If you have been waiting for a fully funded route to study a one-year master's degree in the UK, this is the application to move on now.
The Chevening Scholarship 2027/2028 is open to eligible Nigerians, and applications close on Tuesday, 6 October 2026 at 11:00 UTC. That is 12:00 noon in Nigeria. When the deadline passes, the online application system closes and late submissions are not accepted.
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Chevening is funded by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and partner organisations. It is not simply a tuition discount. The award normally covers tuition, approved economy travel, the visa application for the scholar, arrival and departure allowances, a contribution toward a required TB test and a monthly living allowance.
The application itself is free. You do not need an agent, and Chevening says it does not endorse third parties that charge applicants for application support.
This guide explains the rules Nigerian applicants need to understand, how to choose three eligible courses and how to avoid the errors that can end an application before the assessors reach your strongest experience.
Deadline: 6 October 2026, 11:00 UTC — 12:00 noon in Lagos and Abuja. Submit before the final day.
What the Chevening Scholarship covers
According to Chevening's official funding guidance, an award includes:
- payment of eligible university tuition fees
- approved economy travel to and from your country of residence
- an arrival allowance
- the cost of one entry-clearance visa application for the scholar
- a departure allowance
- a contribution of up to £75 toward TB testing where required
- a travel top-up allowance
- a monthly stipend for accommodation and living expenses
The stipend rate depends on whether you study inside or outside London and is reviewed annually. The award is for the scholar; do not assume it pays the immigration, travel or living costs of a spouse or children.
MBA applicants should also note the official tuition-fee cap. Chevening currently states that an MBA applicant must personally cover any tuition amount above £22,000.
Who can apply from Nigeria?
You should check every point on the official eligibility page before investing time in the form. For the 2027/2028 scholarship, the central requirements include:
- being a citizen of a Chevening-eligible country such as Nigeria
- meeting the applicable residence rule and showing a clear intention to support your country of award
- committing to return to your home country for at least two years after the scholarship ends
- having at least two years of work experience gained after completing your undergraduate degree, equal to 2,800 hours
- holding an undergraduate degree that qualifies you for admission to a UK master's programme
- having completed your undergraduate studies at least two years before the application deadline
- selecting three different eligible UK master's courses
- securing an unconditional offer from at least one of those courses by the later offer deadline
Having a master's degree already does not automatically stop you from applying for a second master's. However, the new degree must make sense within your experience and future plan.
You may be ineligible if, for example, you hold British or dual British citizenship, live in the UK when applying, fall within Chevening's employment or immediate-relative restrictions, or previously studied in the UK using a UK government-funded scholarship. Read the complete official conditions rather than relying on a social-media checklist.
How the 2,800-hour work-experience rule works
This is one of the first rules to check. Chevening requires at least two years of work experience gained after completing your undergraduate degree, equivalent to 2,800 hours.
Do not count only conventional office employment. Depending on how your real experience is classified in the application, relevant work may include paid employment, part-time work, voluntary work or internships. What matters is that your entries are honest, chronologically clear and supported by the information you provide.
As a simple planning check:
- 35 hours per week for 40 weeks equals 1,400 hours
- repeating that pattern for two years equals 2,800 hours
Your own total may come from several roles. Calculate each role separately instead of forcing your history into a full-time formula that is not true.
Avoid overlapping hours. If you worked and volunteered during the same period, use the actual hours for each activity. Keep the dates, organisation names, job titles and weekly hours consistent with your CV and anything you may later explain at interview.
You must choose three eligible UK courses
The Chevening application requires three different master's-course choices. They may be three courses at one institution or similar programmes at up to three universities, although Chevening recommends similar courses at three different universities to give you realistic alternatives.
An eligible course must be:
- full-time
- based in the UK
- a taught master's leading to a master's qualification
- starting in the autumn term, normally September or October
- at least nine months and no more than 12 months long
The course cannot be part-time, distance learning, a PhD or DPhil, or a research-focused MRes. It also cannot include more than one month of study outside the UK.
Do not choose three unrelated courses merely because they appear in the finder. Your choices should support the same believable direction. For example, Public Policy, Development Management and Governance may form a coherent group when linked to your work. Public Health, Fashion Marketing and Artificial Intelligence will be much harder to explain as one focused plan.
Check each programme in the official Chevening course finder and on the university's website. Course information can change, and you remain responsible for confirming that your choices meet the rules.
Do you need a university admission offer before 6 October?
No. You can submit the Chevening Scholarship application before applying to the three universities.
However, the university applications are separate from Chevening. A scholarship application is not an application for university admission. You must apply directly to the universities and secure at least one unconditional offer from one of the three courses listed in your Chevening form.
For the 2027/2028 cycle, the official deadline to submit at least one unconditional offer is 8 July 2027 at 17:00 BST.
Do not interpret that later date as permission to delay. University admission processes, references, transcripts and English-language conditions can take months. Begin checking each course's admission deadline and document requirements as soon as your Chevening application is submitted.
What Chevening assesses in your application
Chevening's current criteria focus on four areas.
Leadership and influencing
The assessors want examples where you took the lead or influenced an outcome. A job title is not proof of leadership. Show the problem, what you did, who you influenced and the tangible result.
Strong evidence might come from improving a process, organising a community project, changing a policy, helping a team deliver better results or building something others continued to use.
Proof of funds checker — know your exact bank balance target
Country-by-country requirements, updated regularly.
Relationship-building
Chevening looks for evidence that you build professional relationships and use collaboration to achieve meaningful results. Naming important people you have met is not enough. Explain how a relationship was created, what value you contributed and what changed because people worked together.
