Chevening Scholarship - A Step-by-Step Guide on Writing Winning Essays about:reader?url=https://advocatesfhi.blogspot.com/2019/09/chevening-...

advocatesfhi.blogspot.com

Chevening Scholarship - A Step-by-

Step Guide on Writing Winning Essays
14-17 minutes

©Gift University

Essays are inarguably the most important step in winning the

highly coveted and prestigious Chevening Scholarship. This
scholarship is offered by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office
(FCO) of the British Government, aimed at offering potential
leaders the opportunity of studying for a master's degree in any of
the UK's prestigious universities. In this article, the author, a
winner of the scholarship in 2018, offers tips on writing successful
essays for

the Chevening Scholarship application. Have a great read!

Chevening scholarship application usually requires that candidates

write four essays on the following themes:

1 of 11 8/12/2021, 4:59 PM
Chevening Scholarship - A Step-by-Step Guide on Writing Winning Essays about:reader?url=https://advocatesfhi.blogspot.com/2019/09/chevening-...

1. Leadership and influence

2. Networking credentials

3. Reason for choosing to study in the UK

4. Career plans

Below are the essay prompts and methods of approaching each

essay.

LEADERSHIP AND INFLUENCE ESSAY:

Chevening is looking for individuals who will be future leaders or

influencers in their home countries. Explain how you meet this
requirement, using clear examples of your own leadership and
influencing skills to support your answer. (minimum word count:
100 words, maximum word count: 500 words)

Above is the typical Chevening leadership essay prompt. Without

wasting time, I will go straight to the formula that would help you
build a strong essay.

I advise you write your essay in 3 parts, as in all essays, namely:

1. Introduction

2. Body of the essay

3. Conclusion

Introduction

This should be quite brief. Here it is advised you begin by what

you understand by leadership. It is better to avoid textbook
definitions, although some textbook definitions may be too good to
ignore. E.g John Maxwell's definition that leadership is influence.

2 of 11 8/12/2021, 4:59 PM
Chevening Scholarship - A Step-by-Step Guide on Writing Winning Essays about:reader?url=https://advocatesfhi.blogspot.com/2019/09/chevening-...

However, try to state your own understanding of what leadership

means. I also recommend you conclude the intro by stating that
you have demonstrated this attribute all through your life for
example.

"Leadership to me is the act of taking a group of people with a

common goal from their current position to a greater height where
the group's objectives can be achieved. All through my life, I have
led many groups towards realisation of noble goals for the
betterment of society. This is exemplified in the roles I played in X,
Y and Z organisations".

Please note that this is just a template to help you understand the
structure of a winning essay. Do not attempt to copy any of the
essay sections I will be stating in the course of our discussions.
See how I began with definition & concluded by setting the stage
for my discussion of my leadership positions in subsequent
paragraphs.

Body of the Essay

The next thing you should do in the next paragraph is to discuss

two or three leadership roles you have occupied in the past. Note
that it is better to exhaustively discuss 2 leadership roles than
listing a plethora of leadership positions that you wouldn't be able
to discuss exhaustively.

In discussing your leadership experience, follow the STAR L

format.

STAR L stands for: Situation, Task, Action, Result, Lessons learnt.

Now I will discuss them one after the other.

Situation: You have to weave your essays around you solving

3 of 11 8/12/2021, 4:59 PM
Chevening Scholarship - A Step-by-Step Guide on Writing Winning Essays about:reader?url=https://advocatesfhi.blogspot.com/2019/09/chevening-...

problems. So, “situation“ represents the problem on ground which

you solved. State what the problem was.

Task: This is what needed to be done to solve the problem.

Action: What steps did you take to solve the problem.

Result: What positive things happened as a result of the action

you took

Lesson: What lesson did you learn from the entire experience?

From the above, you should see that Chevening and other
scholarship-awarding organisations don't care about what
leadership position you occupied. All they care about is the impact
you made. Thus, you don't need to have occupied an official
leadership position to pass as a leader. All you need is to have
made a positive impact. If you have made a positive impact, you
are definitely a leader, whether you have a title or not!

It is also crucial that you adhere to the word count.

Furthermore, in discussing your leadership experience, focus on

what you did, not what the group did. For instance, use words like
"I", not "we" in describing what you did. Also be specific in your
description. Use statistics if possible.

Remember you have to apply the STAR L approach in describing

each of your 2 or 3 leadership examples. Only then can you say
you have exhaustively answered the leadership question.

