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Eligibility and deadlines

How to apply for the Clarendon Scholarship at Oxford

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There is no Clarendon application form. You are considered for a Clarendon Scholarship through your Oxford graduate course application, as long as you apply at the right deadline and your application is complete. This guide covers which deadlines count, the documents and Oxford's AI policy.

How Clarendon consideration works

The Clarendon Fund offers more than 200 new fully funded scholarships each year across all subjects, and describes them as highly competitive. An award covers course fees in full and a grant for living costs for the whole period you are liable for fees. There is no restriction by nationality, residence or subject, so applicants from Nigeria, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Kenya and Ghana are all eligible. All full-time and part-time master's and DPhil courses qualify.

Three rules shape everything else:

  • You do not apply separately. Applying for your course by its December or January deadline puts you into consideration automatically.
  • Only applicants who receive a course offer are considered, and a scholarship may come at the same time as the offer or later. Your funding status is not used when your academic application is assessed.
  • Selection is based on outstanding academic merit and potential, so the quality of your course application is what matters.

Most Oxford scholarships are awarded between late February and June.

The deadline rule

If you apply at a March or later deadline, you are not eligible for Oxford scholarships at all. Where a course offers a November deadline, that also counts and tends to bring an earlier decision.

Deadlines are set course by course. Two examples from the 2027-28 cycle show how far apart they can be:

Course (example only) Deadline for 2027-28 entry Statement limit Written work
MPhil Development Studies 12:00 UK time, Wednesday 2 December 2026 (its only deadline) 500 to 750 words One 1,000 to 1,500-word essay on a published work plus one sample of up to 2,000 words
MSc Economics for Development 12:00 UK time, Tuesday 26 January 2027 (final deadline) 500 to 1,000 words Two essays of 2,000 to 4,000 words

Oxford recommends submitting the form and all documents at least two weeks before your deadline. Find your own course's dates on its course page; they may differ from these examples.

The completeness rule and references

Your application must be complete at the deadline, including at least two submitted references. If it is not, it is normally not assessed at that deadline. On the example course pages, the department may begin assessing your application once two references are in by the deadline.

Most course pages checked ask for three referees, and each course states how many must be academic. For example, Economics for Development prefers all three to be academic, while Development Studies needs at least two academic referees. You register referees in the online form and they submit through the system. The Application Kit for Oxford Graduate Study and Clarendon includes a Referee Brief that sets out the numbers, the submission route and the completeness rule for each referee, and an Application Timeline that back-plans tasks from your course deadline.

The documents your course may ask for

Treat your course page as the rule book.

Statement of purpose

Usually covers your motivation for the course, how it fits your career plans, your understanding of the course and, for research courses, your intended topic. Each course page lists what to include and how it is assessed. A document that significantly exceeds the limit may be removed, leaving the application incomplete.

Research proposal

Many courses require a research proposal, alone or with a statement of purpose, as the course page states. If both a statement and a proposal are needed, they normally go in one file under subheadings unless the course says otherwise.

Written work

Where required, this is an essay, project or dissertation extract, ideally from previous university-level study, in English unless your course page says otherwise, and entirely your own; extracts need a short note giving context. Personal statements and research proposals do not count as written work.

CV and transcripts

A CV is usually one or two pages, but some courses, including both examples above, forbid uploading one and will remove it. Transcripts must cover all university study with grades; translations must be stamped by your institution or certified, and self-made translations are not accepted.

The kit's Supporting Document Worksheets start each section with a box where you copy your course's exact requirement, then give recall questions, a structure planner and a self-check, alongside a STAR Evidence Bank tagged to your course's criteria.

What Oxford allows on AI

Oxford permits AI for formatting, spelling and grammar checks, for initial research such as exploring a field or finding literature as long as you then think and write independently, for disability-support tools and for general interview preparation. AI used for initial research must be acknowledged in a footnote like any other source.

It prohibits AI-generated ideas or arguments, AI-written statements or proposals, submitting AI text as your own, AI translation of supporting documents into English and fabricating experiences or achievements. Consequences range from a weaker assessment to withdrawal of your application for fabricated information, or withdrawal of an offer.

General information: this article is general information, not admissions advice. Rules, limits and deadlines change between cycles and between courses, so always check the programme's own pages and your course page before you apply.

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