How to Write Winning Chevening Scholarship Application Essays
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Writing the Chevening essays is always challenging. You may have strong work experience, clear career goals and a genuine desire to make a difference, yet still find it difficult to put everything into a compelling application.
One mistake many applicants make is treating each essay in isolation. In reality, the four essays should work together to tell one story of who you are, what you’ve achieved, what drives you and the impact you hope to create after studying in the UK.
Before you start writing, you first need to find the official essay questions. To access them:
- Create a Chevening application account.
- Save your access code by taking a screenshot.
- Check your email and click the “Application Portal” link.
- Log into your account.
- Go to “Supporting Documents” to find the four essay questions.
Below is a guideline on how you can approach each essay.
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- Chevening Leadership Essay
For the Leadership Essay, think of a time when you identified a problem and took the initiative to solve the problem.
You don’t need to have been a manager or held a senior position. Your example could come from your workplace, business, volunteer work or even your community. What matters is showing that you stepped up, took responsibility and made something happen.
A simple way to structure your essay is:
- Context: What was the challenge?
- Action: What did you personally do?
- Result: What changed because of your actions?
- Reflection: What did you learn from the experience?
The first paragraph should contain brief information of the identified problem and then the remaining paragraphs should be clear explanations on what you did to solve the problem eg what task did you carry out to address the challenge, what steps did you carry out while doing the task and clearly show the measurable results you were able to achieve in order to solve the problem.
Be careful not to focus too much on what “we” accomplished. They need to understand your individual contribution.
Before you submit, ask yourself: If someone reads this essay, will they clearly understand the problem, what I did and why my actions mattered?
In my Leadership Essay video, I use a practical example and provide you with step-by-step guidance on how to construct powerful sentences, organise your ideas effectively, and write a compelling, competitive leadership essay. As a bonus, after watching the video, you’ll receive a free review of your Leadership Essay.
Click here to watch the Chevening Leadership Essay video and get a free essay review.
2. Chevening Relationship Building and Influence Essay
This Essay should demonstrate how you have built and maintained meaningful professional relationships that helped create measurable impact.
Focus on a problem you identified and how you collaborated with others to solve it.
Show that your relationships are mutually beneficial by explaining what others gained from working with you and what you gained from them.
Talk about how you have sustained or developed these relationships outside just the formal relationship so that it doesn’t look transactional.
Finally, explain how you will use these networking and relationship-building skills to maximise the opportunities offered by the Chevening Scholarship.
Take note that you structure this essay using the S.T.A.R Technique:
- Situation: Introduce the problem or challenge you identified
- Task: Explain what set out to do
- Action: Describe how you built the relationships, your specific contributions and why these relationships were important.
- Result: Highlight the measurable outcome and how collaboration helped solve the problem.
In my Relationship Essay video, I use a practical example and provide step-by-step guidance on how to craft powerful sentences, organise your ideas effectively, and write a compelling, competitive relationship essay. As a bonus, after watching the video, you’ll receive a free review of your Leadership Essay.
Click here to watch the Chevening Relationship Essay video and get a free essay review.
3. Course Choice and Global Change Essay
This essay should explain why your selected UK courses are the right fit for you and how they connect to the change you want to create.
Begin by identifying the knowledge and skills you need to achieve your career goals. Then, research how each course will help you develop those skills.
When researching your courses, look at:
- Relevant modules
- Teaching methods
- Practical projects
- Research centers and facilities
- Industry connections
- Skills you expect to develop
Avoid copying course descriptions directly from university websites. Instead, explain why each feature is important to you and how it aligns with your career goals.
For example, instead of writing, “The course includes a public policy module,” explain how that module will help you develop the knowledge and skills needed to improve a particular policy or programme in your home country.
Give more attention to your first-choice course, but provide a clear reason for selecting all three. By the end of your essay, the reader should clearly understand the connection between your background, course choices, career plans and the impact you hope to create.
In my Course Choice and Global Change video, I provide step-by-step guidance on researching your courses, structuring persuasive arguments, and clearly connecting your course choices to your future plans. As a bonus, after watching the video, you’ll receive a free review of your Leadership Essay.
4. Chevening Career Plan Essay
Your Career Plan Essay should show a clear, realistic and achievable career plan that shows genuine commitment to addressing the challenge identified.
The reader wants to know what steps you intend to take after completing your studies in the UK and how those steps will help you achieve your career goals as well as solve the identified problem in your home country.
Before you start writing, break your career plan into three stages:
- Short term (within 0-5years): What will you do immediately after returning home?
- Medium term (within 5-10years): What role or level of responsibility do you want to reach?
- Long term (10 years and above): What will you do in the long run of your career?
Be specific about the role, sector, organization or problem you want to focus on. Avoid broad statements such as, “I want to improve education.” Instead, explain which aspect of education you want to improve, the measurable results you hope to achieve, who will benefit from those improvements and the specific steps you plan to take to achieve your goal.
Talk about the obstacles you may face and specify the people you may have an obstacle with. When you are specific, it shows the reader that you have thought through the challenge. Also be specific on how you plan to overcome the obstacles.
Finally, explain how becoming a Chevening Scholar will help you achieve your ambitions. Be specific about what the scholarship will give you access to and how you plan to use the knowledge, skills, experiences and opportunities you gain to achieve your ambitions.
In my Career Plan Essay video, I use a practical example to provide clear, step-by-step guidance on presenting your career goals and linking them to measurable impact. As a bonus, after watching the video, you’ll receive a free review of your Leadership Essay.
Click here to watch the Chevening Career Plan Essay video and get a free essay review.
Make Sure Your Essays Tell One Story
Once you’ve written all four essays, don’t review them one by one. Read them together.
Your Leadership Essay should demonstrate how you identified the problem and solved it. Your Relationship Essay should show how you build meaningful relationships. Your Course Choice Essay should explain how your studies will equip you with the skills you need. Finally, your Career Plan Essay should show exactly how you’ll use those skills to create impact.
NB: Try not to repeat the same example across multiple essays unless it’s absolutely necessary. Each essay should reveal a different side of your experience while reinforcing the same overall vision.
When all four essays work together, reviewers can clearly see what you’ve accomplished, where you’re headed and why Chevening is the right investment in your future.
One final piece of advice: don’t put all your eggs in one basket. While preparing your Chevening application, apply for at least five other scholarships as well.
A strong scholarship strategy increases your chances of securing funding, even if one application doesn’t work out.
Looking for help in identifying scholarship opportunities: Get expert guidance today.