Background Information
The Rhodes Scholarships, established in 1903, are the oldest international scholarship programme in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Administered by the Rhodes Trust in Oxford, the programme offers 100 fully-funded Scholarships each year for postgraduate study at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom – one of the world’s leading universities.
Rhodes Scholarships are for young leaders of outstanding intellect and character who are motivated to engage with global challenges, committed to the service of others and show promise of becoming value driven, principled leaders for the world’s future.
The broad selection criteria are:
Academic excellence – specific academic requirements can be found under ‘Eligibility Criteria’ below.
Energy to use your talents to the full (as demonstrated by mastery in areas such as sports, music, debate, dance, theatre, and artistic pursuits, including where teamwork is involved).
Truth, courage, devotion to duty, sympathy for and protection of the weak, kindliness, unselfishness and fellowship.
Moral force of character and instincts to lead, and to take an interest in your fellow human beings.
Please see the Scholarships area of the Rhodes Trust website for full details: www.rhodeshouse.ox.ac.uk
Eligibility Criteria
a. Nationality/citizenship: Eligibility to any other Rhodes Scholarship renders you ineligible to apply for a Global Scholarship, i.e. if you are eligible to apply via any existing Rhodes Constituency (https://www.rhodeshouse.ox.ac.uk/scholarships/list-of-rhodes-scholarship-countries/), you must apply there.
Please also see the information below and online regarding inter-jurisdictional consideration – it may be in
your interest to pursue that route rather than to apply for a Global Scholarship, which will likely be the most
competitive Scholarships offered by the Rhodes Trust.
b. Age: Upon 1 October 2021, you must meet either of the below criteria:
You must be at least 18 and have not reached your 24th birthday (i.e. you must have been born after 1 October 1997 and on or before 1 October 2003).
OR (for older candidates who completed their first undergraduate degree later than usual)
You must have not reached your 27th birthday (i.e. have been born after 1 October 1994) AND you have met or will meet the requirements for completion of your first degree on or after 1 October 2020
A university’s policy determines the date a degree is considered awarded. In ambiguous cases, the decision of the National Secretary is final.
Given the current situation with the Covid-19 pandemic, aspects of the application requirements and subsequent selection processes may be subject to change. Our website and this document will be updated with any changes, and once you have started an application any changes will be communicated via email. If you have any specific concerns regarding the application requirements, please contact the National Secretary for your constituency.
c. Academic achievement: You must have completed (or will have completed by June / July 2022) an undergraduate degree with a First Class or minimum GPA minimum of 3.70 out of 4.0 (or equivalent). Please note carefully the requirements for your chosen course at Oxford, which may be higher still. Successful candidates typically feature within the top few ranks of their graduating classes.
d. English language: You must have a sufficiently high standard of English to meet the English language proficiency requirements (at the Higher Level listed) of the University of Oxford.
e. If unsuccessful in your first application to the Rhodes Scholarships, you may subsequently re-apply only once more (and this must be in the same constituency), subject to meeting the eligibility criteria.
Multi-jurisdictional Candidates: If you meet the eligibility criteria for more than one Rhodes Constituency, you must only apply to one. You should apply to the Rhodes Constituency with which you have the greatest connection.
Inter-jurisdictional Candidates: If you have strong and demonstrable connections to two or more Rhodes Constituencies but do not meet the eligibility criteria for any single Rhodes Constituency, you may be eligible to apply for inter-jurisdictional consideration. Please visit the ‘Which Scholarship?’ page for further details.
Global Scholarship Candidates: If you are not eligible to apply to any existing Rhodes Constituency (see list here) and you are not eligible to apply for inter-jurisdictional consideration, then you can apply for a Global Scholarship, subject to meeting all other Global Scholarship eligibility criteria and subject to institutional nomination.
Please visit the ‘Which Scholarship?’ page for further details.
Application Procedure
a. You will not be able to submit your application for the Global Scholarship without prior nomination by your
University. Each university has a limited number of nominations that they can make each year. You must register the most appropriate nominator via the application form and once their nomination has been received, you will be permitted to submit your form. In addition, before you can submit your application it needs to be checked by a member of staff at Rhodes House to ensure that you meet the eligibility criteria. Once you have completed the form you will be able to tick a box requesting your eligibility check, the Rhodes House team will then complete the check within 2 working days and you will be notified by email once this is complete.You can apply online from 01 June 2021 at http://www.rhodeshouse.ox.ac.uk/scholarships/apply via the scholarships tab.
b. You must submit your application online, with all supporting documents, by 23:59 Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), 02 August 2021.
c. In preparation for making your application, you should read carefully the general information, particularly that held on the Scholarships tab, on the Rhodes House website, the Conditions of Tenure for the Rhodes Scholarship, the information in this document and the graduate admissions pages of the University of Oxford: www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/graduate.
d. Longlisted candidates might be invited to attend a preliminary interview via Skype.
e. Shortlisted candidates will be invited to a social engagement (a reception and dinner) and a final interview. You must be available to attend both, in person, as no accommodations can be made on date and time, or mode, of these events. Interviews will be held at Rhodes House, Oxford, UK in November. No candidate will be selected without an interview. Candidates for the Scholarship invited for the final interview and residing outside of the United Kingdom may apply to the Rhodes Global Scholarships Administrator for financial assistance to travel from their country of origin, provided that the travel could not funded by their University or other sponsorship source.
f. All applicants will be emailed with the outcome of their application.
All information and Documents and details to be submitted with application on Official Website HERE.
