A funded master's at Oxford, from Nigeria

This guide is for a Nigerian graduate who lives in Nigeria, holds a good first degree, has no money for school abroad and has never applied to a university outside Nigeria. It walks you to a one-year master's at the University of Oxford in England with your whole course fee and a grant to live on paid by the Weidenfeld-Hoffmann scholarship, from the course you pick tonight to your first week in Oxford. You apply yourself, on Oxford's own website, in one application that asks for the place and the scholarship together. Every fee, date and rule in it comes from the official page that sets it, and the guide says where. Updated on 3 November 2026. Naira figures are at ₦1,784 to the pound and ₦1,333 to the US dollar, the rates of 20 October 2026.

Nobody can promise you a place, the scholarship or the visa. Oxford's departments choose who gets a place, Oxford and the Weidenfeld-Hoffmann Trust choose the scholars, and UK Visas and Immigration decides the visa. What this guide gives you is every step, in order, with nothing left out.

Two bodies set the rules, Oxford and the Weidenfeld-Hoffmann Trust, and you must meet both. So you work to your course's own closing date, not the Trust's "January"; you plan on an English test result, because the Trust wants the test passed, not only waived; you live in Nigeria and mean to come back when the course ends; and for the MBA and MSc Financial Economics you apply on the business school's own form.

The course list, the statement form and the closing dates

These are the three things the scholarship turns on. Each one is explained in full in its stage below.

1. The course list. The scholarship pays only on 40 Oxford master's courses, and Nigeria is on its list of countries. Pick one course from this list whose grade your degree meets (Stage 2). Oxford's scholarship page prints the same list; its page is here, opens in a new tab.

2. The statement form. Its name is the Weidenfeld-Hoffmann Scholarships Statement 2027/28. You download it from the scholarship's page (the "Download now" link under its name), fill it in Word, turn it into a PDF and upload it with your Oxford application. It asks:

• your name and date of birth, and the name and length of the course you chose;
• each university you attended: its name and place, your years there (month and year), the degree and the grade;
• your two most significant recent jobs (say if one was an internship or placement): the organisation and country, your position, the dates, and your main responsibilities and achievements;
• your two most significant volunteering roles, laid out the same;
• every other scholarship you have applied for, at Oxford or elsewhere, leaving out the ones you are considered for automatically;

• five questions, "in no more than 200 words per question":

  1. "What is it that attracts you to the WHT Leadership Programme at this particular point in your career?" (WHT is the Weidenfeld-Hoffmann Trust; its Leadership Programme is the leadership course in Part 1.)
  2. "What is your leadership experience to-date? What leadership qualities do you admire in others?"
  3. "What responsibilities do you think businesses have to people other than their shareholders?"
  4. "Describe a major challenge facing your country or community and outline how you are going to contribute to addressing it. What motivates you to do so?"
  5. "Outline how you anticipate your career progressing for the next five years after completing your studies in Oxford."
• "How did you find out about this scholarship?", with five boxes to tick.

The form says: "You only have to fill in this statement once. If you are applying for more than one graduate course, you must upload this statement with each graduate course application." Stage 7 walks it.

3. The closing dates. There is no scholarship deadline of its own. The scholarship closes when your course closes: "submit your application for graduate study by the relevant December or January deadline for your course", with the statement uploaded "together with your graduate application form, by the deadline". The dates are in the table above. Oxford tells you to "aim to submit your application form and all of your supporting documents at least two weeks before your chosen deadline". For the four courses that close on 1 December 2026, that is by Tuesday 17 November 2026.

The trap: the Trust's own application page says "Applications must be submitted by the January deadline". Six of the 40 courses close in December. Your course's own date on its Oxford course page is the one that counts.

Where the window stands today (3 November 2026)

Open. Oxford's application form for courses starting in autumn 2027 is open, the scholarship's page carries the 2027/28 statement form, and Nigeria is on its list of countries. On 3 November 2026 there are:

• 10 days to Friday 13 November 2026, the "earlier decisions" date eleven of the courses print (not a closing date). Oxford's advice to anyone who needs a UK visa, which is you: "You should try to apply by the earliest deadline stated on the course page". An application in by that date "will also be considered for Oxford scholarships". If your course prints 13 November and your file and two letters can be in by then, aim for it; if not, your course's final date stands;
• 28 days to Tuesday 1 December 2026, when the first four courses close;
• 29 days to Wednesday 2 December 2026 (Global Governance and Diplomacy, the MPP);
• 63 to 65 days to 5, 6 and 7 January 2027;
• 84 and 85 days to 26 and 27 January 2027, when the last courses close.

The hour. Oxford's course pages print "12:00 midday UK time". In November, December and January the UK is on Greenwich time, one hour behind Lagos, so 12 noon in the UK is 1 pm in Lagos. MSc Financial Economics prints 11.59 pm UK time: 12.59 am the next morning in Lagos.

