You have to ask to be considered
Most Oxford graduate funding works automatically. The Oxford page for the Clarendon Fund Scholarships, for example, says you will be considered automatically if you apply by the December or January deadline for your course. The Optiver Foundation Scholarships work differently. The Oxford page says to submit your application by the relevant November, December or January deadline and tick the relevant box on the graduate application form. If you meet the eligibility criteria, Oxford then asks you to complete an additional scholarship form about your socio-economic situation, to assess disadvantage and under-representation. An applicant who forgets the box is not in the pool, however strong her application is. Oxford gives no deadline for the additional form, so watch your email once you have applied.
Residence counts, not your passport
The page asks for applicants who are “ordinarily resident” in an eligible country. It does not ask for citizenship, and it does not define the phrase or say where its list of 131 countries comes from. If you are a national of an eligible country but live elsewhere, or the reverse, ask Oxford before you rely on this award. The list is long. It includes Nigeria, Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia, Rwanda, Uganda, Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam, among many others, so check the full list on the Oxford page. On gender, Oxford includes every candidate on the relevant courses who indicates on the application form that her sex is female. The sex on the form must match your identity documents, such as a passport or visa, but does not have to be your legal sex.
Only nine courses, with different deadlines
The award applies only to nine named master’s courses in Engineering Science, Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics, Statistics and Chemistry. A strong applicant for a different course, even a closely related one, is not eligible. The deadlines are set by course. The MSc in Advanced Computer Science closes on 6 January 2027. The other eight list 27 January 2027 as a final deadline, and three of them (Statistical Science, Theoretical and Computational Chemistry, and Mathematical Modelling and Scientific Computing) also list 13 November 2026 as the date for earlier decisions. Several courses show a later date in March, but for Energy Systems that date is for part-time study only, and for the other courses the scholarship deadline is the January one. Apply by the date on your own course page, and aim to submit well before it, since references must also arrive in time.
What the money covers, and what it does not say
Scholars receive full funding for course fees plus a grant for living costs. For 2027-28 the overseas fee is £46,350 on most of these courses and £43,150 for MSc Energy Systems, so the fee element alone is large. The scholarship page does not say how much the living grant is, and it does not mention return flights, visa fees or the Immigration Health Surcharge, so plan as if you will pay those yourself unless your offer letter says otherwise. The donation also pays for induction activities, mentoring and support during the course. Oxford says the majority of offers are sent out in May, and you must first receive an offer from an eligible course before the scholarship panel assesses you, on academic merit and potential.
A small award with a deliberate purpose
The programme supports up to 30 taught master’s students over five years, and the 2027 intake will be the fifth cohort. Up to six scholarships are available for October 2027 entry. Oxford links the programme to the low number of women in postgraduate STEM subjects, and to financial barriers that stop some talented students from continuing their studies. Because the number of awards is so small, apply for other funding at the same time. Our guide to studying in the UK explains the visa and cost side.
Check the UK visa position first
An Oxford offer and a scholarship do not guarantee a UK Student visa. Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar and Sudan are on this scholarship’s list of eligible countries. They are also the four countries covered by the UK government’s visa brake. The government page says the brake is now in force and that Student visa applications made from outside the UK by nationals of those countries will be refused. The page says it will be reviewed regularly. If you hold one of those nationalities, read that page before spending money on applications.