Chevening Scholarship - History

History

The Chevening Scholarships Programme commenced in 1984 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.

The Chevening Fellowships Scheme was launched by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 2004. The Chevening Fellowship Programme offered 12 week courses running from January to April each year. It provided over 200 Fellowship places for mid-career professionals who are already working in fields related to the FCO's policy goals. The Chevening Fellowship Scheme was discontinued in 2010.

In 2007-8 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 Great British pounds.

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 2011-2012 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.