Facts checked against the official Chevening Europe Defence and Security Fellowship programme page and linked Chevening fellowships eligibility and work-experience pages, 23 September 2026 (Africa/Nairobi editorial stamp).
Reviewed by Ochieng Derrick, Scholarship Tally editor. Ochieng researches official funder pages for Scholarship Tally decision guides and checks dates, funded items, and process rules against the live source before publish. Chevening and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office are the award authorities, not partners of Scholarship Tally.
The Chevening Europe Defence and Security Fellowship is a six-week Chevening Fellowship, not a Chevening Scholarship and not a United Kingdom master’s degree. Cranfield University delivers it at the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom in Shrivenham. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) funds the places.
It is a six-week residential block at Shrivenham for mid-career professionals who already work in government, defence, security, intelligence, law enforcement, civil protection, resilience, academia, the public or private sector, or an international organisation, with national or international security responsibility. Two 2027 teaching blocks are published. Applications close 27 September 2026 at 11:00 Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). Convert that time to your local clock before you treat any social post as final.
How Scholarship Tally checks this: Facts below come from the official Chevening Europe Defence and Security Fellowship programme page and the official Chevening fellowships eligibility pages it sits beside. Scholarship Tally is not Chevening and is not the FCDO. If this article and the live official pages disagree, the official pages win.
Information checked: 23 September 2026. Funding lines, cohort dates, the country list, and the close time move. Re-open the official programme page on the day you apply.
Who this fellowship is actually for
Chevening designed this award for mid-career professionals from listed European countries who already show leadership potential in security and defence. The stated aim is to develop leaders who can operate in complex, fast-changing security and defence settings, and to build a Europe-United Kingdom professional network.
The official page also describes an interdisciplinary, applied programme on strategic challenges facing governments, international organisations, and public institutions, including leadership, organisational resilience, governance, strategic decision-making, cyber resilience, artificial intelligence, and international collaboration.
The official influence wording matters more than a polished job title alone. You should already be in a role with potential to affect organisational capability, policy, strategy, or operational effectiveness in your organisation or country.
Sectors named on the programme page include government, the public or private sector, academia, defence, security, law enforcement, intelligence, civil protection, resilience, and international organisations, where the work carries national or international security responsibility.
The published product is not “attendance.” Each fellow works on a research project on a real policy, leadership, organisational, or security problem, with academic support, and presents findings to the FCDO in London at the end of the fellowship.
Scholarship Tally check: if you cannot name the problem you would take to Shrivenham and the unit that would use the answer after you return, pause before you open the form.
Who should not spend an application on this
Use this as a practical stop list before you open the form. These are applicant checks based on official criteria, not a published Chevening rejection script.
- You are not a citizen and resident of a listed country at the point of application.
- Your European country is not on this fellowship’s list. The programme page also states that the fellowship is open to non-Official Development Assistance (ODA) eligible European countries. If that is why you do not match, use Chevening’s programme finder rather than forcing this award.
- You hold British or dual British citizenship, unless you are a citizen of a British Overseas Territory (standard fellowship rule).
- Your employer cannot release you for one full six-week block in January-March or March-April 2027.
- You actually want a one-year UK master’s funded as a Chevening Scholarship. That is a different Chevening product and timeline.
- You have neither a postgraduate qualification nor equivalent professional training or experience in a relevant field.
- You have under five years of relevant professional experience.
- Your role sits near security (generic policy, generic tech, generic academia) but has no national or international security responsibility and no plausible influence on capability, policy, strategy, or operations.
- Your primary goal is a funded trip or a CV line, not applying the learning and network after return.
- Standard fellowship disqualifiers apply to you: UK Government scholarship funding (including Chevening) in the last five years; employee, former employee, or relative of His Majesty’s Government or listed bodies within the two-year window; or you cannot commit to return to your country of citizenship (country of award) for at least one year after the fellowship ends.
Practical constraints that are not printed as eligibility rules can still make the fellowship difficult to undertake: blocked leave, family logistics during a residential block, and no live organisational problem for the research project. Label those as practical constraints, not as official bars.
Eligibility that actually decides the application
Run the programme-specific tests first. Then run the standard Chevening fellowship rules. You need both sets. Treat a miss on either as a reason to stop and re-check before you submit.
Programme-specific rules
From the official programme page, you must:
- Be a citizen of and resident in one of these countries at the point of application: Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Holy See, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, or Switzerland.
- If you live in a European overseas territory, apply through the Chevening scheme for the European country of which you are a citizen.
