Rhodes Scholarships in Oxford University for South Africans

Brief description:

The Rhodes Scholarships were founded by the Will of Cecil John Rhodes and they have been operating since 1903. The Scholarships are managed by the Rhodes Trust, which has its head office at Rhodes House in Oxford.

Although the Scholarships are tenable at Oxford, selection as a Rhodes Scholar does not guarantee that you will get a place either at the University of Oxford or in one of its colleges. Your selection will be confirmed only once you have been accepted by the University and by a college.

Host Institution(s):

Oxford University in United Kingdom.

Field of study:

Please check the official website for more information on this.

Number of Awards:

There are ten Scholarships available in Southern Africa each year. Four of these are available to all South African residents and are known as the South Africa-at-Large Scholarships.

Cecil Rhodes made specific provision in his Will for one Scholar from KwaZulu-Natal and one each from four schools, namely Diocesan College, Cape Town; Paul Roos Gymnasium, Stellenbosch; St Andrew’s College, Grahamstown; and South African College School, Cape Town.

There is a further Scholarship for applicants from Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia and Swaziland (the BLMNS Scholarship).

Target group:

Applicants from South Africans and other selected African Countries.

Scholarship value/inclusions:

The Scholarship is for full-time study and pays your entire tuition fee. It provides you with a comfortable living allowance of not less than £11,500 per year, and also pays the cost of transport for you and your necessary belongings to and from Oxford. There is no additional stipend for Scholars who are married or who have dependants.

Eligibility:

• You must have a first degree by the time you start at Oxford, which means that you must be at least in the final year of your first degree when you apply for the Scholarship.
• You must live permanently in and have resided for at least five years within the period of ten years immediately preceding your application in South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia or Swaziland.
• Unless you are a medical student or medical doctor, you must be at least 19 years and younger than 25 years on 1 October in the year after selection. This means that 2009 applicants must have been born after 30 September 1985 and on or before 1 October, 1991.
• For medical students and medical doctors the age limit is extended by two years. The intention is to:

• Avoid successful medical school applicants having to postpone taking up the Scholarship;
• Enable applicants to complete their medical internships before going to Oxford and to take up the Scholarship before completing their post-internship medical residency.

• If you are registered for an MBBCh or an MBChB degree you may apply during your internship, provided that you are younger than 27 on 1 October in the year after selection, i.e. the year you would start at Oxford.
• The Rhodes Trust and Oxford University require that selection for a Scholarship and for admission to the University will be without regard to marital status, race, ethnic origin, colour, sex and gender, religion, sexual orientation, social background, disability, or other irrelevant distinction.
• A selection committee will make no nomination if there is no sufficiently qualified candidate.
• You must undertake a commitment to work for the benefit of Africa in general or Southern Africa in particular after finishing at Oxford.

Financial need gives no special claim to a Rhodes Scholarship.  To know more about the eligibility criteria, please read the official information brochure (link found below).

Application instructions:

It is important to visit the official website and read the information brochure (links found below) for detailed and updated information on how to apply for this scholarship.

Please note: From 10 June 2009, you may apply on-line. For further information follow this link.  The deadline for applications is 15 August annually.

Contact information:

General Secretary for the Rhodes Scholarships in Southern Africa:
Justice Edwin Cameron

Assistant General Secretaries:
Dr Lisa Klein and Mr Ndumiso Luthuli

Secretary:
Mrs Annette Gibson
P.O. Box 41468
Craighall 2024
Tel: (011) 794 4693
Fax: 086 606 2545
Cell: 082 770 0515
Email: Rhotrust@pixie.co.za

Website:

Official Scholarship Website: http://www.rhodestrust.org.za/apply.html

2009 Official Information Brochure: http://www.rhodestrust.org.za/documents/INFORMATION_BROCHURE_2009.doc