FAQs

The Rhodes Scholarship covers Oxford University course fees, as well as providing an annual stipend.

For the 2024-25 academic year, the stipend is £19,800 per annum (£1,650 per month) from which Scholars pay all living expenses, including accommodation. Please note: this is not sufficient to cover partners or dependents.

Following selection for the Scholarship, the Rhodes Trust will also cover: 

• The fee required to apply to study at the University of Oxford 
• Fees for a student visa and associated International Health Surcharge (IHS), which enables international students to access the UK's National Health Service 
• Two economy class flights to and from the UK, for the beginning and end of studies in Oxford. 

On arrival in Oxford, Scholars receive a settling in allowance, and Scholars who transition to a second course of study in Oxford will receive assistance to cover the fees for visa renewal and further application for IHS.

The basic tenure for the scholarship is two years. 

In certain cases, scholars may apply for a third year or more.

Please read the Conditions of Tenure document to find out more, or contact us at scholarship.queries@rhodeshouse.ox.ac.uk for further assistance. 

No. The Rhodes Scholarship is a fully funded, full-time postgraduate award which enables talented young people from around the world to study at the University of Oxford only.

If you are looking for funding for undergraduate study, or for postgraduate study at another institution, please visit our Other Scholarship Opportunities webpage for more information.

Scholars come into residence in Oxford in late September of the year following their selection. This means that Rhodes Scholars who are successfully elected in 2025, will commence their studies at Oxford in October 2026.

If you already hold an offer from the University of Oxford, you may choose to defer this offer so that you can apply for the Rhodes Scholarship — however, we strongly advise against this. Due to the competitive nature of the Rhodes Scholarship, there are no guarantees you will be successful in your application. The Rhodes Scholarship itself cannot be brought forward or deferred to a later academic year.

We recommend that you apply to the Rhodes Scholarship in advance of your Oxford application, usually in the final year of your undergraduate or postgraduate studies (subject to meeting the age criteria). If you are unsuccessful in your application for a Rhodes Scholarship, this then gives you time to explore other scholarship opportunities, both at Oxford and elsewhere, before applying to universities for postgraduate courses.

Yes, you can still apply for the Rhodes Scholarship. However, you may only apply to start a new course at Oxford.

If you are already on a postgraduate course at the University of Oxford, you cannot apply for the Rhodes Scholarship to cover the final year(s) of your current course.

Our guidance for age eligibility is specific to each constituency, and is unfortunately immovable. The age limits (as outlined in the Information for Candidates document for each constituency) are an integral part of the Rhodes Scholarship set by the Rhodes Trustees, and we strictly adhere to these rules.

In certain constituencies, we may be able to consider case-by-case exceptions for those who narrowly miss the age criteria for reasons directly relating to conflict. Candidates facing exceptional circumstances relating to hot war in their country of residence (i.e. where there is fighting on the ground) can contact the relevant National Secretary for their constituency for further advice.

If your country is not included in our list of constituencies, you may still be able to apply for the Rhodes Scholarship for Global.

Please enter your country in our Eligibility Checker to see if you are eligible to apply through the Global constituency.

Applicants to the Scholarship should have, or be about to complete, an undergraduate degree.

The Rhodes Scholarship is a fully funded, full-time postgraduate scholarship which enables talented young people from around the world to study at the University of Oxford.

As such, applicants need to meet the academic requirements outlined by the Eligibility Checker, which includes holding a strong undergraduate degree, as well as meeting or exceeding the specific entry requirements of their chosen full-time graduate course at the University of Oxford.

To apply for the Rhodes Scholarship, you must meet or exceed the specific entry requirements of your chosen full-time graduate course at the University of Oxford.

You should note however that given the very intense international competition for places at the University of Oxford, candidates will have a greater chance of successful admission to Oxford if they have a First Class Honours Degree, a GPA of 3.70/4.0 or higher, or equivalent international qualification.

Please consult the Information for Candidates document for your constituency for more information.

