Jobs and Scholarship Opportunities in One Place

All Post, Fully Funded Scholarships, Masters Scholarships, PhD Scholarships, Scholarships in UK

Clarendon Scholarship at Oxford in UK: The Fully Funded Award You Are Already Considered For

Clarendon Scholarship at Oxford

Most fully funded graduate awards ask for a second essay, a leadership statement, or a separate portal. The Clarendon Scholarship does not. If you apply to a new Master’s or DPhil course at the University of Oxford by the December or January deadline that belongs to that course, you are already in the pool. That single fact is why the Clarendon Fund is one of the most searched graduate funding schemes in the UK, and why so many strong applicants still miss it: they assume there is another form to find.

The Clarendon Fund is Oxford’s largest scholarship scheme. It offers more than 200 new fully funded awards each year, supports about 700 scholars on course at any one time, and draws students from roughly 70 countries. In 2025/26 the scheme marked its 25th intake and awarded over 230 new scholarships, backed by core funding of about £10.7 million plus partnership awards that lifted total support for that cohort to around £20 million. Selection rests on academic merit and potential, not nationality quotas.

Scholarship Summary

  • Host Country: United Kingdom
  • Host University: University of Oxford
  • Scholarship Type: Masters Scholarships / PhD Scholarships
  • Eligible Countries: All countries. There is no restriction by nationality or country of ordinary residence.
  • Scholarship Benefits: Full course fees at the Home or Overseas rate for the period of fee liability, plus a living grant for full-time scholars of at least the UKRI minimum doctoral stipend (at least £20,780 in 2025–26), or a study support grant for part-time scholars.
  • Application Deadline: The December or January graduate admissions deadline for your chosen course. There is no separate Clarendon deadline or form. Confirm the date on your course page before you submit.

Overview of Clarendon Fund

The Clarendon Fund was created to remove money as the reason an outstanding graduate student cannot study at Oxford. The first scholars arrived in 2001. At the start the scheme supported overseas fee-status students. In 2012 it was opened to UK and EU students as well, so every fee status is now eligible. The money comes mainly from Oxford University Press, working with colleges, departments, and external partners. Many scholars hold a Clarendon award that is jointly funded with one of those partners.

Oxford describes the purpose in plain terms: assist academically outstanding graduate students through their studies. The majority of Clarendon scholars are working towards a DPhil, which is Oxford’s name for a PhD, but taught and research Master’s courses are fully eligible. Postgraduate certificates and diplomas are not.

Apply For More Jobs Here, Apply For More Scholarships Here,

Read This Job Application Tips, Read This Scholarship Application Tips

Click Here To Join Whatsapp For Job Alerts

Click Here To Join For Whatsapp Scholarship Alerts

Click Here To Join Telegram

See Also:

Who Can Get a Clarendon Scholarship

Eligibility is unusually wide, which is part of the appeal and part of the competition.

  • You must be applying to start a new full-time or part-time Master’s or DPhil course.
  • All subject areas are open. There is no list of preferred departments.
  • All nationalities and all countries of ordinary residence are eligible.
  • There is no age limit.
  • You do not submit a separate scholarship application or extra documents for Clarendon.
  • A student finishing an Oxford Master’s who applies for a DPhil, or for a second Master’s, is applying for a new course and can be considered.
  • Holders of a deferred Oxford offer are not considered.
  • Current students cannot use Clarendon to fund a year of a degree they have already started.

Academic standard is the real filter. Oxford selects for outstanding academic merit and future potential. Successful scholars typically hold a first-class honours degree or the equivalent, often illustrated as a GPA of about 3.7 out of 4.0 or higher, or a strong Master’s record. Meeting the English-language requirement for your course is also required, because an incomplete graduate application can fall out of consideration.

What the Scholarship Pays

Clarendon is a full-fee award, not a partial waiver.

  • Course fees are covered in full for both Home and Overseas fee-status students, for the period of fee liability of the course.
  • Oxford publishes course fees as a single figure that includes university and college services, so there is not a second college fee sitting outside the award.
  • Full-time scholars receive an annual grant for living expenses of at least the UKRI minimum doctoral stipend. Oxford states that in 2025–26 this was at least £20,780, and describes it as normally enough for a single student living in Oxford. The figure is reset each year. Check the live applicants page before you budget.
  • Part-time scholars receive a study support grant instead of the full living stipend. Oxford sets this at a sixth, a third, or half of the UKRI minimum, depending on the course.
  • Funding normally runs for the fee-liability period: often one year for a taught Master’s, and the fee-paying years of a DPhil. Continuation charges after that period are not covered, though some divisions may extend living support at their discretion.
  • There is no service bond after graduation.

backpack

Partnership funding is common. For the 2025–26 cohort, Clarendon worked with roughly 240 partnership awards. You do not apply separately for those partners in order to be considered for Clarendon itself.

