Chevening is the UK government’s international awards programme aimed at developing global leaders.

Funded by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and partner organisations, Chevening offers two types of award – Chevening Scholarships and Chevening Fellowships – the recipients of which are personally selected by British embassies and High Commissions throughout the world.

Chevening offers a unique opportunity for future leaders, influencers, and decision-makers from all over the world.

Since 1983, over 50,000 professionals have studied in the UK through Chevening. Our impact report gives you an insight into some of the inspirational successes that the Chevening community has achieved, and the difference they continue to make all around the world.

Chevening provides fully-funded scholarships, leaving you free to focus on achieving your academic goals and enjoying the experience of a lifetime. You will live and study in the UK for a year, during which time you will develop professionally and academically, grow your network, experience UK culture, and build lasting positive relationships with the UK.

Applicants from Turkey can choose any course of study at any UK higher education institution. If you have ambition, leadership potential, and a strong academic background, we encourage you to apply before 5 November 2019.

Chevening award in Turkey includes:

• university tuition fees (Chevening applies a tuition fee cap of £18,000 to MBA programmes)
• a monthly stipend
• travel costs to and from the UK
• an arrival allowance
• homeward departure allowance
• the cost of an entry clearance (visa) application
• the cost of the Immigration Health Surcharge
• a travel top-up to attend Chevening events in the UK

To be eligible for a Chevening Scholarship you must:

• be a citizen of a Chevening-eligible country.
• return to your country of citizenship for a minimum of two years after your scholarship has ended
• have an undergraduate degree that will enable you to gain entry to a post-graduate programme at a UK university. This is typically equivalent to an upper second-class 2:1 honours degree in the UK.
• have at least two years’ work experience
• apply to three different eligible UK university courses and have received an unconditional offer from one of these choices by 16 July 2020.
• meet the Chevening English language requirement by 16 July 2020. (IELTS Academic 6,5 – Pearson PTE Academic 58, TOEFL IBT 79, Cambridge English Advanced (CEA) 176, Trinity ISE II (B2) Pass. Please visit this link for further details)

You are not eligible for a Chevening Scholarship if you:

• hold British or dual British citizenship
• have previously studied in the UK with funding from a UK Government-funded scholarship. However, if you have previously studied under a UK Government-funded scholarship (including Chevening), you might be eligible to apply for a Chevening Fellowship five years after completion of your initial UK Government-funded scholarship.
• are an employee, an immediate relative* of an employee, or a former employee (since July 2017) of Her Majesty’s Government (including British Embassies/High Commissions, the Department for International Development, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Department for International Trade, the Ministry of Defence, and the Home Office), a Chevening Partner organisation, a sponsoring UK university, or a staff member of the Association of Commonwealth Universities.
• (*Immediate relatives may be blood or partnership-related and are defined as parents or step-parents, siblings or step-siblings, spouse or other recognised long-term partner, children, or step-children)

How to Apply?

All applications for a Chevening Award must be made through the Chevening designated online application system (OAS), which can be accessed through www.chevening.org

If you have a question related to Chevening Scholarships and Fellowships applications please visit the frequently asked questions page.

Chevening Scholarship applications will close on 5 November 2019 at 12:00 UK time.

The greatest coalition of Northern businesses ever seen has reached more than 300 members, Northern Powerhouse Minister Rt Hon Jake Berry MP announced today (29 August 2019).

The Northern Powerhouse Partner Programme brings together firms who back the government’s ambitious vision for prosperity across the North and showcase why it is a great place to do business.

The milestone comes ahead of the landmark summit organised by the Convention of the North and NP11 – supported by the government – which will see political, business, community and academic leaders discuss plans to level up the North and build on the progress made across the Northern Powerhouse since it was launched 5 years ago.

The Northern Powerhouse Partner Programme’s 302 members include major international firms with a strong presence in the North like Rolls Royce and Santander to growing small businesses.

