3rd August 2015 Havana, Cuba
3 great reasons to study in the UK, just in case you needed them
Applications for Chevening scholarships for 2016-17 are now open. Chevening is the British government’s scholarship to study a one-year master’s course in a British university. You can apply here. Don’t worry; you don’t have to rush as you’ve got until the beginning of November to complete your application. But do make sure your application is really well-written and well-evidenced as you will be competing against a lot of other very good students and there aren’t enough scholarships for all applicants. This year (2015-16) we had more than a hundred candidates for the fifteen scholarships we finally awarded; I expect we’ll get just as many candidates for 2016-17.
Not yet convinced the UK is the right place for you to study? Here are three very good reasons why it is.
- The UK is a young, vibrant, dynamic, diverse, exciting country. It’s a great place to be despite the sky often not being as blue as it is in Cuba. The mix of people, cultures and communities makes it a fascinating place to live. It’s innovative and inventive and big on design (think Timothy Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web, Jonathan Ive, Chief of Design at Apple, James Dyson’s vacuum cleaners and fans, The Shard). It’s online and modern – read some of the blogs by current and past Cuban Chevening scholars to see how they have adapted to running their lives by smartphone. And, of course, it’s also got a very rich history which is fascinating to explore.
The Dyson Fan – a great example of British innovation and design - In today’s world – globalised, connected and international – the English language has become almost as important as the smartphone in your pocket. Across the world, it’s the main language of business. Online it’s number one. For Cuba, it’s part of the present and the future. The government’s drive to attract foreign investment, the recent rapprochement between the US and Cuba and the rising number of tourists all make the ability to communicate well in English an important skill for any go-getting Cuban. Of course you don’t have to go to the UK to learn English – lots of other countries speak a perfectly acceptable version of our national tongue – but ask yourself this; if you want to perfect your English, why not study in the country of birth of Shakespeare, Harold Pinter, the Beatles and Adele?
Presentation on Chevening, Havana July 2015 - Finally, British universities are world-class. Out of the top ten in the world, four are British (here’s the ranking if you want to check – it’s actually four in the top six but I didn’t want to sound too immodest). The teaching in British universities is top-notch, the student body, particularly for masters courses, often international. Originality, challenge, rigor, entrepreneurialism are all encouraged. You need to work hard to do well. But you wouldn’t be there if you didn’t have the potential to succeed.
Persuaded? I hope so. What sort of people are we looking for? You need to have good academic results, two years’ work experience, be self-confident and committed, have an idea how you will use your study in the UK to help develop Cuba and most of all, be passionate about what you do and able to demonstrate how you can change things for the better in your area of expertise. Want to know more? Please read the blogs by Aimée, Yuleidy, Carlos and Elena.
I look forward to seeing your application.
I am a physiotherapist from Iraq, I got accepted to do interview next week for Chevening scholarship and I am very excited to do this interview. I enjoyed a lot with your article, it`s gave me an injection of confident and hope.
Best
Hasan AlAgele
I am a teacher in the university matha Abreu in Villa Clara, Cuba. I am very interested in the program chevening for scholarship in the UK, although I could register in chevening page, i never could find the form for upload my letters and all the following information, there is a video but due to my low internet connection I cant see it. I am an informatics engineer and also speak an write English, sadly i could never find the form for upload the information in order to apply. Best Regards.
Carlos Palacios
I have always wanted to study in the UK for my postgrad. Apart from UK having a good universities, I was also attracted by the one year masters courses. Most countries offer two year courses. I do not want to spend that much time in school. However, the over GBP 10,000 has been a hindrance. I am lucky to have got a different kind of scholarship. It is fully funded but unlike Chevening, it does not support visa application. Chevening scholars have it easy, during the visa application. The fee itself, though expensive is not the biggest problem (you need over $850 to get a one year student visa). The biggest problem I faced was the mode of payment. It is a nightmare to for third world countries to access on line payment system. Apart from foreign currency restrictions, card payment is almost non existent. I and others like me have to find someone who knows someone who has a credit or debit card that can be used to make the payment and you give them the equivalent in local currency. If you are lucky, the may need the local currency, if not you have to find someone who will give them what they need.
Not to mention that the on line payment system is a trial version and if it is updated while you already started your application and you did not see the notice you are screwed. Funny thing is that it still accepts the payments and unlike in circumstances where you have not completed all important information on the form, the form cannot be submitted, but for payments it does not matter. Now, the if you make this grave mistake, you will have to wait 28 days before you can get your refund (we are used to waiting for a long time to get services in third world countries but I did not expect this from UK).
And then there are visa application centres that you pay to access (especially in poor countries). They cost about GBP59. If you miss or reschedule the appointment for any reason you lose your money. There are no refunds. But in these poor countries you can never be certain of providing services. I wonder what would happen if the tables turned and the centre cannot meet the client. You know things like 48 hours un explained network loss, power outage. These are typical occurences in poor countries. I wonder if the visa application centre will compensate the applicants in this case, just as they will take the application fee if this happened to the applicant and the applicant failed to make the appointmnet.
Go for Chevening people, you will not experience these hussles