Some constituencies (USA, Canada and Global) require applicants to obtain an institutional nomination or endorsement as part of the application form. Please see our Information for Endorsing or Nominating Institutions for more details on guidelines, as these vary by constituency.

Senior institutional officials, including the President, Dean, Rector, Vice-Provost or other official responsible for graduate fellowships, may nominate/endorse a candidate. 

English language proficiency requirements vary based on constituency and applicant circumstances.

Please consult the Information for Candidates document for your constituency to find out more. You can determine which constituency you are eligible to apply through by using our Eligibility Checker.

Please note that all applicants who do not speak English as a first language should check that they will be able to meet the University of Oxford’s higher level language requirements when applying to their chosen graduate course.

You may only submit one application for the Rhodes Scholarship in a single year.

However, if you are unsuccessful in your first application, you may subsequently re-apply one more time through the same constituency, subject to meeting the Eligibility Criteria. 

You may not apply to the Rhodes Scholarship more than twice.

The Rhodes Scholarship covers most postgraduate courses at the University of Oxford. This section addresses common questions that we receive about specific courses. 

Please note that this list is not exhaustive — if the course you are interested in is not listed here, it is worth consulting our Conditions of Tenure document for more information.

If you still have questions, please contact us at scholarship.queries@rhodeshouse.ox.ac.uk.

No. The Rhodes Scholarship covers full-time courses only, and unfortunately it is not possible to be enrolled in a part-time course while being funded by the scholarship.

If you are looking for funding for part-time courses exclusively, you may wish to consult our Other Scholarship Opportunities webpage for information.

Unfortunately, the Rhodes Scholarship does not cover PGCert or PGDip courses; this includes the PGCE (PGCert in Education).

For a list of courses covered by the Rhodes Scholarship, please refer to our Conditions of Tenure document.

Unfortunately, the Rhodes Scholarship does not cover the Doctorate of Clinical Psychology (DClinPsych). This is an NHS-funded training scheme open only to those already eligible to live and work in the UK, with no fees payable and a bursary/stipend provided whilst candidates train to be a Clinical Psychologist.

The Rhodes Scholarship does cover other full-time graduate Psychology courses, including the DPhil in Neuroscience (1+3) with the fees and stipend covered for the duration of the course.  

For a list of courses covered by the Rhodes Scholarship, please refer to our Conditions of Tenure document.

Unfortunately, the Rhodes Scholarship does not cover the graduate-entry/accelerated degree in Medicine.

However, there are a number of graduate degrees offered in the Medical Sciences division that are covered by the scholarship. Please visit the list of graduate courses on the University of Oxford website for further details.

For a list of courses covered by the Rhodes Scholarship, please refer to our Conditions of Tenure document.

The MFE (Masters in Financial Economics) and MBA (Masters of Business Administration) can only be studied in the second year of the Rhodes Scholarship. As the minimum tenure of the Scholarship is two years, this means you will need to choose another one-year graduate course to study in your first year as a Rhodes Scholar.

However, if you wish to study either the MFE or MBA in your second year, you cannot study the MPP (Master of Public Policy) in the first year of the Rhodes Scholarship. 

Please note that the MFE and MBA are professional degrees, and candidates will need to check the entry requirements carefully before selecting these courses. In particular, candidates are required to have at least two years of full-time work experience for the MBA. You can find out more about these courses on the Saïd Business School website.

Yes, you can study the 1+1 MBA as long as this is in the second year of the Rhodes Scholarship.

However, if you wish to study a one-year Master's course and an MBA on the Rhodes Scholarship, another option is to apply for your chosen Master's course first, and then apply for your MBA towards the end of your first year at Oxford. This gives you the advantage of keeping your options open for the second year, should your plans change, and gives you additional time to strengthen your MBA application.

You should apply to the Rhodes Scholarship first. Following the selection process, successful applicants apply to their chosen programme of study through the University of Oxford graduate study website, with support from the Rhodes Trust team.

This means that Rhodes Scholarship applications submitted in 2025 are for entry to the University of Oxford in October 2026.  

