Who can apply?
To be eligible to apply in 2020 for a 2021 Rhodes Scholarship, you must:
- be an Australian citizen or permanent resident
- upon 1 October 2020, you must meet either of the following criteria:
- be at least 18 years of age and have not passed your 25th birthday (i.e. you must have been born after 1 October 1995 and on or before 1 October 2002
- you must have not reached your 27th birthday (i.e. have been born after 1 October 1993) AND your first undergraduate degree must have been (or will be) awarded on or after 1 July 2019
- have completed at least two years of schooling at an Australian secondary school
- have completed by no later than 30 June 2021 either:
- an Australian bachelor’s degree, with or without honours (Australian Qualifications Framework levels 8 or 7)
- an Australian master’s degree (Australian Qualifications Framework levels 9 or 9E)
- an international equivalent
- have an indicative expectation of a GPA of at least 6.75/7, a weighted average mark of 80%, or equivalent in your degree(s)
- meet the entry requirements for your proposed course at Oxford.
You may only apply for a Rhodes Scholarship twice in your academic career.
Achievements and personal qualities
Apart from the eligibility criteria, the selection panel are looking for applicants who can demonstrate:
- academic achievement and excellence
- ambition for impact, clarity of purpose and intrinsic motivation
- a commitment to make a difference in the world, contributing to the greater good
- the courage and skills required to lead with a wider desire for public good.
When to apply
Applications for the 2020 Queensland Rhodes Scholarship open on 1 July 2020 and close on 11 September 2020.
How to apply
Applications can be submitted for consideration in only one Australian state or territory. The state or territory of application is determined by:
- the Australian state or territory in which you completed your highest university qualification; or
- the Australian state or territory in which you completed at least two years of secondary schooling.
For full eligibility and application requirements, read the information for Australian applicants.
You must submit all of the following documents with your application:
- a completed application form
- declaration addressing the eligibility criteria
- birth certificate or passport
- official documentation to prove your citizenship or residence status
- academic transcript
- CV (curriculum vitae) of not more than three A4 pages in length
- personal statement
- your proposed course of study at Oxford.
You also need to nominate five referees that address the Scholarships criteria:
- three academic referees, and
- two other referees.
Selection process
The Queensland selection panel is chaired by the Governor of Queensland. It has six other members, who serve on the panel for four years.
Guided by the terms of the Will of Cecil Rhodes the selection panel will assess all valid applications. Shortlisting will occur at a meeting in October and these candidates will be invited to attend an interview.
After the interviews, the panel will elect the Queensland Rhodes Scholar.
If the panel considers the second- and third-ranked applicants to be of sufficient merit, it will nominate them for interview in the Australia-at-Large Scholarship selection process. These interviews are usually conducted in Canberra in late November or early December.
Information Sessions
Information sessions, including a live stream session for regional students, for the 2021 Queensland Rhodes Scholarship are conducted by state secretary Professor Stan Hurn.
At these sessions Professor Hurn will provide helpful guidance to interested applicants through his Queensland Rhodes Scholarship 2020 for 2021 presentation.
Frequently asked questions
Living expenses (including rent, college fees and a stipend) and international student fees for two years (minimum) with an option to extend for a third year.
No, the age limit is set by the Rhodes Trustees, and it is not negotiable.
Married applicants are most welcome.
No. If the applicant has a disability, please speak with the National Secretary.
Please upload your senior secondary certificate.
This is a matter of choice. You must consider where you think your contributions have been strongest.
Homeschooled applicants should contact the National Secretary in order to make an assessment of Eligibility. This is done on the basis of your track record in the highest level of study.
Members of the team are welcome to give verbal advice on the nature of the personal statement in general terms, and are welcome to refer applicants to this resource on the Rhodes House website.
Members of the team are not permitted to read or edit statements.
Please be wary of private sites that offer advice on personal statements as most of these sites provide unhelpful and formulaic advice.
This is not recommended.
Referees should be as senior as possible, and they should know the applicant. Academic referees should be academics who have formally taught and graded you, or supervised or examined you.
If you are worried about whether an academic staff member knows you well enough to provide a reference, it is best to request a meeting with the referee.
Yes you need to attend the interview in person and phone interviews are not permitted.
The only allowance that will be taken into consideration is if the applicant is on active military service and is not cleared for release to travel, or if the applicant is researching or working on remote Australian territories such as Antarctica or Macquarie Island for which there are no commercial flights.
Interjurisdictional candidates are responsible for covering their own costs to travel to Sydney for the interviews.
Yes you are eligible to apply as long as you have completed an Australian Bachelor’s degree, with or without Honours (AQF level 8 or 7) / Graduate Certificate / Graduate Diploma (AQF Level 8) or Masters (AQF Level 9) at the appropriate level of achievement, by no later than 14 June 2020. Indicatively achievement of a GPA of at least 6.75 / 7, Weighted Average Mark of 80%, or equivalent, in your degree(s).
