Chevening Scholarship applications are open right now. The window shuts on October 6, 2026, at 11:00 UTC. The Commonwealth Scholarship for Nigerians hasn’t opened yet this cycle, but going by how Nigeria’s Federal Scholarship Board has run it in past years, that window should open any week from now too. Both scholarships send you to the UK for a fully funded master’s degree, and both come from the UK government’s pocket. But they don’t pick winners the same way at all, sha. Applying for the wrong one for your situation is just wasted effort.
| Chevening | Commonwealth Scholarship | |
|---|---|---|
| Who funds it | UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) | FCDO, through the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission (CSC) |
| How you apply | Directly, on your own, through Chevening’s portal | Through Nigeria’s Federal Scholarship Board, which nominates you |
| What decides who wins | Leadership, networking, your career plan | Proof you can’t afford UK study, plus your academic class |
| Minimum first degree | No fixed GPA, but a strong result helps | First Class or Second Class Upper (Second Class Lower for PhD only) |
| Work experience needed | At least 2 years, 2,800 hours, after your first degree | No fixed rule the way Chevening has it |
| This cycle’s deadline | October 6, 2026 | Not open as of this writing; expected around September 2026 |
About the Chevening scholarship for Nigerians who want a UK master’s degree
Chevening is the UK government’s own leadership scholarship. It pays for a one-year master’s at a UK university, in almost any subject, as long as your chosen course is on Chevening’s approved list. Nobody nominates you for this one. You register yourself directly on Chevening’s application system and carry the whole process on your own from there. You just need an access code once you sign up.
Money is not what Chevening checks first. What it checks is what you’ve already done with leadership, and what you plan to do with the degree once you’re back home. You’ll write four separate essays, each one graded on something different: leadership, networking, your course choice, and your career plan. There’s no one long personal statement here, so don’t try to reuse an SOP you wrote for another scholarship.
On the money side, Chevening pays your tuition in full. It also gives you a monthly living allowance, and recent published rates put this around £1,347 a month outside London, reviewed every year. Your flight to and from the UK is covered. So is one UK visa application. You also get a one-time arrival allowance, plus a departure allowance when your course ends.
Chevening awards about 1,800 scholarships worldwide each year. Its own numbers put the acceptance rate at roughly 2 to 3 percent. Nigeria sends one of the highest volumes of applications of any country on that list. A vague, general application won’t get you far here. You need something only you could have written.
About the Commonwealth scholarship and fellowship plan for Nigerians who want a UK master’s degree
The Commonwealth Scholarship also pays for a master’s or PhD in the UK. It’s funded the same way as Chevening, through the FCDO, but here the body in charge is called the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission (CSC). As a Nigerian, you don’t apply straight to the CSC though. You go through the Federal Scholarship Board (FSB) first. The FSB screens applicants, interviews the strongest ones, and nominates its best candidates to the CSC in London. Getting nominated is not the same as winning. The CSC still makes the final call.
This scholarship exists specifically for people who cannot afford a UK master’s on their own. Proving this takes more than a strong sentence in your personal statement. The CSC checks your financial situation before deciding. If you can fund your own studies, or your employer will, you don’t qualify.
The CSC also favours courses tied to its development themes: things like public health, agriculture, governance, climate, education, and technology. A course that connects to a real problem back home in Nigeria will read better than one that doesn’t.
Money-wise, it covers your flight, your tuition, and your exam fees. Then there’s a monthly stipend, about £1,378 outside London, or £1,690 if your university is in the London area, going by the last cycle’s published rate. There’s also a travel grant tied to your research, and a warm clothing allowance, since plenty of Nigerian scholars have never dealt with a UK winter before.
For the last cycle (2026/2027), the FSB opened its own window on September 2, 2025 and closed it on October 14, 2025. Interviews followed in Abuja that November, split by geopolitical zone. Going by that pattern, the next window could open any day from today.
Who is eligible to apply for the Chevening scholarship
- You need to be a citizen of Nigeria, or another Chevening-eligible country.
- Your first degree must be finished at least two years before the deadline, even if the certificate itself hasn’t been printed out yet.
