The AKF Scholarship Interview: What Happens and How to Prepare

What the Interview Is and Who Conducts It

Format

• Usually in person, in a formal setting (ask your office)
• Length is not published; plan for up to an hour
• Panel format; the size varies by country
• Conducted in English in most countries, or English plus a local language

Who sits on the panel

• AKF, AKES or AKEB representatives
• Sometimes external evaluators
• A local committee that knows your country's development context

The 20 Questions You Are Very Likely to Face

Beneath each question is what the committee is actually trying to find out. Prepare for the question and the subtext.

Academic and programme background

1. 1
   Walk us through your academic background and why you pursued your current field.

   Testing: the coherence of your academic journey. Can you tell the story clearly, without making it sound like a series of accidents? The committee wants a through-line, with each step leading logically to the next.

2. 2
   Why did you choose [specific university] and [specific programme]?

   Testing: did you research this thoroughly, or apply everywhere and take what came? Candidates with a real answer — specific faculty, research groups, methodology — stand out from those who describe general prestige.

3. 3
   What drew you to this particular specialisation over other options in your field?

   Testing: depth of thought about the programme choice. If you're applying for education policy rather than education management, there should be a real reason for that choice.

4. 4
   What do you expect to gain from this programme that you cannot get from postgraduate study in your home country?

   Testing: your justification for international study. This is the most important academic question. Your answer must be specific and credible — not “international exposure” or “better quality”. What specific capability or knowledge is unavailable domestically?

Development and career

1. 5
   Most important question

   What specific problem in your home country are you trying to address, and how does this programme help you address it?

   Have a specific, honest answer. Not “education challenges” or “health problems”. Name the problem, describe the evidence, connect it to your direct experience, and explain precisely what this programme equips you to do about it.

2. 6
   What are your career plans for the 3 to 5 years after graduation? Where specifically do you want to work and what do you want to do?

   Testing: specificity and realism. “Work in the development sector” is not a plan. Name the type of organisation, the role, the sector — and the institution, if you have one in mind.

3. 7
   Have you had any experience working in development-relevant roles? Tell us about it.

   Testing: whether your development commitment is real or aspirational. If you have direct experience, prepare a specific account of what you did and what resulted. If it is indirect, be honest and explain how it connects.

4. 8
   What organisations, institutions or sectors in your home country would benefit most from your skills after this degree?

   Testing: knowledge of your home country's development landscape. You should be able to name organisations, describe the current capacity gap, and explain why your skills address it.

Financial

1. 9
   Tell us about your financial situation and why you need this scholarship.

   Be direct, honest and documented. Don't downplay real hardship, and don't fabricate hardship that isn't there. State the facts: income, family situation, what you have and have not been able to secure independently.

2. 10
   What other sources of funding have you explored? What have you secured?

   Testing: have you actually tried other sources, or is AKF your first call? AKF is designed as a last resort, and the committee expects you to have genuinely tried government scholarships, institutional fellowships and other external sources first.

3. 11
   Does your university offer any fellowships or teaching assistantships? Have you applied?

   Testing: the “last resort” principle applied to institutional funding. If your university offers merit fellowships or assistantships and you haven't applied, you need a credible explanation.

4. 12
   How do you plan to repay the loan component of this scholarship?

   Testing: that you understand half the award is a loan and have thought about repayment realistically. Have a specific answer: the salary you expect, the length of the repayment period, and what the service charge (5% a year in AKDN’s 2023–24 terms) means in practice for your loan amount.

Personal and leadership

1. 13
   Tell us about a time you led something — what was the outcome and what did you learn from it?

   Testing: leadership evidence and self-awareness. Prepare a specific story: what you were responsible for, what decisions you made, what happened, what you would do differently. The committee wants someone who reflects honestly, not someone reciting a perfect success story.

2. 14
   Why should we choose you over other equally qualified candidates?

   Testing: whether you can articulate your own case without false modesty or arrogance. It is not a trick question; the committee wants to see how you think about your comparative strengths. Answer directly, without hedging.

3. 15
   Describe a challenge you faced and how you worked through it.

   Testing: resilience, problem-solving and performance under pressure. Pick a real professional or academic challenge. The committee is not impressed by adversity theatre; it wants evidence of problem-solving and honest self-reflection.

4. 16
   What does development mean to you, practically?

