Chevening Scholar

The Chevening Scholarship is an international scholarship scheme which enables students with leadership qualities from 144 countries and territories to undertake postgraduate study or courses in universities in the United Kingdom. Funding for the scheme comes from the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

The Chevening Scholarships Programme commenced in 1983 as the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Awards Scheme (FCOAS) and is funded by the British government's Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The stated objective of the scheme is to build a network of friends of the UK, who will be future leaders in their countries. In 1994, the name of the scheme was changed to Chevening, after Chevening House in Sevenoaks, Kent – currently the joint official residence of the British Foreign Secretary and the British Deputy Prime Minister.

A companion Chevening Fellowships Scheme was launched by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 2004. It provided over 200 Fellowship places for mid-career professionals to undertake 3 month courses in fields related to the FCO's policy goals. The Chevening Fellowship Scheme was discontinued in 2010.

In 2007/08 year the Chevening Scholarships cost the British Foreign & Commonwealth Office approximately £22 million. In the same year the Chevening Fellowships scheme cost approximately £4 million. In July 2010 the British Foreign Minister announced a cut of £10 million from the scholarships budget, in the context of wider budget cuts. This resulted in a number of scholarships being cancelled for 2010–11. After a review period, the 2011–12 scholarship round opened for applications in February 2011. In 2011–12 the number of scholarships was increased to more than 700 worldwide.

In April 2012, the Association of Commonwealth Universities took over running of the scheme from the British Council, establishing a Chevening Secretariat.

The number of available scholarships varies from country to country. More than thirty scholarships are currently awarded to candidates from Nepal, India and China. Twenty or more are awarded to candidates from Egypt, South Korea, Indonesia, Pakistan, Mexico and Brazil, with less than five core scholarships now available to candidates from Australia and Canada (US students are not eligible, but can apply for the Marshall Scholarships which are also funded by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.)

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