- Hold a postgraduate qualification, or equivalent professional training or experience in a relevant field.
- Have at least five years of relevant professional experience.
- Be a mid-career professional with responsibilities for national or international security in one of the sectors listed above.
- Be in a role with potential to influence organisational capability, policy, strategy, or operational effectiveness.
- Show leadership potential and a commitment to apply the knowledge and networks in your organisation or country after the programme.
Residence at the point of application is an important eligibility requirement. A listed passport without residence in a listed country is not enough.
Standard Chevening fellowship rules
You must also meet the general fellowship eligibility criteria on Chevening’s fellowships eligibility page. In practice that includes:
- Potential to reach a position of leadership and influence, plus the personal, intellectual, and interpersonal attributes Chevening assesses.
- Return to your country of citizenship (the country of award) for at least one year after the fellowship ends. Do not copy the scholarship rule of two years onto this award.
- Not hold British or dual British citizenship, unless you are a citizen of a British Overseas Territory.
- Not have received UK Government scholarship funding, including Chevening, within the last five years. You will only be eligible to apply for a Chevening Fellowship after a period of five years following the completion of your first UK Government-funded scholarship.
- Not be an employee, a former employee, or relative of an employee of His Majesty’s Government, or have been within the last two years from the opening of Chevening applications. That net includes the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, all British Embassies and High Commissions, the Home Office, the Ministry of Defence, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, the Department for International Trade, and UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI), the British Council, or a sponsoring UK university. Individuals contracted to work on any British Council programme or project, and their relatives, are ineligible.
- Employees, former employees, or relatives of an employee of Chevening partner organisations are eligible to apply, but if the employment took place within the last two years, you cannot receive a Chevening partner award from the organisation for which you work, previously worked, or are affiliated with through relatives.
Chevening defines immediate relatives as parents or step-parents, siblings or step-siblings, children or step-children, a spouse, a civil partner, or an unmarried partner in a marriage-like relationship of at least two years.
Work-experience maths: the programme page says “at least five years’ relevant professional experience.” Chevening’s separate official fellowships work-experience page (not the programme page) treats five years as 7,200 hours. On that page, entries are calculated automatically by multiplying weeks by hours per week, within stated working-week (about 35-60 hours) and working-year (about 40-50 weeks) parameters, and eligible work can include full-time, part-time, voluntary work, and paid or unpaid internships. Use that official calculator as the standard fellowship method, not as text invented only for this award.
What the six weeks actually are
Duration: six weeks. Chevening has listed two 2027 cohorts:
| Cohort | Dates |
|---|---|
| Cohort 1 | 25 January – 5 March 2027 |
| Cohort 2 | 15 March – 23 April 2027 |
Delivery is by Cranfield University at the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom, Shrivenham. The format mixes teaching, discussion, practical exercises, site visits, individual research, and collaborative learning. Methods named on the page include lectures, workshops, simulations, practitioner speakers, research activity, UK institutional visits, and professional networking.
The programme is organised around six themes, in this order:
- Global Leadership in an Era of Complexity
- Understanding People, Culture, and Organisations
- Cyber Resilience and Information Threats
- Artificial Intelligence, Governance, and Emerging Technology
- Strategic Decision-Making Under Pressure
- Building Resilience and Future Leadership
Each fellow runs a research project on a relevant policy, leadership, organisational, or security challenge, with academic support, and presents findings to the FCDO in London at the end.
This is a block release, not an evening course. You need the whole window. The official page does not say how cohorts are assigned or whether applicants pick one. Do not invent a preference process. Teaching is at Shrivenham. The funding line describes pre-arranged accommodation close to Oxford. Report both. Do not invent commute times or housing quality. The London briefing is part of the published design; do not invent extra funded nights around it.
What funding covers, and what the official page does not promise
On the programme page, each fellowship includes:
- Full programme fees
- Living expenses for the duration of the fellowship, including pre-arranged accommodation close to Oxford
- Return economy airfare
No stipend amount, nightly rate, or flight cap appears on the programme page. Do not invent them. “Living expenses for the duration” means the six funded weeks, not a year in the United Kingdom. Airfare is return economy for the fellow. The page does not list family travel. Accommodation is pre-arranged and bundled into living expenses. That is not a promise of a hotel of your choosing, and it is not a promise of housing in Shrivenham itself.
Family travel: the programme page does not list family travel. Check the applicable official Chevening fellowship terms and your award documentation for any dependant-related rules.
