The Rhodes Scholarship for Jamaica & The Commonwealth Caribbean

The Rhodes Scholarship For Jamaican & The Commonwealth Caribbean 

• The Jamaica Rhodes Scholarship, available to candidates from Jamaica only;
• The Commonwealth Caribbean Rhodes Scholarship, available to candidates from the Caribbean generally, excluding Jamaicans (but subject to the Selection Committee’s discretion).

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Opening date: 1 June 2024
Closing date: Applications for Jamaica & The Commonwealth Caribbean must be received by midnight, 30 September 202024, Jamaica Standard Time

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Information for Candidates 

(This Memorandum cancels those issued for previous years)
The Rhodes Scholarship programme is the oldest (established 1903), and perhaps the most prestigious, international scholarship programme in the world. Administered by the Rhodes Trust in Oxford, the programme offers more than 100 fully-funded Scholarships each year for postgraduate study at the University of Oxford in the UK – one of the world’s leading universities.

Selection Committees for the Rhodes Scholarship are looking 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 Selection Committees are looking for the following:

• Academic excellence (e.g. First Class Honours or GPA of minimum 3.7 out of 4.0, or equivalent). Further details on the 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, particularly 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. 

Please see the Scholarships area of the Rhodes Trust website for full details: www.rhodeshouse.ox.ac.uk

The information below assumes that you have read and familiarized yourself with the basic selection criteria for the Rhodes Scholarship on the Rhodes Trust website. You should also pay close attention to the detailed Conditions of Tenure for the Scholarship.

Rhodes Scholarship Eligibility Criteria

Nationality/citizenship: The Rhodes scholarship applicants must fulfill one of the following criteria:

1. You must be a citizen of one of those countries that have gained independence from Great Britain (Antigua, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Trinidad & Tobago, Jamaica, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, St. Kitts-Nevis); OR
2. you must be a Commonwealth Dependent Territories citizen of Montserrat, Anguilla, the Turks and Caicos Islands, Cayman Islands or British Virgin Islands; OR
3. One of your parents must have been domiciled and resident in one or more of these territories for at least five years immediately preceding 1st January in the year of your candidature, or, in the event of both being dead, was domiciled and resident in one of these territories for at least five years prior to his or her death.

Education/residency: You must have been educated in one or more of the above territories for at least five years between the ages of nine and twenty.

Age: You must have reached your 19th and not have passed your 25th birthday on 1 October of the current year, which means you must have been born after 30 September 1994 and on or before 1 October.

Academic achievement: You must have completed (or will have completed by June / July) 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. In this respect, please note carefully the requirements for your chosen course at Oxford.

Multi-jurisdictional Candidates: If you meet the eligibility criteria for more than one Rhodes Constituency, you must only apply to one. You should apply to the Rhodes Constituency with which you have the greatest connection.
Inter-jurisdictional Candidates: If, as a result of moving between Rhodes Constituencies, you do not meet the eligibility criteria for any single Rhodes Constituency, you may be eligible to apply for inter-jurisdictional consideration. Please visit the ‘Which Scholarship?’ page for further details.

Global Scholarship Candidates: If you are not eligible to apply to any existing Rhodes Constituency (see list here) and you are not eligible to apply for inter-jurisdictional consideration, then you can apply for a Global Scholarship, subject to meeting all other Global Scholarship eligibility criteria and subject to institutional nomination. Please visit the ‘Which Scholarship?’ page for further details.

Rhodes Scholarship Application Procedure

Rhodes Scholarship Applicants can apply online from 01 June at http://www.rhodeshouse.ox.ac.uk via the scholarships tab. Applicants must submit your application online, with all supporting documents, by 23:59 Jamaica Standard Time (EST), 30 September.

In preparation for making your application, you should read carefully the general information for candidates on the Rhodes 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.

Shortlisted candidates will be invited to a social reception (e.g. a lunch or dinner reception) and an interview. No candidate will be selected without interview. You must be available to attend the interview and social reception, in person, as no accommodations can be made on date and time of these events. Interviews will be held in Jamaica, for the Jamaica Rhodes Scholarship; and in Barbados for the Commonwealth Caribbean Rhodes Scholarship, mid to late November.

Although Jamaican candidates will not generally be considered for the Commonwealth Caribbean Scholarship, the discretion in this regard resides with the Secretary of the Selection Committee which might invite one or more Jamaican candidates after his/her interview to attend the interview in Barbados. Candidates for the Commonwealth Caribbean Scholarship invited for interview residing outside of Barbados may apply to the Secretary for financial assistance to travel from their country of origin within the Caribbean region to Barbados and return, provided that the travel is not funded by their University or other sponsorship source.

All applicants will be emailed with the outcome of their application. Documents and details to be submitted with application
You must submit a completed application form on-line with the documents and information detailed below. All documents must be submitted in English, or with English translations included.

Please note that, if you are invited to interview, you will be asked to bring the originals of all documents with you:

• Your birth certificate confirming that you meet the age criterion.
• A copy of a valid passport, confirming that you meet the citizenship criteria.
• An official transcript from the college or university at which you are studying, or have studied, showing grades achieved (to date).
• A certified copy of ‘O level’, ‘A level’, CAPE or CSEC certificates or other certified evidence of subjects studied and examinations passed.
• A full curriculum vitae which should include details about academic qualifications, prizes, scholarships, positions of leadership, employment positions, involvement in student, voluntary, community or political activities and any cultural, musical or sporting accomplishments. This should not exceed two A4 (12pt) pages in length. Please do not include a photograph in your CV.
• A head-and-shoulders colour photograph (jpg format). Please note your photo will not be available to the selection committee until after final shortlisting decisions have been made.
• A personal statement of no more than 1,000 words. The personal statement is your chance to tell your story in your own voice: Who are you? What matters to you? What are you hoping to do in the world? Your academic transcript, your curriculum vitae and your reference letters will provide the substantive detail of your commitments and accomplishments, but this essay gives you the opportunity to cast the overarching narrative for the selection committee. You can find further guidance on the personal statement on the ‘Completing Your Application’ page.