Conclusion

The conclusion is like a pitch when delivering a speech. Conclude

by stating how great a leader you think you are, listing attributes
you have demonstrated and how your country and the Chevening

4 of 11 8/12/2021, 4:59 PM
Chevening Scholarship - A Step-by-Step Guide on Writing Winning Essays about:reader?url=https://advocatesfhi.blogspot.com/2019/09/chevening-...

network will benefit from your leadership skills if you're awarded

the scholarship.

NETWORKING ESSAY:

Chevening is looking for individuals with strong professional

relationship relationship-building skills, who will engage with the
Chevening community and influence and lead others in their
chosen profession. Please explain how you build and maintain
relationships in a professional capacity, using clear examples of
how you currently do, and outline how you hope to use these skills
in the future. (minimum word count: 100 words; maximum word
count: 500 words).

Let me begin by distinguishing between the leadership and

networking questions, because it has always been a problem
distinguishing what is required of the two. The leadership question
expects you to explain how you use your influence to solve
problems around you. The networking question, on the other hand,
requires you to explain how you leverage on relationships to
solve problems around you, how you maintain these networks and
how you plan to use this network of yours for the good of your
country, the Chevening network and the UK if offered the
Chevening scholarship.

Like the leadership essay, the networking essay should have an

introduction, body and a conclusion. Also, the body of the
essay should follow the STAR L format. Let me add here that there
is no hard and fast rule. So, while I advise you to follow a structure
that will help you satisfy your assessors, feel free to write in your
natural style that will contain all the stated information.

Introduction

5 of 11 8/12/2021, 4:59 PM
Chevening Scholarship - A Step-by-Step Guide on Writing Winning Essays about:reader?url=https://advocatesfhi.blogspot.com/2019/09/chevening-...

I advise you begin your networking essay by explaining what

networking means to you and stating some attributes you have
that makes it easy for you to network. For example, you could say:

"Networking is the act of establishing, maintaining and leveraging

on relationships to meet societal needs. I am quite a cheerful,
understanding, and loyal person. This has endeared me to the
hearts of many and I have always leveraged on my cordial
relationships to solve prevailing problems around me."

With this, you would have introduced your essay and also set the
stage to start listing the examples of situations where you have
demonstrated your networking skills.

Body of the Essay

In the next paragraphs, I advise that you mention 2 or 3 examples

of those scenarios and discuss each exhaustively. Like in the
leadership essay, for each example, discuss the situation of
things that propelled you to act i.e. the problem.

Next mention the task i.e. what needed to be done to solve the
problem.

Then describe the action you took i.e. the specific steps you took
to respond to the problem. In describing the action you took, try to
show examples that include use of social media like Facebook
groups, WhatsApp or Telegram groups and blogs started by you.
These will fetch you higher scores in your networking essay.

From these, you can see that I am following I already following the
STAR L approach. Next to be discussed is the result you got from
the action you took and what lessons you learnt.

Note that unlike in previous years, this particular essay prompt

6 of 11 8/12/2021, 4:59 PM
Chevening Scholarship - A Step-by-Step Guide on Writing Winning Essays about:reader?url=https://advocatesfhi.blogspot.com/2019/09/chevening-...

specifically requires that you give only current examples of

scenarios where you applied your networking skills in solving
problems around you in a professional setting. Don’t narrate how
Mungo Park drowned in a sea centuries ago.

Conclusion

Conclude by stating how your networking skills will benefit your

country, the UK and Chevening network if you're awarded the
scholarship.

STUDYING IN THE UK ESSAY:

Outline why you have selected your chosen three university

courses and explain how this relates to your previous academic or
professional experience, and your plans for the future. Please do
not duplicate the information you have entered you have entered
on the work experience and education section of this form
(minimum word count: 100 words; maximum word count: 500
words).

It is impossible to write a good essay on your choice of course and

university if you haven't done your homework. So, the first step in
preparing for this essay is to thoroughly comb the internet to
identify schools offering your desired course. Next, you need to
digest the entire content on the course pages on the universities,
websites.

You have to master the course content/modules and the

professors handling each module. It is also important to read about
the profs and identify their research interests. All these will come
to play in your essay.

From all these you ought to see why I emphasise on the need to

7 of 11 8/12/2021, 4:59 PM
Chevening Scholarship - A Step-by-Step Guide on Writing Winning Essays about:reader?url=https://advocatesfhi.blogspot.com/2019/09/chevening-...

take the scholarship quest seriously, because it demands hard

work.

Many people, whom you are competing with, are working hard to
acquire the needed information. So, don't expect to put up an
outstanding application if you're not ready to put in the required
effort.

