When I was making my Chevening Scholarship application in 2017, my biggest headache was identifying the UK priority areas in my home country (Kenya), to include them in the two essays : why do you want to study in the UK and the career plan essay.
It was crucial to include them in the essays as they would enrich my argument and show the reading committee and the interview panel that I was in touch and connected to the needs of my country.
So if you have landed on this post, you may be in the same exact position I was in and I am here to help you locate these UK priority areas so that you can include them in your essay.
I also have a YouTube video illustrating with examples, hwo to use these tools to identify the UK priority areas.
The UK priority areas for the Chevening Scholarship can be identified from a number of different sources online. You can get them from the DFID website development tracker, the DFID news and communication section, social media pages of the UK embassy/high commission in your home country and the UK government worldwide services section.
The UK has varied interests worldwide and works on key priority areas that they have in each country.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office website states that the Chevening scholarships are awarded to those interested in studying a wide range of subjects, including but not limited to science and technology, media and creative industries, law and business, finance and economics, and public services and civil society.
One thing to remember is that on the Chevening Scholarship, you can study whatever you want, as you have freedom to pick the course you want.
Your task is to demonstrate how it all aligns with the UK and your home-country relations and how it fits into your career plan.
Selection to Chevening scholarship is heavily reliant on the essays submitted where you need to infer how studying in the UK will be beneficial to you and your home country and how you can help improve the relations between the UK and your home country.
So why is it important to identify these UK priority areas?
The prestigious Chevening Scholarship aims to develop future leaders, decision makers and influencers by equipping them academically and professionally, through sponsoring their study to the UK.
One thing to note is that Chevening Scholars have to return to their home countries after the completion of their studies or after their study visa expires (it’s in the terms of their awards), and this happens so that scholars go back and apply their new skills and abilities to positively contribute to the development of their home countries.
Knowing the key focus areas will help you be practical and relevant when writing down your career plan essay and when answering questions during the Chevening Scholarship interviews.
You can read through this Chevening interview guide I wrote that helps you think through how to answer the Chevening interview questions.
While I was doing research for my own scholarship application in 2018, I combed through the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) website, which runs the Chevening Scholarships and found their Transaparency Data on the scholarship.
The Chevening Schoalrship has two main objectives:
- To increase the understanding between the UK and other countries; and
- To promote the exchange of information and ideas so that it is easy for it (UK) to conduct business successfully with that country in the long run.
That right there is the intention of the scholarship – soft diplomacy you might call it.
So what type of scholars do they look for?
The FCO website also mentions that they tap into scholars (select scholars) who will contribute to a range of the UK’s national security, business, education, economic and cultural objectives by:
- asserting the UK’s influence as a global education player, showcasing our leading educational establishments to the world, and widening the perspective of UK students
- spreading awareness and respect for UK culture, governance, and projecting our values such as openness, tolerance and diversity
So now you know what the selection panel is looking for and you should do your research thoroughly to present yourself as the ideal candidate who can be beneficial to your home-country and UK maintaining good relations.
Where do you identify the UK priority areas?
Below, I help you look more deeply into the various resources you can use to identify the UK priority areas in your homecountry.
The Department for International Development (DFID) has a Development Tracker that helps you ‘find and explore detailed information on international projects funded by the UK government’.
The tracker is built using open data published by the UK Government and partners, using the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI) standard.
The DevTracker is updated around the start of each month and you can monitor the progress of projects you are interested in and quote them in your essay.
Below is a video I made to show you how to use the DevTracker to find your homecountry and how to inteprete the findings.
The video below starts at 4mins where I show how to use the DFID tracker.
2.The DFID news and communication section
This section contains news releases and communication from the DFID and all its partners so you are able to keep a track of all the latest developments.
This is also where you are able to monitor projects and see any major wins or contributions that you can quote in your essay or interviews.
These press releaases and announcement really cut your research into half if you use them correctly.
The video below explains how you can use this section to incoporate them in your essay.
The video below starts at 5mins where I illustrate how too use the news section to find the UK priority areas for your home country.
The social media pages of the UK high commission/consuler/embassy in your home-country are usually active and disseminate crucial information about what the ambassador/commissioner is doing. They highlight the projects they are involved in, achievements, any high level discussions they have held with the government, funding opportunities they are running etc.
Monitoring or knowing what they are upto can help you to deduce their key focus areas for your home-country that year.
This video (starts at minute 10) will help you see how you can go about doing this.
I actually saw this from the Chevening website’s FAQ section.
I had not known about it before but I can see that it does work. All you need to do is to navigate you to your country’s page where you get more information on the country projects.
Find the section here: https://www.gov.uk/world
The video below shows you how to get the information you require. (starts at minute 15)
I hope you have found this post helpful and you now know where to identify the UK priority areas for your country so that the interests and career aspirations you outline in your essays and in the responses during the Chevening interviews, align with the foreign policy strategies the UK has in focus.
Remember,it does not matter what course you choose, just ensure that you highlight how you studying that course in the UK will benefit your home country and in extension help you nurture the relation between the two countries.
Thank you for stopping by and reading this friend!
Please comment below and let me know other ways tyou have identified the UK priority areas. Let’s help each other!
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