Deadline: Varies with Countries
Applications are now open to eligible students for the 2015 Rhodes Scholarships. The Rhodes Scholarships are postgraduate awards supporting talented and outstanding young women and men of diverse backgrounds to study at the University of Oxford. The Rhodes Trust provides the Rhodes Scholarships in partnership with Second Century Founder, John McCall MacBain and other generous benefactors.
Every year, 83 Rhodes Scholars are selected from the 14 countries listed below or groupings of 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.
Scholarship Value
A Rhodes Scholarship covers:
- All University and College fees;
- The University application fee;
- A personal stipend which is fixed by the Trustees (£13,390 per annum 2013-14);
- Private health insurance, currently offered through BUPA;
- 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
Selection Criteria
Rhodes Scholarship selection committees will be seeking 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’.
Eligibility
The following eligibility criteria apply to all applicants for the Rhodes Scholarships:
- Citizenship & residency: Each applicant must fulfil the citizenship and residency requirements of the Rhodes constituency for which they are applying. Please check the detailed information carefully via the country links.
- 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 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
All candidates for the Scholarship should read the information about the Scholarships applicable globally and generally, and then proceed to their country-specific page.
Online application is not available for applicants to New Zealand and Pakistan. Please refer to the relevant country page: New Zealand or Pakistan.
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)
Countries and Deadlines (click on your country for more information)
- Australia | Deadline: September 1, 2014
- Bermuda | Deadline: October 24, 2014
- Canada | Deadline: October 17, 2014
- Germany | Deadline: September 30, 2014
- Hong Kong | Deadline: September 26, 2014
- India | Deadline: July 31, 2014
- Jamaica &the Commonwealth Caribbean | Deadline: September 30, 2014
- Kenya | Deadline: August 31, 2014
- New Zealand | Deadline: August 1, 2014
- Pakistan
- Southern Africa (including South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia and Swaziland) | Deadline: August 15, 2014
- United States | Deadline: October 1, 2014
- Zambia | Deadline: October 10, 2014
- Zimbabwe | Deadline: August 15, 2014
Note to applicants
Successful candidates will be asked to provide original copies of academic transcripts (and other supporting documents as required). References may be checked during application review, and any applications deemed fraudulent will be rejected. Authors of fraudulent applications will be pursued to the full extent possible under the law.
For more information, visit Rhodes Scholarship 2015.
