Chevening Scholarships for Nigerians to Study in UK – 2022

Chevening Scholarships enable outstanding emerging leaders from all over the world to pursue one-year master’s degrees in the UK. Whilst there is no ‘typical’ Chevening Scholar, we are looking for the kind of people who have the passion, ideas, and influence to provide the solutions and leadership needed to create a better future.

Because these scholarships are fully-funded (flights, accommodation, and course fees are all included), you are free to focus on achieving your professional goals and maximising the experience of a lifetime. You will live and study in the UK for a year, during which time you will develop professionally and academically, network extensively, experience UK culture, and build lasting positive relationships with the UK. On completing your studies, you will leave the UK equipped with the knowledge and networks necessary to bring your own ideas to life.

This section of the website contains all of the information you need in order to successfully submit an application. We encourage you to review it fully in order to ensure that you have the best possible chance of being selected for an award.

Who can apply for a Chevening Scholarship?

Chevening enables outstanding emerging leaders from all over the world to pursue one-year master’s degrees in the UK.

There is no such thing as a ‘typical’ Chevening Scholar, but those who are successful tend to have ambition, leadership qualities, and a strong academic background.

We encourage you to apply if you meet our eligibility criteria and other requirements. Your gender, age (there is no upper age limit), sexual orientation, religion, marriage or parenthood status, caste, class, or other attributes do not matter to us. What matters is your ability to submit a strong application that demonstrates you are capable of excelling on an intense master’s course in the UK, and that you have a clear vision for your future – and maybe even that of your sector or your country.

Eligibility

To be eligible for a Chevening Scholarship you must:

• Be a citizen of a Chevening-eligible country or territory e.g. Nigeria.
• Return to your country of citizenship for a minimum of two years after your award has ended.
• Have completed all components of an undergraduate degree that will enable you to gain entry onto a postgraduate programme at a UK university by the time you submit your application. This is typically equivalent to an upper second-class 2:1 honours degree in the UK but may be different depending on your course and university choice.
• Have at least two years (equivalent to 2,800 hours) of work experience.
• Apply to three different eligible UK university courses and have received an unconditional offer from one of these choices by 14 July 2022.

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 non-Chevening eligible country. Applicants who are citizens of a Chevening-eligible country and who hold refugee status in a Chevening-eligible country are eligible for a scholarship.
• Are an employee, a former employee, or relative* of an employee (since July 2017) of Her Majesty’s Government (including British embassies/high commissions; the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy; Department for International Trade; the Ministry of Defence; and the Home Office), or a staff member of the Association of Commonwealth Universities.
• Employees, former employees, or relatives* of an employee (since July 2017) of Chevening Partner organisations are eligible to apply, but cannot receive a Chevening Partner Award from the organisation from which they work, previously worked, or are affiliated with through relatives.
• Have previously studied in the UK with funding from a UK Government-funded scholarship.

Submission

Once submitted, applications undergo an electronic sift against our eligibility criteria. Any applications deemed ineligible will be removed from the selection process. Please see the list of common errors here. If you make these errors in your application form, your application will be ineligible. Please note that once your application has been submitted, it is not possible to change it retrospectively.

*Relatives are defined as parents or step-parents, siblings or step-siblings, children or step-children, spouse, civil partner or unmarried partner. (where the couple have been in a relationship akin to marriage or civil partnership for at least two years.)

Work experience

You must ensure that you meet the minimum work-experience requirement for the scholarship before submitting your Chevening application. Chevening Scholarships require that applicants have at least two years of work experience.

If you do not already have the required level of work experience, you will be unable to submit your application.

Eligible types of work experience

The types of work experience that are eligible for Chevening can include.

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

Work experience can be completed before, during, or after graduating from your undergraduate studies. However, any mandatory employment that counted towards your undergraduate or postgraduate course would not be eligible.

You do not need to meet the work experience requirement in one period of employment. Applicants can submit up to ten different employment periods in order to meet the requirement. If you have held more than ten positions then please enter the periods which make up the greatest number of hours worked.

If you are currently employed, it is not a requirement of Chevening that you resign from your position. You are advised to discuss your application with your employer. And it is your responsibility to ensure that they will release you if you are selected for a Chevening Scholarship. You can refer them to the employers page on our website. The British embassy/high commission or the Chevening Secretariat cannot intervene in this.

How to calculate your work experience

Your entries will be calculated automatically by multiplying the number of weeks worked by the number of hours worked per week. For this calculation, a working week comprises 35-60 hours and a working year comprises 40-50 weeks. Anything that exceeds the upper limit for full-time employment will be deemed ineligible.

The minimum number of hours an applicant must have before applying for a Chevening Scholarship is as follows.

• Chevening Scholarships – two years’ work experience = 2,800 hours

If you have worked part-time, the minimum requirement will have been accumulated over a longer period.