Clarendon Scholarship 2027-28, Oxford: deadlines from 1 Dec

There is no Clarendon application. You apply to a full-time or part-time Master's or DPhil at Oxford, and if you apply by the December or January deadline for your course, you are considered for a Clarendon scholarship automatically. In Oxford's words: "You do not need to submit any additional documents and there are no separate scholarship application forms for Clarendon."

Who can apply

• Anyone applying to start a new Master's or DPhil course at Oxford, in any subject. The page is explicit: "There are no restrictions by nationality or country of ordinary residence." An Indian applicant is considered on exactly the same terms as anyone else
• Current Oxford Master's students who are re-applying for a DPhil or applying for a second Master's are eligible too
• Not eligible: anyone who holds a deferred graduate offer, and current students who will continue the same degree next year
• The Clarendon page sets no income limit and no age limit. It is awarded on merit, not on need

What it pays

• Course fees in full, whether your fee status is Home or Overseas
• For full-time scholars, a living grant of at least the UKRI minimum doctoral stipend. Oxford gives the 2025-26 figure: at least £20,780 a year, which it describes as "normally sufficient to cover the living costs of a single student living in Oxford"
• For part-time scholars, a study support grant in place of the living grant: a sixth, a third or half of the UKRI stipend, set out in the offer letter
• It runs for your period of fee liability. Some divisions add a further period that pays the living grant only

When to apply — read this before anything else

There is no single Clarendon deadline. Every Oxford course sets its own, and only a December or January deadline counts. These were read on the course pages for 2027-28 entry on 21 September 2026:

• 1 December 2026 — DPhil in Clinical Medicine
• 2 December 2026 — DPhil in Computer Science, DPhil in Engineering Science, MSc in Global Governance and Diplomacy
• 6 January 2027 — MSc in Advanced Computer Science
• 7 January 2027 — DPhil in History
• 26 January 2027 — MPhil in Economics, MSc in Economics for Development
• 27 January 2027 — MSc in Mathematical and Computational Finance

Some courses list a second, later deadline as well. The DPhil in Computer Science gives 2 December 2026 as its "Final application deadline for Oxford scholarships" and 2 March 2027 as the deadline for a place. Apply by the scholarship deadline. The later one can still get you a place, but not a Clarendon. Every deadline is 12:00 midday UK time, which is 5:30 pm in India in December and January.

The card on this page carries 1 December, the earliest a Clarendon deadline can fall. It is your date only if your course closes that day, so look up your own course.

The cost the scholarship does not mention

Clarendon itself costs nothing, but you are only considered by applying to an Oxford course, and that application carries a fee: £20 for research courses such as a DPhil or an MSc by Research, and £75 for taught courses such as an MPhil, MSc, MSt, PGDip or PGCert. It is paid in pounds by card at the moment you submit, and Oxford states that it "cannot be refunded, even if you later decide to withdraw your application."

Oxford waives the fee for applicants resident in a list of low-income countries. India is not on that list. The waiver also covers anyone who is or was a refugee, stateless, an asylum seeker, or otherwise forcibly displaced.

How selection works

• Academics in your field assess your course application, and the department decides on your place
• At the same time, the department decides whom to nominate for a Clarendon scholarship
• The academic divisions meet in February or March, rank the nominations, and shortlist the strongest
• Successful candidates are told by email. Oxford says most first offers go out by the end of April
• Unsuccessful applicants are not contacted. If you have not heard by mid-June, Oxford says to assume you have not been awarded one

What the selectors look for

Oxford calls an excellent academic record essential. Most successful scholars have at least a first class honours degree or its equivalent; as an example it gives a GPA of at least 3.7 out of 4, "noting that a lot of the Clarendon scholars achieve higher than this score". An outstanding Master's can make up for a moderate first degree. Beyond marks, departments weigh your future academic potential, read from your references and research proposal, and your motivation, read from your personal statement and your referees' reports.

Documents

Clarendon asks for nothing of its own. The documents are the ones your course application asks for, and each course page lists them. Start from your course page.

Where to apply

Find your course on Oxford's graduate courses page and apply through its Apply button before its December or January deadline. The Clarendon page for applicants is linked above as the official source.

Checked on 21 September 2026 against Oxford's Clarendon Fund page for applicants, the University's graduate course pages for 2027-28 entry, and its application fee and fee waiver pages. Oxford sets deadlines course by course, so open your own course page before you plan around any date here.