How should you approach the essay if you have gotten all the info
mentioned above?

Introduction

You need to begin the essay by briefly describing your educational

background and qualifications that make you suitable for the
courses you have chosen. You should also chip in a summary of
your career goal and proceed to list the courses and universities
you have chosen (of course these are the courses you believe
would help you achieve your career goals).

Body

Next, you need to pick each of the three courses you've chosen
and justify why you have chosen them, one after the other.

For this essay and the career goal essay, you must ensure that
your explanations are SMART; meaning they are Specific,
Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-bound.

In justifying each course choice, you should state how specific

course contents will help you achieve your career goals. You also
need to talk about why you have chosen that school. Go ahead
and mention at least one of the profs there and how their research
interests aligns with your career goals. Then discuss why you have
chosen the UK as your choice country for your masters.

8 of 11 8/12/2021, 4:59 PM
Chevening Scholarship - A Step-by-Step Guide on Writing Winning Essays about:reader?url=https://advocatesfhi.blogspot.com/2019/09/chevening-...

One good way of justifying your choice of school & course is by

stating their rankings. But bear in mind that ranking is not enough.
You must go ahead to show the relationship between the course
content and your career goals. Only then can your assessor be
pleased that you have done a good research before choosing your
course/school, and that you didn’t just make your choices by a
knee-jerk response.

Conclusion

You can conclude your essay with a summary of the link between
your career goals and course choice, alongside how your country
will benefit from your study of the courses.

CAREER PLAN ESSAY

Chevening is looking for individuals who have a clear post-study

career plan. Please outline your immediate plans upon returning
home and your longer-term career goals. You may wish to
consider how these relate to what the UK government is doing in
your country (minimum word count: 100 words; maximum word
count: 500 words).

Your main business in this essay is to prove to the guys in the UK

that you have an outstanding career plan which your studies in the
UK would help you achieve.

Before I talk about the steps in writing the essay, there are a few
points you must note in the career plan essay:

1. It is better to choose a career plan that is in line with what

DFID is doing in your country. Google DFID in Nigeria, for
instance, to see the projects DFID is engaged in. A career along
these lines will boost your chances of clinching the scholarship

9 of 11 8/12/2021, 4:59 PM
Chevening Scholarship - A Step-by-Step Guide on Writing Winning Essays about:reader?url=https://advocatesfhi.blogspot.com/2019/09/chevening-...

2. In discussing a career plan, dare to dream! Your plans

should bring something innovative to the table.

3. Your career plan shouldn't be about yourself. There should be

a pressing problem in your country which you're planning to solve.
It shouldn't just be about what you want to become in the future.

4. Even though I said you should dare to dream, you should be

able to show exactly how you plan to achieve your great plans.
Remember SMART. Your career plan should be SMART!

So back to the essay. Again, the essay should have an

introduction, a body and a conclusion.

Introduction

Feel free to introduce the essay any way you like. But let your
introduction serve as a hook that will capture the interest of the
reader.

Body

The body of your essay should address your career plans.

Divide your career plans into:

1. Immediate: What you will do immediately you return from

your studies in the UK, up to 1 to 2 years later. It is best for your
immediate plans to align with your return to the job you are doing
in your country before departing for your studies. Scholarship
organisations want some guarantee that you will have a platform
to apply what you'll study in the UK upon your return. You would
be shooting yourself in the foot if you tell them you will come and
look for a new job immediately you return.

2. Short term: Between 2 - 5 years after you return. It would be

10 of 11 8/12/2021, 4:59 PM
Chevening Scholarship - A Step-by-Step Guide on Writing Winning Essays about:reader?url=https://advocatesfhi.blogspot.com/2019/09/chevening-...

best for this to be a progression from your short-term goal or

getting a higher job in relation with what you will study in the UK.

3. Intermediate term: This is not so important. But involves

what you plan to do within 5 to 10 years after you return. This is
not compulsory.

4. Long term: What you plan to achieve 10 years after your

return and beyond.

You don't really have to use the terms immediate, short,

intermediate or long term. You can just use the number of years.

To conclude, remember to mention how the UK and your country

will benefit from your career plan.

Best of luck!

*Disclaimer:

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of

the author and do not reflect those of the Foreign and
Commonwealth Office (FCO), its partner organisations or any
scholarship awarding body. Whereas the author has taken
every effort to provide accurate information, he is not liable
for any factual errors that may be contained in this article.

11 of 11 8/12/2021, 4:59 PM