Deadline: applications for Rhodes Scholarships open during the spring and summer of the preceding year | Apply here
Eligibility: the application criteria are different, specified for particular country
Location: The University of Oxford, The United Kingdom

The Rhodes Scholarships

The Rhodes Scholarships are postgraduate awards supporting outstanding all-round students at the University of Oxford, and providing transformative opportunities for exceptional individuals.

At Oxford, the oldest university in the English-speaking world, Rhodes Scholars join just over 20,000 students from more than 140 countries currently studying at the University and are enriched by the stimulating and rigorous education and the vibrant cultural and community life.

Nearly 8,000 Rhodes Scholars have gone on to serve at the forefront of government, the professions, commerce, the arts, education, research and other sectors. They are well-known advocates for expanded social justice and have advanced the frontiers of science and medicine.

A Rhodes Scholarship covers:

• All University and College fees;
• The University application fee;
• A personal stipend which is fixed by the Trustees
• One economy class airfare to Oxford at the start of the scholarship and one economy flight back to the student’s home country at the conclusion of the scholarship.

Why Apply?

95 Rhodes Scholars are selected annually from many countries around the world. They are young women and men from diverse backgrounds and interests who show potential to be public-spirited leaders for the world’s future.

The Rhodes Trust provides the Rhodes Scholarships in partnership with Second Century Founder, John McCall MacBain and other generous benefactors.  A class of 95 Scholars is selected each year from the list of countries.

The Rhodes Trust focuses on the following criteria:

• literary and scholastic attainments;
• the energy to use ones’ talents t the full,  for example through achievement in areas such as sports, music, debate, dance, theatre, and artistic pursuits, particularly where teamwork is involved;
• truth, courage, devotion to duty, sympathy for and protection of the weak, kindliness, unselfishness and fellowship;
• the moral force of character and instincts to lead, and to take an interest in one’s fellow beings.

In short, Rhodes Scholarship selection committees seek young women and men of outstanding intellect, character, leadership, and commitment to service. The Rhodes Scholarships support students who demonstrate a strong propensity to emerge as ‘leaders for the world’s future’.

• Citizenship & residency: Each applicant must fulfil the citizenship and residency requirements of the Rhodes constituency for which they are applying.

• Age: Age limits vary between constituencies and range from a minimum age limit of 18 to a maximum of 28 by 1 October of the year following selection. In most constituencies, the age limit is 24 or 25. Please check carefully the specific age requirements for your constituency before applying.Successful candidates will arrive in Oxford the October following the selection process. The Scholarship may not normally be deferred.

• Education: All applicants must have achieved academic standing sufficiently advanced to assure completion of a bachelor’s degree by the October following the election.Academic standing must be sufficiently high to ensure admission to the University of Oxford, which has very competitive entry requirements, and to give confidence that Rhodes Scholars will perform to a high academic standard in Oxford.

Individual constituencies may specify a 1st or equivalent. Some constituencies require an undergraduate degree to have been taken within the constituency of application.

Application process

1. Application to the Scholarship:

In broad terms, all constituencies will require the following materials in differing forms:

• Evidence of academic record / transcript (complete or in progress) of undergraduate degree and any postgraduate study;
• Curriculum vitae/resumé or list of principal activities;
• Personal statement or essay (including, crucially, a clear statement of what the applicant wishes to study at Oxford and why);
• Evidence of age / birth certificate / passport;
• English Language proficiency (where English is not the first language);
• Photograph;
• List of referees (usually several are required) who can attest in confidential references to the character and intellect of the applicant, including academic, personal, extra-curricular and leadership achievements (and who should never include people to whom you are related).

2. Choice of courses in the University of Oxford:

Subject to limited restrictions, Rhodes Scholars may read for any full-time postgraduate degree (including the BA with senior status over two years) at the University of Oxford.

The basic tenure of the Scholarship is two years, subject always, and at all times, to satisfactory academic performance and personal conduct. he full listing of degrees offered by the University of Oxford.

The basic tenure of the Scholarship is two years, subject always, and at all times, to satisfactory academic performance and personal conduct.

The full listing of degrees offered by the University of Oxford can be found here

At the discretion of the Trustees, the Scholarship may be extended for a third year for those who take a recognised route to the DPhil. The Masters of Business Administration (MBA) and the Masters of Financial Economics (MFE) are only tenable in the second year of the Scholarship.

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