What has passed. MSc Financial Economics' first stage (21 October 2026). Its second stage, 6 January 2027, is its last for this scholarship: the business school's pages say only applicants offered a place in its first two stages are considered for University and college scholarships. The MBA's first stage closes tomorrow, 4 November 2026; which MBA stages count for this scholarship: we cannot tell yet.

Which date governs you. Two bodies print dates: Oxford, which says "the relevant December or January deadline for your course", and the Trust, whose application page says "the January deadline" and whose questions page says "January (or earlier)". The stricter is your course's own date, and that is the one you work to.

What happens after the close. Your department reads your application and decides on a place, usually 8 to 10 weeks after your course's deadline. The Trust then contacts a shortlist of those offered a place for an online interview, "likely to be held online in April 2027" (the Trust's own page puts its interviews between March and June). "Decisions are expected to be made by the end of May 2027. If you have not heard from us by this time, then please assume that your application has been unsuccessful."

Not printed yet, each said again at its stage with what you do meanwhile:

• the grant for 2027-28: Oxford prints "at least £21,805" (about ₦38.9 million) and the Trust dates that figure to 2026-27; the 2027-28 amount: we cannot tell yet;
• how Oxford reads a Nigerian CGPA against its first-class and upper-second lines: we cannot tell yet;
• how the MBA and MSc Financial Economics, which use the business school's own application, take the scholarship: we cannot tell yet.

From today: what you can still finish

Three things take longest and are not fully in your hands: your transcript from your Nigerian university, your three referees' letters, and an English test date if you need one. Everything else (choosing the course, the forms, the statements) is in your hands. Each row says what must already be in your hands to finish.

What you hold changes the row.

• No transcript yet: request it this week. Oxford takes "Screenshot images from self-service portals, if you're unable to obtain a transcript document", as long as each shows your name, your institution, your course title and a breakdown of grades. If your university can give neither, ask it for written confirmation of your study, start and end dates, degree title and final grade (Stage 4).
• No international passport: you do not need one to apply. Oxford: "You are not required to provide your passport details at the point of application". Start it anyway: you need it for the visa (Stage 12).
• No English test: you do not need one to apply either. A test result becomes a condition only after an offer. But the scholarship's Trust says "applicants must have passed their required English language test to be accepted onto the Programme", and Oxford warns "It can take several months to secure a place for an English language test". Whether a waiver from your department also meets the Trust's line: we cannot tell yet. The stricter rule is the one you live under, so book IELTS Academic now unless your degree finished in 2025 or later; if it did and you count on the waiver, book IELTS the week your offer comes, so a result is in your hands if the Trust asks for one (Stage 4).
• A course that wants a test result with the application: MSc Economics for Development asks graduates without a UK or Irish degree for an American graduate admissions test, "the results of a GRE Test obtained within the last 5 years"; if you cannot sit it before the deadline, "you may submit the certificate as soon as possible after the deadline".

Part 1. Before you start

What the scholarship is

The Weidenfeld-Hoffmann scholarship (Oxford's own name for it is the Oxford-Weidenfeld and Hoffmann Scholarships and Leadership Programme) pays for a master's at the University of Oxford for graduates "mainly from developing and emerging economies, and who would not otherwise be able to support themselves to study at Oxford".

Who pays it: "The University contributes 40% of the funds for these scholarships, together with 60% from generous donations provided by supporters of the Weidenfeld-Hoffmann Trust". The Weidenfeld-Hoffmann Trust is a charity in England that funds these scholarships and runs a leadership course for the scholars ("Charity registered in England, No. 1158918.").

What it pays, in Oxford's words: "The scholarship will cover 100% of course fees and a grant for living costs (of at least £21,805). Awards are made to cover the full duration of your fee liability for the agreed course." The Trust's questions page: "fully funded and covers 100% of course fees, a grant for living costs or 'stipend' (of £21,805 in 2026-27) and the full cost of your individual Leadership Programme place." So: the whole course fee, a living grant of at least £21,805 (about ₦38.9 million; the Trust's figure for 2026-27), and your place on the leadership course. For scale, MSc Global Governance and Diplomacy and MSc Economics for Development charge overseas students £43,150 a year (about ₦77.0 million); the MPP £54,650 (about ₦97.5 million).

What neither page lists: your visa fee, your health surcharge or your flight. Plan to pay those yourself (Part 7).