Minister for the Northern Powerhouse, the Rt Hon Jake Berry MP, said:

This is an important milestone with over 300 businesses squarely behind our vision for a prosperous North which is the front door to a global-facing UK when we leave the EU on 31 October.

Our Northern Powerhouse Partner Programme includes businesses of all sizes across a variety of key sectors, clearly showing the strength in depth of this incredible region.

They are all helping the North to thrive by creating jobs, boosting local economic growth and providing opportunities for people to reach their full potential.

I look forward to discussing with them and many others how we can do even more to level up the North at next month’s summit.

David Orr, Executive Vice President, Small Modular Reactors, Rolls-Royce said:

Rolls-Royce is committed to working with the government on the Northern Powerhouse, in particular using our consortium’s small nuclear power station design to boost growth and jobs in the North and North Wales.

Susan Davies, Managing Director Santander Business said:

Santander is committed to supporting businesses in the Northern Powerhouse on all stages of their growth journey, from start-ups to fast-growing businesses with ambitions to expand overseas.

John Grainger, Executive Director of Britain’s Energy Coast Business Cluster said:

BECBC is proud to be a member of the Northern Powerhouse Partner Programme. Representing a supply chain that covers all forms of energy production, we believe that Cumbria is genuinely the power behind the Northern Powerhouse. Together we look forward to playing a full and active role in developing all aspects of both the nuclear fuel cycle and wider energy opportunities over the next decade and beyond.

Barry Leahey of Playdale said:

With the help of strong advice and a supply chain in the Northern Powerhouse we have taken Playdale products manufactured in Cumbria to 50 countries around the globe.

Andy Okolowicz, Factory Manager, New Balance said:

We are delighted to be a member of the Northern Powerhouse Partners Programme. As a manufacturer, exporter, and contributor to the regional Cumbrian economy, we see the enormous potential in being a part of this collaborative effort by the government. It is a grand initiative which stands to link the great communities of the North, boost economic growth, and, together, make the Northern Powerhouse a reality.

A full list of the 302 Northern Powerhouse Partners and their locations is available on this interactive map.

Civic and business leaders from across the North will join forces at the largest ever Northern Powerhouse conference on 13 September in Rotherham to set out for the new Prime Minister and government the transformational role that the North will play in the future of the UK.

The summit is being spearheaded jointly by the NP11 (Northern Powerhouse 11) group of northern local enterprise partnership (LEP) Chairs and the cross-party Convention of the North, which brings together civic and business leaders with council leaders and elected mayors from all of the North’s towns, cities and city regions.

The nationally significant event will be a unique opportunity to set out a powerful, collective vision for the North and discuss how business, local government, the third sector and others can work together – and with the government – to realise it. See more details.

• securing credit to grow is often a barrier for small and medium sized businesses
• the Bank Referral Scheme has helped nearly 800 businesses to access the investment they need to grow in the last 12 months
• funding through the scheme has increased by over a third in the last year to nearly £17 million

Since its creation in 2016, the Bank Referral Scheme (BRS) has helped hundreds of small and medium-sized businesses to access finance after they were turned down by their bank. Over the past 12 months, 796 businesses have raised nearly £17 million of funding through the Bank Referral Scheme, a significant increase on the previous year. Since it was introduced, £32 million has been sourced for businesses all over the UK.

The Economic Secretary to the Treasury, John Glen, said:

It’s great to see this scheme go from strength to strength, with nearly 1,700 British businesses up and down the country accessing the funding they need.

It’s not right that so many small and medium-sized businesses simply had to give up when they were turned down by their bank for a loan.

I now want to see more of our trailblazers and entrepreneurs use this scheme to get the backing they need to grow and help boost our economy.

The scheme was launched in November 2016 in response to evidence which suggested that after being turned down for a loan by their bank, small and medium-sized businesses rarely sought other options for financing.

