A Rhodes Scholarship is tenable at the University of Oxford. After election to a Scholarship the successful candidate has still, however, to obtain admission to the University of Oxford and one of its constituent Colleges. There is no guarantee of a place and the award of the Scholarship is not confirmed by the Rhodes Trustees until the Scholar-elect has obtained such admission. The Scholarship once confirmed may be held for one or, more normally, two years and may, at the discretion of the Trustees be extended for a third year.
A Rhodes Scholar receives an annual stipend of £11,730 pa (£977 per month) over the duration of his/her course to cover living expenses, including accommodation in Oxford University and College fees are paid by the Trust to the College direct
The Rhodes Trust will meet the cost of a Scholar's air travel, economy class, to the United Kingdom.
Tenure of other awards in conjunction with a Rhodes Scholarship is not permitted without prior consultation with the Secretary of the Trust in Oxford.
2. Distribution of Scholarships
For the elections taking place in 2010 (for entry to Oxford in October 2011) two scholarships are available for competition in Zimbabwe.
3. Conditions of Eligibility
(1) Candidates must be residents of Zimbabwe and, unless in any particular case there are circumstances in which the Trustees, on the recommendation of the Selection Committee, are prepared to authorise an exception, they must by 1st October, 2010 have had at least five years’ residence in Zimbabwe in the last ten years and must appear in person before the Selection Committee if required to do so.
(2) Candidates must have passed their nineteenth birthday and must not have passed their twenty-fifth birthday by 1st October, 2011.
(3) Candidates must have achieved academic standing sufficiently advanced to assure completion of a Bachelor's degree by 1st October 2011. Accordingly, the scholarship is only available to students who have successfully completed their first degree.
Subject to ratification by the Rhodes Trustees the Committee of Selection for Zimbabwe is responsible for deciding whether candidates comply with the foregoing conditions and for making nominations. In any case of doubt the Trustees reserve complete discretion to determine the eligibility or otherwise of the candidate.
4. Basis of selection
In considering applications Committees of Selection will have regard to those qualities which Mr Rhodes expressly listed in order to define the type of Scholar he desired.
Proven intellectual and academic quality of a high standard is the first quality required of applicants but they will also be required to show integrity of character, interest in and respect for their fellow beings, the ability to lead and the energy to use their talents to the full.
Mr Rhodes believed that the last of these qualities was best tested through participation and success in sport. Sporting prowess, however, is not an essential if applicants demonstrate in other ways the vigour which will enable a Rhodes Scholar to make the effective contribution to the world around him/her which Mr Rhodes clearly expected in expressing the hope that a Rhodes Scholar would come to esteem the performance of public duties as his/her highest aim.
Financial need gives no special claim to a Rhodes Scholarship.
The Will lays down that no student shall be qualified or disqualified for election to a Scholarship on account of race or religious opinions. 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, religion, sexual orientation, social background, or disability.
The Selection Committee will summon you with all the candidates whom they find it desirable to see to a personal interview on 13th December 2010. Save in exceptional circumstances no candidate can be elected without such interview nor will special arrangements be made for interviewing any candidate unable to attend on the date notified.
Each candidate for a Scholarship is required to make application to the Secretary of the Selection Committee, CH665 Chisipite, Harare, either by submitting an application online (see 5. below) or by using the application form attached to this memorandum and furnishing the material there specified by not later than 13th August, 2010.
Married candidates should bear in mind that the scholarship stipend is sufficient only for one person and that the Trust takes no financial responsibility for the support of a scholar's spouse. Moreover, spouses who are not British citizens will find it very difficult to obtain permission to undertake paid work in England.
5. Method of application
Candidates are encouraged to apply online (from mid May 2010) at www.rhodeshouse.ox.ac.uk or by downloading the application form below. All candidates are required to submit the following materials. Please note that whilst candidates applying online may upload electronic documents, those candidates invited for interview will be required to submit original documents:
(1) A birth certificate (not a baptismal certificate)
(2) Evidence of courses taken and results achieved at school and university showing degrees, honours and other academic distinctions obtained. This evidence must, in respect of university results, be formally certified by the Registrar or other responsible officer of the university.
(3) A signed statement by the candidate as to his or her school and university career, general interests and activities (including sport), proposed course of study at Oxford and the character of work which he or she intends to pursue later. If the candidate has left university before applying for a Rhodes Scholarship the candidate should also state his or her occupation since leaving.
(4) References to not less than six persons well acquainted with the candidate, under at least three of whom he or she must have studied at university as three academic references are required for application to the University of Oxford. Some referees at least should be able to speak to matters other than academic. It is the responsibility of the candidate to ensure that referees submit their references by 14 September 2010. (Online applicants should note that although a candidate’s referees will be contacted direct by the on-line application, it remains the candidate’s responsibility to ensure that his/her referees submit their references by the deadline of 14 September). You will find "Guidance for Referees" below. The Secretary reserves full right to contact referees with a view to confirming the meaning or veracity of any information provided.
(5) Seven photographs (if submitting by hard copy) or one digital photograph (if submitting online). Please note in either case this must be a head and shoulder portrait shot. For those submitting by hard copy, unmounted and approximately 10cm by 12 cm.
(6) For those candidates invited to interview: A medical certificate in the prescribed form supplied below must be submitted to the Selection Committee in good time before the interview.
6. Procedure after election
On receiving notice of election a Scholar must submit an application to the University of Oxford. Full instructions will be given to the Scholar-elect by the Secretary of the Selection Committee. Please note that application will need to be made very soon after election. Candidates are therefore advised to familiarize themselves at an early stage with the detailed requirements for the degree they hope to pursue by examining carefully the University of Oxford website, www.ox.ac.uk.
The Scholar will commence residence at Oxford in October 2011. Postponement cannot be sanctioned save in exceptional circumstances and with the express permission of the Trustees. In this connection the Trustees have specially extended the age limit by two years for MBChB applicants who are doing their medical internships. Their intention is to avoid successful medical school applicants postponing taking up the Scholarship. The special age limit in this case enables an applicant to complete his/her medical internship before going to Oxford. In this situation the age limit is extended by two years. If the applicant is registered for an MBBCh or an MBChB degree he/she may apply in 2010 during his/her internship for a scholarship tenable at Oxford on 1st October 2011 provided he/she will be under the age of 27 on the 1st October 2011. Once a Scholar has commenced residence at Oxford he/she will not be permitted to go off stipend and to return on stipend at a later date.
The first instalment of the Scholarship will be paid at the beginning of the Scholar's first term at Oxford. No request for earlier payment can be considered.
Further information:http://www.rhodeshouse.ox.ac.uk/files/Application/ZimbabweMemorandum.pdf
For Further Reading,