The leadership course (the Trust calls it the Leadership Programme) is part of the award, not an extra: about 200 hours across the year of "personal skills development, business and entrepreneurship, building a foundation for ethical leadership, networking". It holds a seminar on political and moral philosophy "from Aristotle to Mandela", an Enterprise Challenge in which scholars build an idea to meet a social need and pitch it to business leaders and investors, and communication training. It is compulsory: "Participation is a compulsory requirement of the Scholarships and Leadership Programme Award and is written into the University of Oxford Scholarship offer letter which successful applicants receive in August." It runs "from a date in mid-September to early July", so you arrive before term; on a 9-month course you finish about when it does, and on a 12-month course your course runs on to about the end of September 2028.

Who got it this year. One Nigerian holds this scholarship in the Trust's Class of 2026, the scholars who started at Oxford in autumn 2026 (37 scholars from 24 countries), on the BCL. Two more Nigerians are in that class on other Oxford awards: one on an Oxford-Hoffmann award and one on a Clarendon scholarship (Oxford's own scholarship, which everyone who applies by a December or January date is considered for).

The bodies you will deal with

The University of Oxford decides your place. You apply to it, on its website. Inside it:

• Your department: the part of the University that teaches your course. It reads your application, may interview you, and makes the offer.
• Graduate Admissions: the office that runs the application form and processes your file. Real emails from Oxford come "from graduate.admissions@mailln.custhelp.com or from an 'ox.ac.uk' email address".
• A college: every Oxford student belongs to one of the University's colleges, which is where you live, eat and get looked after; your department teaches you. The college sends the money form after an offer (Stage 11).
• Self-Service: the website that holds your offer and its conditions once you have one.

The Weidenfeld-Hoffmann Trust, the charity above, shortlists and interviews scholars with Oxford and runs the leadership course. You never apply to the Trust directly: "Please do not send your application to the Weidenfeld-Hoffmann Trust." Its address for questions is info@whtrust.org.

UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) decides your student visa. You prove who you are with its phone app or at a UK visa application centre in Nigeria, whichever the form tells you when you apply (Stage 12).

Who can apply, and the rule that governs you

Oxford and the Trust both set rules. You must meet both, so the stricter one is the one you live under. Here is the answer for your case.

The scholarship's rules (Oxford's page).

• "You must be applying to start a new full-time graduate course at Oxford." One of the 40.
• "You should be intending to return to your country of ordinary residence once your course is completed." For you, that is Nigeria.
• "You must be able to demonstrate a connection between your subject of study and your longer-term career objectives, explaining how you see your professional work contributing to the improvement of public life in your country of origin or at a wider regional or international level."
• Not for someone already offered an Oxford place who moved its start to 2027-28, and not for someone already studying at Oxford.
• You must be offered a place on one of the 40 courses, and live (in Oxford's words, be "ordinarily resident") in one of the countries on its list. Nigeria is on the list.

Where you live counts, not only your passport. Your "country of ordinary residence" is "the country in which you are normally resident, out of choice and for a settled purpose, except for any temporary or occasional absences. It is not a country in which you are studying, working or living on a temporary basis." The scholarship reads it from the "Nationality and ordinary residence" part of your form. A Nigerian who lives in Nigeria enters Nigeria and meets it.

The Trust's added lines. The scholarship funds "1-year master-level courses" and no doctorate (DPhil). "No, we don't have an age limit." Work experience is not required, though "the majority of the WHT scholars are early career professionals with five or more years employment experience". And "applicants must have passed their required English language test to be accepted onto the Programme". Oxford may waive the test for a recent degree taught in English (Stage 4); whether that waiver meets the Trust's line: we cannot tell yet. So plan on a test result: that is the stricter rule.

Oxford's grade for your course. Each course sets its own grade on its page, in UK terms. Six course pages as they stood on 3 November 2026:

• MSc Clinical and Therapeutic Neuroscience: "a first-class or strong upper second-class undergraduate degree with honours in any science discipline".
• MSc African Studies: "a first-class or strong upper second-class undergraduate degree with honours in a relevant discipline in the humanities or social sciences".
• MSc Biodiversity, Conservation and Nature Recovery: "a first-class or strong upper second-class undergraduate degree with honours in any discipline".
• MSc Contemporary Chinese Studies: a first or strong upper second "in any subject or discipline", with "some familiarity with Chinese language".
• MSc Economics for Development: "a first-class or a very strong upper second-class undergraduate degree with honours in economics", at least two years of economics courses ("courses in finance, planning, business, management and other similar subjects do not count"), and "most successful applicants have a first-class degree or the equivalent".
• MSc Global Governance and Diplomacy: "first-class undergraduate degree with honours, typically in a social science subject"; "Almost all successful applicants have a first-class degree or equivalent".