No, the application process for the Rhodes Scholarship is separate from that to the University of Oxford.

If you are selected as a Rhodes Scholar, you will need to apply to the University of Oxford soon after your selection, and we advise you to prepare as much as possible in advance for your application to Oxford. 

The team at Rhodes House will be on hand to support you with the application process. They will have access to your entire Rhodes Scholarship application, and your references may be re-used, if appropriate, to support your application to the University of Oxford.

The Rhodes Scholarship requires that your personal and academic statements are truthful and original narratives. It will serve you best if you speak in your own voice, allowing the selection committee to gain an authentic picture of your self.

It will not help your application if you use GenAI to tell your story, as this poses the risk of producing generic output that will not allow selectors to gain an understanding of you as an individual.

However, GenAI is a tool which could be useful in preparing some aspects of your application. Some acceptable uses of GenAI in helping you to write your personal or academic statement might include: 

• Reducing the word count of your original narrative, e.g. from 2,000 to 1,000 words.
• Checking the spelling or grammar.
• Writing a summary of your narrative, to help you synthesise your thoughts.

If you use a generative AI tool to prepare your statement, you risk losing the rights, exclusivity and confidentiality of your inputs — in effect, it could become the property of the AI provider.

Each Large Language Model (LLM) has its own terms and conditions, and you should read these before using any such product to understand the implications of putting your own original or confidential information into that model.

The output from the GenAI tool may also raise its own set of issues. For example, such output may infringe third-party Intellectual Property (IP), or it may present factually incorrect data due to hallucinations, etc.

Yes, generative AI can be used in preparation for your Rhodes Scholarship interview, for example, by generating questions you might be asked, similar to preparing for a job interview.

We recommend that you also discuss this with your mentors (family, friends, academic advisors or supervisors, your character reference providers etc.)

However, please note that you must not use any GenAI tools during any video or in-person interview.

The selection process varies by constituency, but in every case it will involve a written application, along with a social engagement event and the final interview — both of which should be attended in person. 

Please see the Application Overview webpage for more detail about each stage of the application process.

Selection committees are comprised of Rhodes Scholars and community leaders from diverse backgrounds.

The interview holds significant importance, as it is here that selection committees have the opportunity to weigh up a candidate's depth of engagement, accomplishments, and aspirations. In posing their questions, committee members initiate discussion that will help them ascertain who best represents the potential we are looking for.

Proven intellectual and academic attainment of a high standard is the first quality required of Scholars, but they are also required to show exceptional character, leadership in extracurricular activities, and commitment to service. The interview will therefore be wide-ranging in nature, designed to test candidates' intellectual skills and reasoning ability, but also to reveal their character, core commitments, and potential to make positive contributions to society.

You can find out more about the interview on the Application Overview page, where Rhodes Scholars share their own experiences!

The social engagement is an event usually held in the days prior to the interviews, offering the candidates a chance to get to know each other and the selection committee.

Due to the varying cultural contexts between constituencies, this takes various different forms, but usually involves a drinks reception or meal celebrating the finalists for their achievement in reaching this stage.

There are no formal question or scoring based on this aspect of the selection weekend, it is simply an opportunity to familiarise oneself with the environment and people, and hold conversations in an informal setting. 

You can find out more about the Social Engagement on the Application Overview page, where Rhodes Scholars share their own experiences!

If you are selected as a Rhodes Scholar, you will need to apply to the University of Oxford soon after your selection, and we advise you to prepare as much as possible in advance for your application to Oxford. 

The Rhodes Scholarship is confirmed only upon successful admission to the University of Oxford.

Some Scholars obtain part-time teaching positions or other types of employment while on stipend; it is your responsibility to ensure that you adhere to the restrictions placed on paid employment by your student visa. Please refer to guidance on working while studying on the Oxford University website.

You should also be wary of committing too much time to such activities to the detriment of your studies, and your general engagement in Oxford. We recommend that you discuss your plans with your academic supervisor and, if significant, with the Registrar's office at Rhodes House.