There is one Rhodes Scholarship for East Africa each year. The Scholarship for East Africa was announced in 2018 and the first Scholar will arrive in October 2019.
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.
Eligibility Criteria
a. Nationality/citizenship: You must be a citizen of Burundi, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania or Uganda.
b. Education/residency: You must have been resident in one or more of the countries listed above, or in Kenya, for at least five of the last ten years.
c. Age: Upon 1 October 2021, you must meet either of the below criteria:
i. You must be at least 18 and have not reached your 25th birthday (i.e. you must have been born after 1 October 1997 and on or before 1 October 2003). OR (for older candidates)
ii. 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.
d. Academic achievement: You must have completed (or will have completed by no later than July 2022) an undergraduate degree from a college or university (normally a Bachelor’s degree) to a sufficiently high standard to be admitted to postgraduate study at the University of Oxford. This would normally be the equivalent of a First Class, or a GPA of 3.7 or more. In this respect, please note carefully the requirements for your chosen course at Oxford.
e. English Language requirement: 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:
www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/graduate/applying-to-oxford/application-guide.
f. 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.
Application Procedure
a. 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 East Africa Time (EAT), 31 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. Shortlisted candidates will be invited to a social engagement (held on the eve of the interview) 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 in Kampala, Uganda in late October / early November. Further details will be communicated to shortlisted candidates No candidate will be selected without an interview. Reasonable travel expenses will be reimbursed for interview candidates traveling from an East African location outside of Kampala, Uganda. Overnight accommodation will be provided if necessary.
e. All applicants will be emailed with the outcome of their application within three days after the date of the final interviews in November 2021.
Application Deadline: 23:59 Eastern Africa Time, 31 August 2021
Click to Visit the Official Webpage of the Rhodes East Africa Scholarship 2022