It requires nine of Britain’s biggest banks to pass on the details of businesses they have turned down for loans to online credit brokers. These platforms are, in turn, required to share their details, in anonymous form, with alternative finance providers, helping to facilitate a conversation between the business and any provider who expresses an interest in supplying finance to them.

Managing Director for Strategy, Economics and Business Development at the British Business Bank, Alice Hu-Wagner, said:

One of the British Business Bank’s key objectives is to encourage and enable smaller UK businesses to seek the finance best suited to their needs. We’ve seen the value of lending through the government’s Bank Referral Scheme increase by a third over the last year, which points to its growing use amongst smaller businesses.

From our research, we also know that if businesses don’t receive the full amount of financing they’re seeking, 49 per cent either cancel or put their plans on hold, or give up altogether. This makes the Scheme particularly important in the small business finance ecosystem, and the Bank is pleased to continue to support it, as it offers an additional option for businesses if they are unsuccessful in their original finance application.

Notes

• the British Business Bank administer the scheme on behalf of HM Treasury This involves collating the data from platforms, as well as carrying out due diligence for platforms that apply to be designated

• businesses which have their loan application turned down by their bank are now automatically offered the opportunity to be referred to three Government designate finance platforms: Alternative Business Funding, Funding Options and Funding Xchange. Each platform provides access to a range of lenders and products, including business loans, revolving credit, asset finance and invoice finance

• other finance providers with different business models are often more willing to lend to these SMEs. The Bank Referral Scheme helps to address this by giving businesses that are viable, but do not fit the risk appetite of the traditional banks, access to the finance they need to grow and thrive

• the average size of a loan secured was £19,399, up from £17,285 the previous year

• the participating banks are: Allied Irish Bank, Bank of Ireland, Barclays, Clydesdale and Yorkshire banks, Danske, HSBC, Lloyds, RBS and Santander

Passengers will benefit from simpler, cheaper fares and improvements to ticketing as part of changes introduced and announced today (29 August 2019).

‘Contactless’ Pay As You Go (PAYG) journeys are being introduced for journeys at Potters Bar, Radlett and Brookmans Park as part of the Department for Transport’s smart ticketing rollout – helping to create a truly passenger-focused railway.

The department has also backed a new trial announced today that will significantly boost customer confidence and flexibility in booking train tickets, with the potential to also save passengers money.

LNER will begin trials in January 2020 of a new fare system designed to make travelling on trains simpler and clearer. Return tickets will be removed on trial routes from London to Leeds, Newcastle and Edinburgh, and in their place passengers will be able to purchase cheaper single-leg tickets, which will be more in line with half the price of a return journey.

For example, passengers currently travelling between London and Edinburgh buying a ticket at the station pay £146.40 for a Super Off-Peak Single ticket or £147.40 for a Super Off-Peak Return ticket. Under this trial, the cost of a Super Off-Peak Single would be £73.70.

Smart ticketing video

Secretary of State for Transport, Grant Shapps said:

These announcements are vital for providing passengers with a more convenient, flexible and fairly priced experience.

New ‘contactless’ Pay As You Go journeys at Potters Bar, Radlett and Brookmans Park will help make travel cheaper, quicker and easier, with our smart ticketing roll-out also set to benefit passengers at Luton Airport and Welwyn Garden City later this year.

We are also taking action to simplify fares as LNER begins single-leg fares trials next year. This will save many people money with substantially cheaper single tickets, boost customer confidence, and ensure passengers up and down the country get the modern transport service they expect.

The rollout of PAYG ticketing follows ambitious plans made by train operators in 2018 to enable smart ticketing at stations across almost all of the network, with all franchised operators offering smart cards and/or barcode ticketing.

This is the result of over 5,000 upgrades to ticketing equipment at stations across the country.

This follows the Department – together with the rail industry – launching the brand new 16-17 Saver to give young people a better deal across the railways and help them and their families save an average of £186 every year.