Practical gaps where the programme page is silent: extra nights outside the funded dates; travel to any interview if one is required; family costs; costs after the funded end date. For salary during the fellowship, check your employer arrangements and the applicable official Chevening fellowship terms; do not assume the programme page answers that question.
How to apply, in process order
- Confirm the country list, residence, five years, role, and leave feasibility against the official programme page on the day you apply.
- Read the standard fellowships eligibility page before you open the form.
- Apply only through the official Chevening application system linked from the programme page (https://asams.chevening.org/apply). Select this fellowship programme, not a Chevening Scholarship route.
- Submit before 27 September 2026, 11:00 UTC. This is not the Chevening Scholarship close (that scholarship cycle uses a later October date). Do not mix timelines.
- For process questions the programme page does not answer, use Chevening’s fellowships frequently asked questions. After you apply, Chevening is the only status source. Scholarship Tally does not track your file.
The official programme page does not publish interview dates, reference rules, number of places, or how the two cohorts are filled. Do not invent a selection calendar.
What a strong application has to prove
Stay inside official criteria. Chevening does not publish a scoring rubric on this page. In combination, the page is asking you to show:
- A real security or defence mandate now, not a hoped-for one after the course.
- An influence pathway through capability, policy, strategy, or operations.
- A relevant policy, leadership, organisational, or security problem you could develop through the fellowship research component and later present in the London briefing design (Scholarship Tally preparation advice, not a published scoring criterion).
- A return-and-apply plan inside your organisation or country, not a vague promise to network.
- Leadership potential already visible. Fellowships are for people already in influence, not for people hoping the course will create it.
Mistakes that waste the form
- Treating this as a scholarship or master’s application.
- Citizenship without residence.
- Inflating job titles that have no security responsibility.
- A generic “I want to study artificial intelligence (AI) and cyber” pitch with no organisational problem.
- Ignoring the one-year return rule.
- Missing the 11:00 UTC cut-off because you used the scholarship October date.
FAQ
Is the Chevening Europe Defence and Security Fellowship a master’s or a Chevening Scholarship?
No. It is a six-week Chevening Fellowship delivered by Cranfield University at Shrivenham. Chevening Scholarships fund a one-year UK master’s. Different form, eligibility, and deadline.
When do applications close?
The official programme page states that applications are open until 27 September 2026 at 11:00 UTC. Re-check that clock on the live page before you submit.
What are the 2027 cohort dates?
Cohort 1: 25 January to 5 March 2027. Cohort 2: 15 March to 23 April 2027.
Which countries are eligible, and does residence matter?
You must be a citizen of and resident in one of the listed countries at the point of application. The list is on the programme page and is copied in the eligibility section above. Residence matters as much as citizenship.
What does “non-ODA eligible European countries” mean for applicants?
The programme page states that the fellowship is open to non-Official Development Assistance eligible European countries and then lists them. If your country is European but not on that list, this is the wrong Chevening award. Use Chevening’s programme finder.
How many years of experience are required?
At least five years of relevant professional experience, plus the mid-career security-responsibility and influence tests on the programme page.
Is it fully funded, and are pound amounts published?
The programme page funds programme fees, living expenses for the six weeks including pre-arranged accommodation close to Oxford, and a return economy airfare. It does not publish pound amounts for those lines.
Does funding cover family or extra travel?
The programme page lists return economy airfare for the fellowship package and does not list family travel. Confirm dependants and extras against applicable official fellowship terms and the award documentation, not against aggregator summaries.
Where is it taught, and where is the accommodation described?
Teaching is at the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom in Shrivenham. The funding line describes pre-arranged accommodation close to Oxford. Both phrases are official. The page does not publish a commute map.
Can British or dual British citizens apply?
Under standard fellowship rules, no, unless you are a citizen of a British Overseas Territory.
Do I have to return home afterwards, and for how long?
Yes. Standard fellowship rules require return to your country of citizenship (country of award) for at least one year after the fellowship ends.
How are the two cohorts allocated?
Not stated on the official programme page. Do not treat silence as a choice process.
How many places are there?
Not stated on the official programme page.
Is English-language evidence listed on the programme page?
Not as a programme-specific rule on this page. Do not invent a score requirement from scholarship pages.
Before you submit
- Re-open the official programme page and re-read the deadline, country list, cohorts, and funding bullets.
- Confirm leave for one full six-week block, including the London presentation design.
- Confirm your employer will still have a role that can use the research project.
- Record the date you checked the official page.
- Apply only on the Chevening form.
