Oxford Weidenfeld-Hoffmann Scholarship 2027: Fully Funded Master’s at Oxford

The Oxford Weidenfeld Hoffmann scholarship 2027 is now open, and it is one of the most generous fully funded scholarships at the University of Oxford. It pays 100% of your course fees, gives you a grant for living costs of at least £21,805 a year, and adds a full leadership programme of training, mentoring and networking alongside your degree. It is for outstanding students from developing and emerging economies who are starting a new full-time graduate course at Oxford in 2027–28.

The deadline is not a single date. Your deadline is your course’s December or January deadline, and for the MBA and MFE routes that date is 6 January 2027. Some courses close as early as 2 December 2026, so the only safe rule is to check your course page and treat the earlier date as your deadline. This guide explains what the scholarship covers, who can apply, the deadlines that catch people out, and how to apply.

What the Oxford Weidenfeld Hoffmann Scholarship 2027 Covers

The Oxford Weidenfeld Hoffmann scholarship 2027 is a fully funded graduate scholarship, funded by the University of Oxford in partnership with the Weidenfeld-Hoffmann Trust. The programme began in 2015, and it combines funding with a leadership programme that runs alongside the degree.

The funding covers 100% of your course fees for the full duration of your course. On top of the fees, you receive a grant for living costs of at least £21,805 a year, and a contribution of £2,000 towards pre-arrival costs such as visas and travel. The living-cost grant is paid so that money is not the reason a talented student turns down Oxford, and the pre-arrival contribution recognises that visas and flights are a real cost before the course even starts.

The leadership programme is what makes this scholarship different from other Oxford funding. Scholars join a programme of training, mentoring and networking that runs through their time at Oxford and continues after they graduate. The Trust looks for people who will use their Oxford education to make a difference in their home countries, and the leadership programme is built around that aim. It is not an optional extra. It is part of the scholarship, and applicants are expected to take part.

Who Can Apply for the Oxford Weidenfeld Hoffmann Scholarship 2027

To apply for the Oxford Weidenfeld Hoffmann scholarship 2027, you must be applying for a new, full-time graduate course at Oxford, and you must be from one of the eligible countries. The scholarship is for students from developing and emerging economies, and Oxford publishes an eligible-countries list and an eligible-courses list on the official scholarship page. Confirm that your country and your course both appear on the current lists, because the lists are reviewed and can shift slightly between cycles.

The scholarship supports a wide range of Oxford graduate programmes. Eligible courses include selected full-time master’s degrees, the MBA and the MFE at Saïd Business School, the Master of Public Policy, the BCL and MJur, and a range of MSc and MSt programmes. It is not available for DPhil study. Three scholarships are available for the MBA and MFE routes at Saïd Business School, and the wider programme numbers vary by course.

You must be starting a new course in 2027–28. Deferred offers from a previous cycle do not qualify, and students who are already enrolled at Oxford are generally not eligible unless they are existing Weidenfeld-Hoffmann Scholars. You apply through your Oxford course application, selecting the Weidenfeld-Hoffmann Scholarships and Leadership Programme in the Scholarships section of the form, and you upload a separate Weidenfeld-Hoffmann Scholarships Statement. That statement is a document you must write yourself, and it cannot be an afterthought. It is where you explain why you should be a Weidenfeld-Hoffmann Scholar, and the Trust reads it closely.

Oxford charges a £75 graduate application fee. That fee applies to the course application, and there is no separate scholarship fee. Check the fee and any waiver that may apply on the Oxford graduate admissions pages before you apply.

The Oxford Weidenfeld Hoffmann Scholarship 2027 Deadline

The deadline for the Oxford Weidenfeld Hoffmann scholarship 2027 is your course’s deadline, and this is the detail that catches people out. There is no single Weidenfeld-Hoffmann date. Oxford’s own page says you must submit your application for graduate study by the relevant December or January deadline for your course, and the deadline that counts is your course’s deadline, not the scholarship’s.

For the MBA and MFE at Saïd Business School, the deadline is 6 January 2027. For other courses, it may be in December 2026. The Master of Public Policy, for example, closes on 2 December 2026, and many courses have a final deadline of 6 January 2027, while some close on 26 January 2027. All deadlines are at 12:00 midday UK time. Oxford recommends submitting at least two weeks before a deadline that matters for scholarships, and that advice is worth following, because a late or incomplete application cannot be considered.

Two more timing rules from Oxford’s own page are easy to miss. First, you must be offered a place after consideration by the December or January deadline. If your application is held over past that point and re-evaluated against the later March deadline, or if you are placed on a waiting list, you lose scholarship eligibility entirely, even if you are eventually admitted to the course. Second, if you are shortlisted for the scholarship, the interview is likely to be held online in April 2027, with final shortlisting in late March and interviews in late April or early May for the Saïd route. Decisions are normally announced by the end of May 2027.

