Welcome to the home page of the Rhodes Scholarships in Southern Africa! These pages provide information on Rhodes Scholarships to Oxford for applicants from South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia and Swaziland. The Scholarships for these countries are administered from a regional secretariat based in Johannesburg. There are four Scholarships every year for applicants from South Africa-at-Large, one for applicants from KwaZulu-Natal, one each for applicants from Diocesan College, Rondebosch; South African College School, Newlands; Paul Roos Gymnasium, Stellenbosch; and St Andrew's College, Grahamstown. In addition there is one Scholarship for applicants from Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia and Swaziland.
For details on how to apply and what residential qualifications you must fulfil for each of these Scholarships, click on “How to Apply” .
Cecil John Rhodes founded the Rhodes Scholarships in his Will. They have been operating since 1903. About 90 Rhodes Scholars are selected worldwide each year. Rhodes had himself been to Oxford, and had such a high regard for the University that he wanted people from what was then the British Empire, and from the United States and Germany, to benefit from the intellectual and other opportunities Oxford offers. Now, one century after they were started, the Scholarships are highly regarded for the achievements of the men and women who have been Rhodes Scholars.
Currently Rhodes Scholars enjoying student life at Oxford come from the United States of America (32 Scholarships); Australia (11 Scholarships); Canada (11 Scholarships); South Africa (9 Scholarships); India (6 Scholarships); Germany (4 Scholarships); New Zealand (3 Scholarships); Commonwealth Caribbean (2 Scholarships); Kenya (2 Scholarships); Pakistan (2 Scholarships); Zambia (2 Scholarships); Zimbabwe (2 Scholarships); Bermuda (1 Scholarship); Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia and Swaziland (1 Scholarship); Hong Kong (1 Scholarship); Jamaica (1 Scholarship);
The Scholarships are generous financially. They cover all your living, travel and academic expenses for one or possibly two (and in rare cases three) years at Oxford.
To be selected as a Rhodes Scholar from Southern Africa you must fulfil the residential and other requirements in the particular category for which you wish to apply. Then, your academic grades at university have to be good enough to gain admission to the University of Oxford. Young people in Britain compete intensely for admission to Oxford, so standards are very high. Speaking roughly, to gain admission to Oxford as a Southern African, you would have had to have obtained a first degree or an honours degree with a good upper second average or preferably a first class (cum laude).
In addition, Rhodes stipulated in his Will that his Scholars “shall not be merely bookworms''. He wanted people interested in leadership. As he put it in his Will, he wanted those elected as Scholars to come “to esteem the performance of public duties” as their highest aim. Far-sightedly for his time, Rhodes expressly stipulated that “no student shall be qualified or disqualified for election to a Scholarship on account of his race or religious opinions”.
The Scholarships were initially for men only. Worldwide, the first women Scholars were elected in 1977. The first South African woman elected was Sheila Niven (South Africa-at-Large and Hertford, 1977). The first election to break the long mould of whites-only Scholars from South Africa was Ramachandran Govender (South Africa-at-Large and Balliol, 1977), while Loyiso Nongxa (South Africa-at-Large and Balliol, 1978), elected the following year, was the first black South African Scholar. The Southern African secretariat is particularly keen to encourage able young black Southern Africans to apply for the Scholarships.
Please contact us if we can help you in any way with your application or with any further information.
