India will see a four-fold increase in the budget for the prestigious Chevening scholarships in the next two years that will take the total number of scholarships awarded to Indians to 150 by 2015-2016. The budget allocation will increase from the present level of £ 600,000 to £ 2.4 million.
This is part of an overall plan to triple the total number of scholarships under the programme, Minister of State in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Hugo Swire told a group of journalists on July 8, a day prior to an event to be held at Chevening House marking 30 years of the UK’s prestigious scholarship programme.
“Following the tripling of scholarships set out by the Chancellor in his Budget, I hope this event will encourage the brightest graduates around the world to apply to study in the UK so we can continue to build mutually beneficial and long-lasting relationships,” Mr Swire said.
Funded by the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth office and its partners, the Chevening Fellowships Programme is designed for “outstanding graduates with the potential to be leaders to pursue one-year Master’s degrees in any subject and at any of the UK’s leading universities.” At present there are 118 countries that are part of the programme.
India, which has the second largest Chevening programme after China, will see an £ 1 million increase in funding for the 2014-2015 programme, and a further £800,000 increase for 2015-16.
In addition to the one-year Masters course, there are several short-term courses tailored for India. These include the 12-week bespoke Chevening Gurukul programme at King’s College, London, tailored for 12 high achieving professionals for a mid-career skills upgradation; the 12-week Chevening India Journalism Programme at Westminster University; the 11- week Chevening Rolls-Royce Science and Innovation Leadership Programme held at the SAID Business School, Oxford; the 10-day intensive Chevening Parliamentary Programme for around 10 Indian parliamentarians at King’s College; and the Chevening Cyber Security Programme for six Indian scholars at Cranfield University, 70 per cent of the funding for which is provided by the Tata Consultancy Services.
Indian has the second highest number of Chevening alumni numbering over 2000.
Totally more than 1500 Chevening scholarships are offered every year. The applications for 2015-16 will open in August this year.