   Testing: whether your idea of development is realistic or idealistic. Abstract answers about “empowering communities” and “sustainable futures” don't land. Ground your answer in the sector and problem you actually work on.

Scholarship-specific

1. 17
   Have you applied for other scholarships? Which ones?

   Be honest. The committee likes to see that you have tried — it reinforces AKF's last-resort positioning. Don't hide applications that didn't succeed; that is normal and expected.

2. 18
   Why AKF specifically, rather than Chevening, Commonwealth or other scholarships for your profile?

   Testing: do you know what makes AKF distinctive and why it fits your situation? Be specific about the geographic coverage, the development focus or the combined grant-loan structure. Generic answers about prestige won't satisfy this question.

3. 19
   Are you aware that half of this scholarship is a loan? What is your plan for repayment?

   Testing: that you read the terms before applying. Know the numbers: 50% grant, 50% loan, a service charge (5% a year in AKDN’s 2023–24 terms), repayment starting six months after graduation, and a five-year repayment period under those terms. Have a realistic plan.

4. 20
   What would you do if you do not receive this scholarship?

   Testing: resilience, and whether your plan depends entirely on AKF. You don't need a perfect backup, but you should have thought about it. “I would try again next year” is legitimate, but pair it with what you would do in the meantime.

What the Committee Is Evaluating

Common Mistakes in the Interview

• Rehearsed answers that fall apart under follow-up. If your career-plan answer is clearly a prepared paragraph, the follow-up will be “What exactly does that role involve day to day, and who would you report to?” Prepare your ideas, not your scripts.
• Development aspirations that don't match your career history. If you've spent five years in finance and your interview suddenly pivots to a deep commitment to rural health systems, the committee will push on it. Be ready to explain the transition authentically.
• Not knowing specific details about your chosen programme. “It's a highly ranked programme in my field” is not acceptable when asked why you chose this one.
• Saying you explored “many” funding sources without naming any. A red flag. Name the scholarships, institutional fellowships and government options you pursued. “Many” without specifics reads as vague or dishonest.
• Treating the loan element as a surprise. The committee knows you received the documentation. Saying you “weren't aware of all the details” signals poor preparation and poor attention to terms.
• Being vague about your home-country return plan. If your plan is genuinely undecided, solve that before the interview. “I haven't decided exactly what I'll do after graduation” is not acceptable in an AKF interview.

How to Prepare

1. 1
   Research your programme deeply

   Be able to name specific professors, modules or research groups relevant to your goals. Read recent publications from faculty in your area, and know how the programme differs from comparable options.

2. 2
   Know your home country's development landscape in your field

   Current challenges, relevant organisations, policy context, key data points. The panel is local — it knows the landscape. Show that you do too.

3. 3
   Know AKF specifically

   What it funds, why, and what distinguishes it from Chevening, Commonwealth or Fulbright. Be able to explain why AKF fits your situation, not just why it is a good scholarship.

4. 4
   Prepare one strong, specific story for each key area

   Leadership (with an outcome and a lesson), overcoming a challenge, and a specific example of development impact you have produced. These three stories will carry you through most personal questions.

5. 5
   Practise out loud, without notes

   Speak your answers to a friend, an advisor or a mirror. The goal is to internalise your ideas so you can talk about them naturally, not to memorise scripts.

6. 6
   Prepare for follow-ups on every answer

   If you say “I want to work in the Ministry of Health”, be ready for “which department, and who currently leads it?” If you say “I plan to work in rural health systems”, be ready for “which programme are you most familiar with, and what are its current challenges?”

7. 7
   Dress formally

   This is a professional evaluation, not a casual conversation. Wear formal business attire for your country's context; when in doubt, overdress.

What Happens After the Interview

1. 1
   Successful interviewees go forward

   The local committee's shortlist goes to the national level and from there to the international selection panel.

2. 2
   4–8 weeks

   Expect silence

   This is normal. The international panel meets in late June or July, and country panels feed into that schedule. No news in the weeks after your interview is not bad news.

3. 3
   Late July / early August

   Results after the international panel

   Candidates in the final round are notified after the panel meets; results typically arrive by late July or early August.

4. 4
   No detailed feedback

   If you are not selected, you receive a notification but not an explanation of the committee's reasoning. This is standard for selective scholarships.

If you receive the award, the repayment clock starts six months after graduation. Read the Career & Repayment guide or the FAQ.