How to Apply for the Oxford Weidenfeld Hoffmann Scholarship 2027

Applying for the Oxford Weidenfeld Hoffmann scholarship 2027 means applying to Oxford itself, and the application has several parts. Start by choosing your course and checking three things: that it is on the eligible-courses list, that your country is on the eligible-countries list, and what its December or January deadline is. Then prepare your academic transcripts, your CV, your references, and your personal statement for the course.

The Weidenfeld-Hoffmann Scholarships Statement is a separate document you must write and upload with your application. It is where you make the case for the scholarship itself, not just for admission to the course. Write about what you have actually done, not what you hope to do in general terms: the project you led, the community you served, the problem you worked on. The Trust is looking for leadership potential and a commitment to improving the lives of others, and concrete evidence stands out in a way that general statements do not.

You will also need references from academics who know your work, and you should give them the deadline in writing, with a reminder a week before. All application documents, including references, must be submitted by your course deadline at 12:00 midday UK time. A reference that arrives a day late can sink an otherwise strong application, so ask your referees early and check that they have submitted.

After the deadline, departments nominate their strongest applicants, and the Trust shortlists candidates for interview. Shortlisted candidates are interviewed online, usually in April 2027, by a panel that tests the same criteria as the written application: academic excellence, leadership potential, and commitment to improving the lives of others. Successful applicants are normally told by the end of May 2027, and the scholarship starts with the course in October 2027.

After Oxford: Visas and What Comes Next

Winning the Oxford Weidenfeld Hoffmann scholarship 2027 is only the start, and the practical details around it matter too. If you need a Student visa, the maintenance funds you must show are rising. From 30 November 2026, the funds rise to £1,570 a month in London and £1,203 a month outside London, for up to nine months, under the 28-day rule. Our guide to UK student visa maintenance funds 2026 explains the new amounts and how to show them. The £2,000 pre-arrival contribution from the scholarship helps with visa and travel costs, but the maintenance funds must still be shown in your own account, or in an account that meets the Student visa rules.

After your degree, the UK Graduate visa lets you stay and work in the UK, and the rules are changing. From 1 January 2027, new Graduate visas will last 18 months instead of two years for bachelor’s and master’s graduates, although PhD graduates keep three years. Our guide to the UK Graduate visa 18 months 2027 explains who keeps two years, and why the last day to apply for a two-year Graduate visa is 31 December 2026. That matters for Weidenfeld-Hoffmann scholars on a one-year master’s, because a Graduate visa applied for on or after 1 January 2027 will fall under the 18-month rule.

If you are applying for several scholarships at once, keep a simple tracker: the award, the deadline, the course it covers, and whether your references are in. December is the busiest month of the scholarship year. Our guide to the Gates Cambridge Scholarship 2027 explains the Cambridge deadlines of 8 December 2026 and 6 January 2027, which sit alongside the Oxford deadlines, and the same application discipline applies to both: check your course deadline, submit early, and do not let a reference arrive late.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Oxford Weidenfeld Hoffmann scholarship 2027?

It is a fully funded graduate scholarship at the University of Oxford for outstanding students from developing and emerging economies. It covers 100% of course fees, a living-cost grant of at least £21,805 a year, a £2,000 contribution towards pre-arrival costs, and a leadership programme of training, mentoring and networking.

What is the deadline for the Oxford Weidenfeld Hoffmann scholarship 2027?

There is no single deadline. You must apply by your course’s December or January deadline. For the MBA and MFE at Saïd Business School, the deadline is 6 January 2027. Some courses close as early as 2 December 2026, and all deadlines are at 12:00 midday UK time. Check your course page for the exact date.

Who can apply for the Oxford Weidenfeld Hoffmann scholarship 2027?

Students from developing and emerging economies who are applying for a new, full-time graduate course at Oxford in 2027–28 can apply, provided their country and course are on Oxford’s eligible lists. The scholarship covers selected master’s courses, the MBA and MFE, and is not available for DPhil study.

What does the Oxford Weidenfeld Hoffmann scholarship 2027 cover?

It covers 100% of course fees, a grant for living costs of at least £21,805 a year, a £2,000 contribution towards pre-arrival costs such as visas and travel, and the Weidenfeld-Hoffmann Leadership Programme.

How do I apply for the Oxford Weidenfeld Hoffmann scholarship 2027?

Apply for admission to Oxford through the graduate application portal, select the Weidenfeld-Hoffmann Scholarships and Leadership Programme in the Scholarships section, and upload the Weidenfeld-Hoffmann Scholarships Statement. You must be offered a place after consideration by your course’s December or January deadline, and Oxford charges a £75 graduate application fee.

December is the busiest month for scholarship deadlines: our round-up of scholarships closing in December 2026 lists the other awards closing this month.

If Oxford does not work out, our round-up of Fully Funded Scholarships 2026 lists other major funded awards.