Global Scholarship Application Calendar for ASEAN Students: When Chevening, Fulbright, MEXT and Erasmus Mundus Open
By Muntasir Minhaz • Published Aug 07, 2026 • Scholarships & Funding, Study in Southeast Asia
Chevening opens 4 August 2026 and closes 6 October 2026 for the September 2027 UK intake. Fulbright, MEXT and Erasmus Mundus run on separate national and program calendars, so you need to track each one on its own official page.
🎓 Chevening (UK): opens 4 Aug 2026, closes 6 Oct 2026, for master's starting September 2027
📩 Fulbright: set by your own country's commission or embassy, Indonesia's AMINEF Master's round closes 15 February each year
🏠 MEXT (Japan): each embassy in the region runs its own recommendation round once a year, on its own dates
⏱️ Erasmus Mundus Joint Master's: most consortia open in October and close in January, for the following September intake
Why the scholarship calendar matters
Global scholarships open and close on fixed windows that rarely move by more than a few days from one year to the next. Missing a window by even a single day means waiting a full year for the next round. Build your English test, referee requests and essays around these dates instead of starting them after a deadline is already close.
Each scholarship below runs on its own calendar, set by a different government or consortium. Treat this as a starting map for your planning, then confirm the exact 2026 and 2027 dates on the official page before you commit your test bookings and referee requests around them.
Chevening (United Kingdom)
Chevening scholarships for the September 2027 UK master's intake open on 4 August 2026 and close 6 October 2026 at 11:00 UTC, according to the Chevening application timeline . You apply online, list two referees, and must hold unconditional offers from at least one of three UK university courses you name in your application before the deadline.
Interviews for shortlisted candidates run in the months after the window closes, with results following later in the cycle. Because you need UK university offers lined up before the scholarship deadline itself, start your university applications well before August.
Fulbright Foreign Student Program
Fulbright does not run one global deadline. Each country works through its own Fulbright Commission or the local US embassy, and eligibility and timing vary by country . In Indonesia, AMINEF closes its Fulbright Master's Degree Program round on 15 February each year, per the AMINEF program page .
If you apply from the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia or another ASEAN country, find your national Fulbright Commission or the education section of your local US embassy website and confirm that country's own opening and closing dates. Do not assume Indonesia's dates apply to you.
MEXT (Japan)
Japan's Ministry of Education offers MEXT scholarships across seven categories, including research students, undergraduate students and the Young Leaders Program, through either embassy recommendation or university recommendation, per the Study in Japan MEXT scholarship page . Each Japanese embassy in the ASEAN region runs its own embassy recommendation round once a year, with its own announcement and closing date.
Check the education or scholarship section of the Japanese embassy website in your own country for the current call, since dates and required documents differ from embassy to embassy. If your target university offers the university recommendation route instead, that timeline runs separately and is set by the university itself.
Erasmus Mundus Joint Master's Degrees
Most Erasmus Mundus Joint Master's (EMJMD) programs take applications between October and January for a cohort starting the following September, according to the European Commission's Erasmus Mundus page . You apply directly to the consortium running your chosen joint program rather than through one central EU portal, so the exact date inside that window depends on the program.
Shortlist two or three EMJMD programs in your field early, since each has a slightly different deadline inside the October to January window, and some close as early as December.
Calendar at a glance
| Scholarship | Typical window | Intake it feeds |
|---|---|---|
| Chevening | 4 Aug 2026 to 6 Oct 2026 | September 2027 UK master's |
| Fulbright (varies by country) | Indonesia example: closes 15 Feb | Following US academic year |
| MEXT embassy recommendation | Set annually by each embassy | Usually the following April intake |
| Erasmus Mundus Joint Master's | October to January | Following September intake |
How to build your own timeline
Start 12 to 18 months before your target intake, since IELTS or TOEFL slots and referee replies both take weeks.
Book your English test at least two months before the earliest scholarship deadline you are targeting.
Ask referees for two to three weeks of lead time, and give them the scholarship's actual criteria, not a generic request.
Bookmark the official page for each scholarship you are targeting and check it again 60 days before your estimated deadline, since dates shift by a few days most years.
Keep a simple spreadsheet with each scholarship's opening date, closing date and required documents, so overlapping windows do not catch you unprepared.