Course choice
You need to show that you researched your three courses and explain how your first-choice course connects to your background, career aspirations and intended impact. Mention specific modules or areas of study that will build the skills you actually need.
The official criteria connect course choices to shared priority areas such as growth and prosperity, climate resilience, security and stability, and inclusive and effective development.
Career plan
Present a realistic short-, medium- and long-term plan with measurable goals. “I want to transform Nigeria” is an ambition, not a plan. Identify the sector, problem, next role or project, partnerships you will need and the results you want to achieve.
Your four answers should support one story. The leadership evidence should point toward the career plan; the course should fill a genuine skills gap; the network should help you deliver the planned impact.
Important: Chevening prohibits AI-generated answers
Chevening explicitly says that using artificial intelligence to generate answers to its application questions is prohibited. Applicants must submit original work and confirm that they did not use AI to generate their answers. Chevening also says it uses tools to identify fraud, plagiarism and AI-generated content.
Do not paste a chatbot answer, buy an essay or copy a successful applicant's response. This article is for understanding the rules and organising your preparation—not for supplying application text.
Write from your own verified experiences. You should be able to explain every example naturally at interview, including your role, decisions, challenges and results.
A practical application plan before the deadline
Step 1: complete the eligibility check
Confirm citizenship, residence, degree timing, work-experience hours and the two-year return commitment. If one essential rule is not met, polishing essays will not make the application eligible.
Step 2: calculate your work history
Create a simple table for every post-degree role: employer, title, start date, end date, hours per week and total hours. Resolve gaps and overlaps before entering the form.
Step 3: select three coherent courses
Use the official course finder, then verify the course duration, delivery mode, start date, modules and admissions deadline on each university website.
Step 4: collect your evidence
List real examples of leadership, influence and relationship-building. For each one, note the situation, your responsibility, the action you personally took and the measurable outcome.
Step 5: build a career timeline
Write specific goals for the first two years after returning, the following three to five years and the longer term. Connect each stage to a Nigerian problem you understand through real work or community experience.
Step 6: write the answers yourself
Use your natural professional voice. Make every claim specific, remove clichés and confirm that names, dates and outcomes are accurate.
Step 7: proofread and submit early
Check that every required field is complete, your three courses are correct and the application is in English. Save your access code and keep a private copy of your final information for interview preparation.
Do not wait until 11:55 a.m. Nigerian time on 6 October. Heavy traffic, connectivity problems or one missing field will not extend the deadline.
The 2027/2028 Chevening timeline
- 4 August 2026: applications opened
- 6 October 2026 at 11:00 UTC: applications close
- From October 2026: eligibility sifting begins
- Mid-October 2026 to January 2027: independent reading committees assess eligible applications
- Mid-February 2027: interview shortlists are announced
- March to April 2027: interviews take place
- From mid-June 2027: results are announced
- 8 July 2027 at 17:00 BST: deadline to submit at least one unconditional university offer
- September or October 2027: successful scholars begin studying in the UK
Mistakes that can destroy a strong application
- applying without the required 2,800 post-degree work hours
- entering inaccurate dates or weekly hours
- choosing an ineligible, part-time, distance or over-12-month course
- selecting three unrelated courses with no coherent career connection
- giving leadership claims without a clear personal action or result
- describing networking as collecting contacts rather than building productive relationships
- presenting a vague career dream instead of measurable stages
- copying another person's answers
- submitting AI-generated answers
- paying an agent for a process Chevening says is free
- waiting until the final hour to submit
Frequently asked questions
When is the Chevening Scholarship deadline in Nigeria?
Applications for the 2027/2028 cycle close on 6 October 2026 at 11:00 UTC, which is 12:00 noon in Nigeria. The system will not accept a late application.
Is the Chevening Scholarship fully funded?
It covers eligible tuition, approved travel, the scholar's visa application, specified allowances, a contribution toward a required TB test and a monthly living stipend. Check the official award conditions for exclusions and the MBA tuition cap.
Can a Nigerian with a 2:2 apply for Chevening?
Chevening requires an undergraduate degree that can secure admission to an eligible UK master's course. It does not publish one universal Nigerian degree classification on the central eligibility page. Your three universities set their own academic entry requirements, so check each programme carefully.
Do I need IELTS before submitting the Chevening application?
Chevening does not impose its own English-language test requirement, but each university may set an English condition. You must eventually obtain an unconditional offer from one of your listed courses by the offer deadline.
Do I need a UK university offer before applying?
No. You can submit Chevening first, but you must apply separately to your selected universities and submit at least one unconditional offer by 8 July 2027.
Can I use ChatGPT to write my Chevening answers?
No. Chevening states that using AI software to generate application answers is strictly prohibited. Your responses must be your original work.
Can an agent guarantee a Chevening Scholarship?
No. Chevening applications are free, and the programme says it does not endorse third parties who charge for application support. Nobody can guarantee selection.
Can I remain in the UK after the scholarship?
Chevening requires scholars to return to their home country for at least two years after the scholarship ends. Applicants should accept that commitment before applying.
The strongest reason to apply now is not that Chevening is easy—it is that there is still enough time to submit a careful, truthful application if you start immediately.
Confirm your eligibility, calculate the 2,800 hours, select three coherent courses and use your own evidence to answer the four assessment areas. Then submit before the deadline instead of gambling on the final morning.
Use JapaMap's School and Program Finder to organise your UK programme search. Our guide to writing a genuine study-abroad SOP from Nigeria will help when you begin the separate university-admission applications. The No-Agent Japa Blueprint provides a broader UK and Canada application roadmap, proof-of-funds guidance and reusable planning templates for ₦2,000 once. It must not be used to generate or copy Chevening answers; those must remain entirely your own.
