If you applied for the Chevening scholarship for the 2020/2021 cohort, the Chevening Secretariat has announced that they will not require the successful candidates to provide proof of English proficiency, in order to be awarded the scholarship, this year.
This is due to the current COVID – 19 pandemic that has impacted every sector of life and disrupted normalcy globally, including the closure of English language test centres around the world, which prevents a majority of scholars from taking the tests before the deadline that was set for 16 July 2020.
The Chevening Scholarship Secretariat has thus taken the bold step to suspend the English test requirement for the 2020/2021 applicants, and the new development was communicated to all the shortlisted candidates via their Chevening application portal.
Below is the communication from the Secretariat to candidates:
Are university specific language test requirements abolished?
However, the Chevening Secretariat stressed that candidates still need to obtain an unconditional offer from their three chosen universities that were agreed at the interviews.
They communicated that ‘candidates will not be able to choose a fourth course, if they fail to secure an unconditional offer for one of their three courses agreed at interview.’
This basically means that candidates who get a conditional offer from a university of their choice, that is tied to the English test requirement will have to either settle for their 2nd or 3rd choice university or negotiate with the admissions office to drop this condition as the Secretariat nor the British Embassy will not communicate with the universities on the candidate’s behalf.
What about pre-sessional English courses?
Candidates also need to remember that pre-sessional English courses are not permitted in the Chevening policy, and they have not revoked this rule for 2020/2021.
This means that you will not be awarded the Chevening Scholarship if you get an offer letter from a university with a pre-sessional English course it will not be considered ‘unconditional.’
As a former Chevening Scholar, this welcome news to some candidates but a headache to others who were banking on the English tests to turn their conditional offers into unconditional ones.
What I would advise is to aggressively try to persuade the admissions office of the university you have your eye on, to overturn or convert the offer letter into an unconditional one, citing the closure of the English test centres and the funding opportunity that you are likely to miss if they keep this condition.
What Was The Process Before?
Candidates who needed to do the English test in order to fulfill the Chevening requirement had to do the language test in the following centres:
- Academic IELTS (paper or computer-based)
- Pearson PTE Academic
- TOEFL iBT
- C1 Advanced (formerly Cambridge English: Advanced [CAE])
- Trinity ISE II (B2)
The turnaround time for English language tests varies:
- IELTS results available in 13 days.
- PTE Academic results available in five business days.
- TOEFL results available in approximately ten days.
- C1 Advanced results available in two weeks for computer-based tests or seven to nine weeks for paper-based tests.
- Trinity results available in 21 days.
Who Were Exempted From English Tests?
The Chevening Secretariat allows fro exemptions as stated in their website.
Applicants who studied in accredited universities located in the following countries and earned a bachelor’s degree or higher, are exempt from submitting an English language test for a Chevening Scholarship:
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Australia
- The Bahamas
- Barbados
- Belize
- British Overseas Territories
- Dominica
- Grenada
- Guyana
- Ireland
- Jamaica
- New Zealand
- Singapore
- St Kitts and Nevis
- St Lucia
- St Vincent and the Grenadines
- Trinidad and Tobago
- The United Kingdom
- The United States
Nationals of the following countries are also exempt from submitting an English language test for a Chevening Scholarship:
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Australia
- The Bahamas
- Barbados
- Belize
- British Overseas Territories
- Canada
- Dominica
- Grenada
- Guyana
- Ireland
- Jamaica
- New Zealand
- St Kitts and Nevis
- St Lucia
- St Vincent and the Grenadines
- Trinidad and Tobago
- The United States
This is a lenient move by the Secretariat and it shows that they cognizant of the restrains brought about by the pandemic.
However, so that you are not locked out of the award, ensure that you secure unconditional offers. Email the admissions office and try to get your offers in or argue your case and persuade them to overturn or convert the offer letter into an unconditional one, citing the closure of the English test centres.
You can also let them know you are in the final stages of funding opportunity and wouldn’t want to miss the opportunity- whilst the money will come to them.
All the best with that!
If you found this helpful, please let me know in the comment section below. You can also let me know what questions were hard for your to answer and how you are preparing for yoru interview.
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