We need to create better applicants.

That was the advice given by Resident British Commissioner John Hamilton who spoke candidly about how Antigua and Barbuda can increase on the number of persons who are selected as recipients of the Chevening Scholarships program.

According to Ambassador Hamilton, the continuous assistance from Chevening Alumni is helping to create stronger applicants.

“The brutally honest answer is by getting more and better candidates and you’re getting more and better candidates by people getting together and helping each other...They are a friendly bunch, and they’re looking out to help each other and it’s in their interest to do so because as I was saying before, it’s a competitive market. It’s competitive getting in for scholarships at all and then it’s competitive on a regional basis, how many people get through each year.

The Chevening Scholarship program, funded by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, provides full funding for outstanding professionals and academics to complete one-year master’s degrees at leading British universities. Recipients are selected based on their leadership potential and commitment to creating positive change in their home countries.

For the 2025 cohort, Dr. David Francis was the lone recipient from Antigua and Barbuda. Last year, the twin island nation had 2.

Francis currently serves as a House Officer in the Subspecialties Department of Internal Medicine at the Sir Lester Bird Medical Centre, where he specializes in Nephrology, Neurology, and Oncology. He also chairs the Infectious Disease Committee of the hospital’s dialysis unit, where he has developed expertise in infection prevention and control protocols for high-risk patients.

He will use his scholarship to pursue a Master of Science degree in Applied Infectious Disease Epidemiology at University College London.

Ambassador Hamilton is encouraging residents to sign up as the new application window is now open.

“So there’s already been some details out in the media here but if people are interested  and we definitely encourage people to apply, if they go onto the Chevening.org website they will get steered through the whole process there and it will give them a number of case studies and some very good tips and ideas for what makes your application stand out and how to take you through the whole process and to give you a bit of an idea of the window.

“So applications are open between now and November, they then go through an assessment process and then shortlisting which takes us into kind of January, February time next year and then, the interviews open kind of February, March and can run into as late as April and then, we get into a position where we will make some decisions and announce those decisions in about the June period next year,” Hamilton stated.

He assured persons to not be deterred if they are not successful on their first try but to use those experiences in sharpening their applications for another year.

Interested candidates are encouraged to prepare strong, evidence-based applications and apply online at chevening.org/apply. Guidance and eligibility details are available at chevening.org/guidance.