- At least two years of work experience after your degree, and Chevening counts this in hours, not calendar years: 2,800 hours total. You can combine up to fifteen different jobs to reach that number.
- You’ll apply to three different eligible UK master’s courses, and by around July next year, you need an unconditional offer from at least one of them.
- Commit to returning to Nigeria for two years once the scholarship ends. Not a soft suggestion.
- If you’ve held a UK-government-funded scholarship before, Chevening will not take you. Since Commonwealth is also UK-government funded, that rules out holding both, one after the other.
Who is eligible to apply for the Commonwealth scholarship through Nigeria’s Federal Scholarship Board
- Your first degree needs to be First Class or Second Class Upper Division. Second Class Lower is accepted only for PhD nominations.
- A valid NYSC discharge or exemption certificate.
- FSB wants you to already hold admission offers from at least two UK universities before you even apply. That’s the reverse order from Chevening, where the offer only comes after you’re shortlisted.
- Real, checkable proof that you cannot pay for a UK master’s on your own.
- Your proposed course should connect to one of CSC’s development themes, and to an actual Nigerian problem, not just something you personally find interesting.
Last year, as Ahmed Musa got a Commonwealth scholarship, he had to visit Abuja for visa interview and was approved month later.
The real differences between Chevening and the Commonwealth scholarship that should guide your choice
Chevening wants proof that you can lead people and that you’ll use a UK degree to keep doing that. It doesn’t ask how you’ll pay for anything else in your life, and it doesn’t route you through any government office first. You deal with Chevening directly. Commonwealth flips both of those. It wants proof you genuinely need the money. It also makes you go through the FSB’s own screening and interview process before your file even reaches London.
The academic bar is different too. Chevening has no fixed GPA rule, though a weak result won’t help you. Commonwealth is stricter here: First Class or Second Class Upper, full stop, unless you’re applying for a PhD.
The timing right now works in your favour if you qualify for both. Chevening’s window is open. Commonwealth’s window through FSB should open any week. You haven’t won either one yet. So the rule that blocks holding two UK-government scholarships at once doesn’t stop you from applying to both this year.
Which scholarship, Chevening or Commonwealth, should you actually apply for
Maybe your result is just okay, but you’ve genuinely led people before, at work, in church, in a community group, wherever. If you can show real impact from that, Chevening probably fits you better. It doesn’t care whether you can afford tuition on your own.
Maybe your result is a strong First Class or Second Class Upper. You honestly cannot pay for a UK master’s without help, and your course connects to something Nigeria needs right now. Commonwealth probably fits you better then.
If you meet both sets of requirements, apply to both. Just don’t let preparing one application eat into the time you need for the other. Each one wants specific, well-written essays, not a rushed copy-paste job.
How to apply for the Chevening scholarship as a Nigerian
- Go to Chevening’s application portal and register for your access code.
- Run the eligibility check on the site before you write a single word.
- Fill in your education and work history.
- Pick three eligible UK master’s courses.
- Write your four essays: leadership, networking, study choice, career plan.
- Add two referees who can actually speak to your real work, not just people with big titles attached to their names.
- Submit before October 6, 2026, at 11:00 UTC. The portal locks at that exact time. No extensions.
Apply here: chevening.org/apply
How to apply for the Commonwealth scholarship as a Nigerian
- Watch the Federal Ministry of Education’s website and FSB’s own channels for the official notice announcing that the window is open.
- Start sorting your UK university admission offers early. FSB wants at least two of them before you apply, and that alone takes time.
- Get your NYSC discharge or exemption certificate ready if you don’t already have it.
- Submit through FSB’s application portal before their deadline. Recent cycles have run about six weeks from open to close, so don’t wait for the last week.
- If shortlisted, prepare for an interview in Abuja, usually grouped by geopolitical zone.
- FSB nominates its strongest candidates to the CSC in London, usually by December. After that, the decision is out of FSB’s hands.
Apply here: education.gov.ng/fsb and fsbn.com.ng
So, I have now cover today’s topic of choosing between Chevening scholarship and Commonwealth scholarship.