You can apply and will need to have a GPA of at least 6.75/7 or equivalent in your undergraduate degree.
Any fails on a transcript will make admission into Oxford University extremely difficult. You should ask your academic referees to provide a detailed assessment of your academic qualifications, commenting on your relative academic standing in comparison with other students on the same course and other measures of your expected results.
There is detailed information on this in the Guidance for Referees document.
You are eligible to apply as long as you will complete a course at international equivalent to Honours / Graduate Certificate / Graduate Diploma (AQF Level 9) at the appropriate level of achievement, by no later than 14 June 2020. In cases like this, please refer to the National Secretary, who can assess with Rhodes House whether grades can be transferred in time for Oxford deadlines.
Students enrolled in Australian Qualifications Framework level 9E degrees (eg the JD, the MD) are eligible to apply. Referees should be selected that are able to comment on your standing within the year’s cohort. For more detailed advice please contact the National Secretary.
Yes, in addition to the personal statement please also submit a 2-page statement with the following headings:
- Summary
- 100-word description of the area of research and why you are interested in it, for readers from all backgrounds.
- Background or context
- Account of the area of research and the area or problem you would like to investigate.
- Methodology
- What kind of research approach or approaches you will use to explore the problem or area.
- Value
- Value of the project for you personally, for academics, and the wider community.
- Proposed department and potential supervisors
- What department would you be joining and who would be your potential supervisors.
Please conform to the word length, and upload in the CV section of the form.
Rhodes will cover two years of funding with the possibility of an additional third year of funding. It is common for student to undertake a masters and then go on to a PhD combining Rhodes and other funding.
No, Oxford program is easy to get into, but the BCL is challenging. You may like to discuss this with your Network Advisor or seek advice from your State Secretary.
This study pattern is not recommended for workload reasons. There are plenty of other Masters options so please talk with your Network advisor or the State Secretary.
You can indicate on your application that you would like to apply for the Master of Public Policy. If you are successful, Rhodes House and the National Secretary will work with you to ensure that you get the best fit for programs as possible.
You are required to use your overall GPA as this is what Oxford will look at.
You will need to obtain a copy of your birth certificate. The National Secretary is discussing the cost of documents with Rhodes House.
You can add your referees as each referee confirms that they would like to provide a written reference in support of your application.
No, Rhodes likes to see scholars at all colleges which offer the course that the student is interested in taking.
Rhodes House will not support the combination of the MPP-MBA or MPP-MFE; the four year accelerated graduate entry program in Medicine; part-time study, Kellogg programs or Oxford continuing education programs; or four year doctoral training centre programs.
Student visa-holders are entitled to the same NHS benefits as U.K. citizens. Rhodes house pay a £300 health fee for each overseas student to give them full and equal access to the NHS.
Organise your CV against the selection criteria of the Rhodes Scholarships. This is stated in the Candidates – Australia document (opens an external link). Also outlined below.
- Academic Achievements
- Academic excellence, specific academic requirements can be found under ‘Eligibility Criteria’ below.
- Extra-curricular activities
- Energy to use your talents to the full, as demonstrated by mastery in areas such as sports, music, debate, dance, theatre, and artistic pursuits, including where teamwork is involved.
- Community Service
- Truth, courage, devotion to duty, sympathy for and protection of the weak, kindliness, unselfishness and fellowship.
- Leadership
- Moral force of character and instincts to lead, and to take an interest in your fellow human beings either via leadership positions or examples of initiatives the candidate has led.
Personal statement
The notes for guidance advise that in their personal statements a candidate should:
The item of your personal statement is an important one:
- What is one of the big challenges facing our society either local or on a global level that you think is really important and that you want to help address in your career?
- How is the Rhodes scholarship going to be part of enabling you to address this challenge through your career? Why should you be the one given this opportunity?
If you are struggling, think about a meaningful event that set you on your pathway - this is often a good way to open your personal statement:
- what was a turning point in your life?
- what is a time when you look back and decided that you were passionate about this challenge facing society?
Specific entry requirements vary, and there is usually some flexibility about prior qualifications. Applicants with an Australian Pass degree (i.e. an ordinary Bachelors degree without honours) may be considered if their results are very strong, typically HD or WAM > 80% average. A lesser average is likely to mean the application is uncompetitive, and an Honours degree will be an advantage. As Oxford’s Graduate Admissions page states:
Oxford’s graduate admissions process is very competitive. This means that you're unlikely to be offered a place if your qualifications are below the minimum entry requirements for your course, and meeting the minimum entry requirements doesn't necessarily mean you will be offered a place.
View the Oxford entry requirements for overseas students
If you have a question about a specific degree programme, please contact your state secretary.
