one visa application. It funds the scholar only. The award length: One academic year — a full-time taught master's starting in the autumn term.
All nine countries we work with are eligible for the 2027/28 cycle: Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Egypt, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Morocco. Eligibility runs on citizenship, not Commonwealth membership, so Egypt, Morocco and Zimbabwe apply on the same terms as everyone else. Dual British citizens and applicants living in the UK are excluded.
Not for Chevening itself. The scheme dropped its own English language requirement in 2020, so you must instead meet the English requirement of the UK university you choose. So the test level you need is set by the course, not the scheme. Our guide to IELTS alternatives covers the accepted substitutes.
No. Chevening publishes no minimum grade — the test is a degree that qualifies you for the chosen UK master's, plus an unconditional offer from that university. Selection rests on your leadership record, your networking, the fit of your course and your career plan. A modest degree with strong, evidenced work results competes well.
Yes. You apply to Chevening first and list three eligible courses; no offer is needed at that stage. If you are selected, you must hold an unconditional offer from one of those three courses by the offer deadline in July 2027. Apply to the universities early in 2027, because offer-making takes months.
At least 2,800 hours acquired after the undergraduate degree and over a minimum of two years — roughly two years of full-time work at 35 hours a week; full-time, part-time and voluntary work and paid or unpaid internships count, entered as up to 15 employment periods. Add every qualifying role before you conclude that you fall short.
Applications opened 4 August 2026 and close 6 October 2026, both at times set in UTC. Shortlisting falls in mid-February 2027, interviews in March and April 2027, and results come Mid-June 2027 onwards. Courses begin in September or October 2027. The portal does not reopen after the closing time.
Work out which rule blocks you. If it is the hours, apply in a later cycle once you have them. If it is the previous UK government scholarship, that exclusion is permanent. Meanwhile compare the Commonwealth Scholarship and university-funded awards, which set their own rules on grades, need and level.