Please ensure that your personal statement:

1. Addresses your general interests and activities. What inspires you? What are your passions?
2. Discusses your aims and priorities and the contributions you have made and hope to make to the world and/or your local community;
3. Tells us which course / courses you are most attracted to at the University of Oxford and why. It is important that you have a firm idea of which course / courses are viable for you to study at the University of Oxford – not all University of Oxford courses are covered by the Rhodes Scholarship, you should refer to the Conditions of Tenure for further information. It is a good idea to discuss your proposed course of study with your current professors or lecturers in that field, and, if possible, with someone who has knowledge of United Kingdom universities. Additional sources of information are available online at www.ox.ac.uk/admissions, as well as on individual faculty/departmental websites. If you are selected for the Scholarship you will have the opportunity to revisit your course choice;
4. Demonstrates that you are able to meet the entry and application requirements of the specific course you have chosen. Please read the Oxford graduate studies course pages carefully: http://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/graduate;
5. If you wish to undertake a DPhil, you should provide a brief outline of your proposed research area, how it contributes to your future career plans, and list one or more researchers with whom you would like to work in Oxford.
   Your personal statement should be entirely your own work, with no assistance received. Through the online application form you will be asked to verify and sign that the entered / uploaded personal statement is your own work and that no external help was given in its creation or editing.
6. You will need to provide a list of six people (your referees) who are willing to submit references on your behalf:
7. You will need to provide email addresses of all your referees.
8. At least four of your referees should be academics who have taught you in your undergraduate (or, if relevant, postgraduate) studies and who can comment in detail on your academic ability and how well they think you would fare at Oxford. Note – for successful Rhodes Scholarship applicants, these references can, in many cases, later be used to form part of the application to study at the University of Oxford, so it is important that you and your referees bear this in mind. See referee guidance on the final page of this document.
9. Additional referees should testify to your character and/or your involvement in extra-curricular/service or leadership activities. These referees should be persons who are able to comment critically on whether you fulfil the extra-curricular, non-academic requirements of the Scholarship and who can speak in detail to your character.
10.  A good referee is one who knows you well, rather than a well-known person who only knows you superficially. Your referees will not typically be personal friends, relations or contemporaries. If you do request a reference from a referee who falls into this category, then they should make the connection clear within the reference.

Choose reliable people who are likely to respond to your request for a detailed reference, as their letters will be crucial to your application. Insufficient references will disqualify your application from being considered by the Selection Committee. Ask their permission before listing them as referees.

Forward to them the Guidance for Referees available on the final pages of this document. They will receive an auto-generated email request for reference once you have completed the referee section of the online form. They will also be asked to provide their business and home (or mobile) telephone, as well as their postal address for verification purposes. It is your responsibility to ensure that referees submit their reference in good time and by 23:59 local time (EST), 6 October. Applicants can track the progress of their references within the application form.

Please do not upload documents, certificates, testimonials or links / URL’s other than those required. All applications must be submitted online. No alternate method of application is accepted. There is no application fee for submission of the Rhodes Scholarship application form.

Selection Procedure

• Selection for the Rhodes Scholarship is made without regard to financial means.
• Selection for the Rhodes Scholarship is made without regard to marital status, race, ethnic origin, colour, gender, religion, sexual orientation, social background, disability, caste or other irrelevant distinction. We may collect this information for outreach and monitoring purposes, but responses will never be tracked back to individual applicants.
• If you meet the eligibility criteria for more than one Rhodes constituency, you must apply to one constituency only. You should choose the constituency with which you have the greatest connection. Please see the descriptions of multi- and inter-jurisdictional candidates in the Eligibility Criteria section above.
• You are applying for a Rhodes Scholarship for entry to the University of Oxford in October; the scholarship cannot be deferred.
• The Rhodes Scholarship is confirmed only upon successful admission to the University of Oxford.
• If the Selection Committee does not find a sufficiently qualified candidate they will not make a selection.
• The decision of the Selection Committee is final.

Procedure after Selection

Please note that successful applicants will need to apply to the University of Oxford very soon after selection. Full details will be given upon selection. The full application of successful candidates will be accessible to Rhodes House, Oxford, where the Scholarship references can, in many cases, be re-used as appropriate in support of the successful candidate’s subsequent application to the University of Oxford.

Applicants for a second undergraduate degree with senior status will need to complete an application form, provided on selection, which must reach the Registrar at Rhodes House ([email protected]) by noon 30 November. Candidates must therefore make a quick submission immediately following selection.

Successful candidates will be encouraged to disclose, in confidence, any medical condition or special needs which may require academic or personal support in Oxford. This disclosure is entirely voluntary and is requested only to enable Rhodes House to provide suitable support in Oxford and to make the transition to Oxford as smooth as possible.

The Rhodes Scholarship Trust may contact you some time after the submission deadline to ask for feedback on the application process and any interactions you have had with the Rhodes Trust staff and volunteers. Please note – before starting an online Rhodes Scholarship application you should be aware of the Rhodes Trust data protection policy for applications: https://www.rhodeshouse.ox.ac.uk/scholarships/application-data-protection-statement

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References must be written in English and must be received by 23:59 local time (EST), 6 October.