📸 At a Glance
🌍 Oxford, Oxfordshire, England
🎓 Russell Group ✅
⚖️ Race Equality Status ✅ Bronze Award
💰 Scholarships Available ✅
🏅 Ranking: 2 (Complete University Guide 2026)
🔎 Overview
The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university based in Oxford, England, made up of 39 constituent colleges alongside its central academic departments. Teaching combines small-group college tutorials with university-wide lectures, and it’s home to the Bodleian Library, one of Europe’s oldest libraries. It offers degrees across subjects including medicine, law, philosophy, politics and economics, engineering, natural sciences, mathematics, history, and languages.
📊 Ethnicity Breakdown
- Black: 4%
- Mixed race: 8%
- White: 71%
- Asian: 13%
- Other: 2%
- Not Known: 3%
💷 Scholarships & Funding
- Black Academic Futures Scholarship – These scholarships are available to UK-resident students of Black or mixed-Black ethnicity applying to any full-time or part-time Master’s or DPhil course at the University of Oxford. Applicants must have been ordinarily resident in the UK for at least three years before their course start date. The scholarship covers course fees and living costs for the full duration of the course.
- Beacon Studentship – One fully funded Master’s degree award is available for British students with Black African or Black Caribbean heritage, covering course fees and stipend. An additional £2,000 per year is available for approved unpaid or modestly paid internships or placements. Priority is given to applicants without alternative funding.
- Africa Oxford (AfOx) Initiative Graduate Scholarships – The AfOx Graduate Scholarships offer outstanding African graduates a fully funded Master’s degree at the University of Oxford, complete with personalised training, networking opportunities, and dedicated support throughout their journey.
- Mastercard Foundation Scholarship – This scholarship funds African students through a partnership between the University of Oxford and the Mastercard Foundation, covering course fees and living costs for a one-year taught Master’s degree. Awards are available for 2026/27 entry.
- Oppenheimer Fund Scholarships – These scholarships are available to students from South African universities pursuing a one-year taught Master’s degree at the University of Oxford. Offered in collaboration with AfOx, awards are linked with other scholarship schemes to provide full funding, covering course fees and living costs for the duration of the course.
- All Souls Hugh Springer Graduate Scholarships – Students of Black or mixed-Black ethnicity who are nationals of or resident in a Caribbean country, applying to any Master’s or DPhil course at the University of Oxford are eligible to apply for this scholarship.
- Oxford-Oak Zimbabwe Graduate Scholarships – This scholarship funds up to two Zimbabwean nationals or residents to study a Social Sciences Master’s at Oxford, with preference for the Blavatnik School of Government. Applicants must be committed to Zimbabwean public service after graduation.
- Beit Trust Postgraduate Scholarships – The Beit Trust Scholarship offers full funding, covering course fees and a living costs stipend (£20,780 in 2025/26), for students from Malawi, Zambia or Zimbabwe applying for a full-time one-year Masters at Wadham College. Applicants must apply directly to the Beit Trust and intend to return to their home country after completing their studies.
Wadham College Scholarships: - Canon Collins RMTF Scholarships for Postgraduate Study – The Canon Collins Trust and Ros Moger and Terry Furlong Group offer scholarships for postgraduate study in South Africa in 2026, for exceptional individuals committed to social justice in southern Africa. Awards are available in three areas: Justice, Education Policy and Practice, and Humanities.
- Oxford FirstRand Scholarships – The FirstRand Foundation Scholarship offers full funding for South African residents applying for the MSc African Studies, Master in Public Policy, or MSc in Sustainability, Enterprise and the Environment at Wadham College, Oxford. Applicants must not have previously studied outside South Africa and must demonstrate strong leadership potential.
St Antony’s College Scholarships: - Eni-Oxford African scholarship at St Antony’s College – Two fully funded awards are offered each year for students who are ordinarily residents in Angola, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Kenya, or Mozambique, applying to a one-year Master’s course at St Antony’s College, Oxford. The award covers university and college fees, a maintenance grant of around £20,000 per year, and return flights back home.
- St Antony’s DAC AfOx Scholarships – St Antony’s College offers two fully funded AfOx Scholarships for African students applying to eligible one-year Master’s courses. Applicants must be from an eligible African country and have completed their undergraduate degree at an African university. Eligible students are automatically considered.
- Oxford & Cambridge Society of Kenya Scholarship at St Antony’s – The Oxford & Cambridge Society of Kenya, in partnership with the AfOx scholarship programme, offers a fully funded scholarship for Kenyan students applying for a one-year Masters course at St Antony’s College, Oxford. Applicants must have completed their undergraduate degree at a Kenyan university and will be automatically considered — no separate application is needed.
- St Antony’s ODID DAC Scholarship – The St Antony’s DAC ODID Scholarship offers full funding for a graduate student from an OECD development assistance country, applying for an ODID degree for 2027/28. Applicants must have completed their undergraduate degree in their home country.
- St Antony’s DAC Economics Scholarship – The DAC African Economics Scholarship offers full funding for an African student from an OECD development assistance country applying for the MPhil Economics at St Antony’s for 2027/28 (TBC). Eligible students are automatically considered.
- St Antony’s DAC Clarendon Scholarship – The DAC Clarendon Scholarship offers full funding for a graduate student from an OECD development assistance country who completed their undergraduate degree at an African university, for any course accepted by St Antony’s. Eligible students are automatically considered.
- Weidenfeld-Hoffmann Scholarships and Leadership Programme at St Antony’s – WHT DAC Scholarships – St Antony’s offers four fully funded Weidenfeld-Hoffmann Trust DAC Scholarships, covering 100% of course fees and a living costs grant of at least £18,622. Open to outstanding graduates from developing and emerging economies, scholars also participate in a tailored Leadership Programme.
🔔 The scholarships listed here are a selection of awards available at Oxford. Individual colleges may offer additional funding opportunities not listed on this page. We encourage you to explore all scholarship options directly with your chosen college, including those not based on nationality or background.
🏠 Student Life & Support
- Oxford African and Caribbean Society (ACS)
- Oxford Africa Society (AfriSoc)
- Oxford University Black Student Network (BSN)
- Green Templeton College Black Students’ Society
⭐ Things Uni To Know
🚨 The UK Government has introduced an 18-month suspension on student visa applications from nationals of Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar and Sudan, effective 26 March 2026. If you are based overseas and affected by this change, you will unfortunately not be able to apply for a UK student visa during this period. Those already studying or working in the UK are not affected and can still extend their visa from within the country. We strongly encourage anyone affected to review the UK Government guidance carefully before taking any next steps.
✨The university offers a range of support services, networks and programmes relevant to Black and African students, delivered through its wider university welfare systems and targeted initiatives. This includes:
- The Africa Society (Mentorship) – College-based Black student networks and mentoring initiatives at some college
- The Kofo Collective – a community thats supports and advocates for Black women at the university, fostering a sense of community and belonging.
- Campaign for Racial Awareness and Equality (CRAE) through the Students’ Union
- The Africa Graduate Support Fund – Awards of up to £2000 are provided to African graduate students currently studying at the University of Oxford.
- The ACS runs welfare and social events to provide community support.