How Selection Works

Because there is no Clarendon form, the graduate application is the entire case. Departments and faculties nominate candidates. Divisions then allocate awards against the standard of academic excellence and potential. Criteria vary by subject and by whether the course is taught or research, but the constant is the quality of the academic record, the research or study proposal where one is required, and the references.

A few practical consequences follow from that design:

  • A weak course application cannot be rescued by a strong scholarship essay, because there is no scholarship essay.
  • Applying after the January funding deadline for your course takes you out of Clarendon, even if the course itself still accepts applications.
  • Offers are competitive. More than 200 awards a year sounds large until you set it against the size of Oxford’s graduate applicant pool.

Most initial Clarendon offers are sent by the end of April, with later notifications into early summer. Exact timing can shift by division. An admissions offer and a funding offer are not the same thing. You can be admitted and still not receive Clarendon.

The Deadline That Actually Matters

There is no universal Clarendon date. Oxford runs course-specific funding deadlines, usually in December or January. You must submit a complete graduate application by the deadline that applies to your course. That date is published on the course page, not on a separate scholarship calendar.

For the cycle opening in autumn, applicants targeting the following October entry should treat the December or January deadline on their course page as the Clarendon cutoff. Late course applications are not considered for this scholarship. English-language scores and references need to be in place early enough that the application is complete by that date.

Useful official links while you plan:

How to Give Yourself a Real Chance

The scholarship cannot be “applied for” in the usual sense, so the work sits inside the course application.

  • Choose the course you can defend at a high academic standard, not the one that merely looks fundable. Clarendon has no subject quota.
  • Lead with results. Transcripts, class rank, and a clear explanation of your grading system matter more here than a generic motivation letter.
  • For research degrees, treat the proposal as the main evidence of potential. Supervisors and departments read it as a test of whether you can do the work.
  • Ask referees who can speak to academic performance in specific terms. Vague praise does not help a merit-only scheme.
  • Apply by the earlier deadline if your course offers more than one. Waiting for the January round is allowed when that round is a published funding deadline, but earlier complete files are simpler to assess.
  • Do not assume a college application or a college scholarship form replaces the university graduate application. Clarendon consideration is triggered by the university course application submitted on time.
  • Read the course page for fee status, English requirements, and any department funding notes. Some departments also nominate for other Oxford awards from the same file.

What Life On The Award Looks Like

Funding is only part of the scheme. Clarendon runs as a scholar community across colleges and divisions, with events and a network of roughly 700 people on course. The Fund’s own line is that the award is a community as well as a grant. Scholars are not tied to one college by the scholarship itself. College placement follows the normal Oxford admissions process.

That community is internationally mixed by design. With no nationality cap, a cohort can include students from about 70 countries in a single year. For many applicants from outside the UK, the Overseas fee waiver is the difference between an offer they can accept and an offer they cannot.

Common Mistakes That Cost The Award

  • Submitting after the January funding deadline and assuming a later course deadline still counts.
  • Treating a deferred offer as eligible. It is not.
  • Applying for a postgraduate certificate or diploma and expecting Clarendon review.
  • Leaving references or English scores unresolved so the file is incomplete at the deadline.
  • Writing the application as if a scholarship panel will read a separate statement. They will not. The admissions file is the file.
  • Budgeting only tuition. The living grant is real, but Oxford is expensive, and continuation years after fee liability are not automatically covered.

Clarendon Scholarship Questions People Ask First

Is the Clarendon Scholarship fully funded?
Yes, for the fee-liability period. Full course fees plus a living grant for full-time students, or a study support grant for part-time students.

Is there a separate application?
No. Apply to the course by the relevant December or January deadline.

Can undergraduates apply?
No. This is a graduate scheme for new Master’s and DPhil courses.

Are international students eligible?
Yes. There is no nationality or residence restriction, and Overseas fees are covered in full.

How many awards are there?
More than 200 new scholarships a year. Oxford reported over 230 new awards in 2025/26, with about 700 scholars on course.

Bottom Line

The Clarendon Scholarship is the rare fully funded Oxford award that does not ask for a second application. It asks for an excellent, complete graduate application, submitted by the December or January deadline on your course page. Full fees, a living grant tied to the UKRI doctoral minimum, and a place in Oxford’s largest scholar community are the return. The filter is academic merit, and the window closes with the course funding deadline, not with a scholarship form you can chase later.

Check the live figures and dates on the official Clarendon pages before you submit. Award values and course deadlines move, and the applicants page is the source that overrides every third-party summary, including this one.

Official pages to start with:

Discover more from Webby Services

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.