What that means for a Nigerian CGPA. Oxford does not ask you to convert your grade: "If you have a non-UK qualification, you don't need to convert this to the UK degree classification". You type your grade as your university prints it, with the score and the maximum (for example, 4.52 out of 5). Every course page sends a graduate from outside the UK to its International Qualifications page for the line that counts as a first or a strong upper second; which CGPA Oxford counts as a first or a strong upper second for a Nigerian degree: we cannot tell yet. What the course pages do say: most ask "a first-class or strong upper second-class" degree; Global Governance and Diplomacy says almost everyone it admits has a first, and Economics for Development says most do. So with a First Class degree, choose on subject; with a Second Class Upper, choose a course whose line reads "first-class or strong upper second", not one of those two. Oxford's own warning: "you are unlikely to be offered a place if your qualifications are below the minimum entry requirements for your course unless you have significant extenuating circumstances", and meeting the minimum does not on its own win a place.

In your final year. "You can apply for graduate study at Oxford during the final year of your degree if you are planning to progress straight from your current degree to the course you are applying to without a break. Your application will be assessed based on the grades you have achieved so far."

You do not need an admission, a sponsor, a nominator, an employer or anybody in the UK. You do not need your passport to apply, and you do not need an English test result to apply. The scholarship is asked for inside the same application as the place. To apply you pay £75 (about ₦134,000) per course, plus your university's price for your transcript (and the GRE for MSc Economics for Development).

Do you need an agent? No

Oxford: "The University does not have any arrangements or relationships with agents. You must complete your application yourself, and provide your own contact details." And: "All of the information you need to apply for a graduate course at Oxford is free and publicly available on our website." No place, no shortlist and no interview is for sale. Anyone who asks you for money to get you this scholarship is not from Oxford or the Trust.

Can I use AI to write it?

You may use it to research. The ideas and the words must be your own. Oxford: "AI may be used to assist in researching application materials, but the ideas and their expression must be yours."; "Inappropriate AI use may disadvantage assessment of your application."; "Your work may be checked using plagiarism detection software". Write your statements yourself.

Can my husband, wife or children come?

Not as your dependants on this visa. On gov.uk, a student's family can come only for "a PhD or other doctorate" or "a research-based higher degree", or with a government award. The Trust says the same: "for all WHT scholars starting in 2024 or later, family members can't apply as your dependants", unless you are government funded or have just finished an earlier course on which they held student dependant visas. Every course on the list is a taught master's.

The route this guide walks

One course from the 40, the scholarship ticked in the same Oxford form, the statement uploaded with it, by your course's date, from Nigeria. That is the main route, and the guide walks it stage by stage.

One course or two. Oxford allows up to three applications, "a maximum of two taught course applications", and each is "a full and separate application with all supporting documents, including references", with its own £75. A second course doubles your fee and your referees' work, and the statement goes with each. Put everything into one course unless a second fits you just as well and closes later.

The MBA and MSc Financial Economics are run by the business school, which takes applications in stages on its own form ("Saïd Business School courses (except for the MSc in Law and Finance)" have "a separate application process"). How their form takes the scholarship: we cannot tell yet. This guide walks the other 38 courses, which use Oxford's standard form. MSc Law and Finance uses the standard form.

Part 2. The whole journey on one page

Stage 1. Check that you fit. Where you live, your plan to come home, your degree and your grade against your course's line. Free. One evening.

Stage 2. Choose your course from the 40 and read its page. Its date, its grade, its English level, its documents, whether it interviews. Free. An evening or two.

Stage 3. Open your Oxford application. From the course page's "Apply now" button; create your account. Do not submit. Free. One evening.

Stage 4. Request your transcript and settle your English. Your transcript, your English evidence (or an IELTS date), your passport for later. A transcript from your university's own price; IELTS ₦299,000. From days to weeks.

Stage 5. Ask your three referees. Two of them academic, registered in the form with their work email. Free. Ask this week.

Stage 6. Write your course's own documents. The statement of purpose or personal statement, any written work, any test the course asks. Free. One to two weeks of evenings.

Stage 7. Tick the scholarship and upload its statement. On the form's Funding tab, select the Weidenfeld-Hoffmann scholarship; fill the statement form, turn it into a PDF and upload it. Free. A week of evenings.

Stage 8. Pay £75 and submit, two weeks before your course's date. About ₦134,000, by Visa or Mastercard in pounds.

Stage 9. The department's answer. Usually 8 to 10 weeks after your course's date; some courses interview online.

Stage 10. The scholarship's answer. A shortlist, an online interview likely in April 2027, decisions by the end of May 2027.

Stage 11. Accept, and meet your conditions. Your English result, your final transcript by 31 August 2027, the college's money form; the move to a partner college.

Stage 12. Your CAS and your UK student visa. Oxford's number for the visa (the CAS); a tuberculosis (TB) test in Nigeria (about ₦125,000); the visa online (£558, about ₦995,000) and the health surcharge (£776, about ₦1.38 million, or £1,164, about ₦2.08 million); your identity on the app or at a centre in Nigeria, as the form tells you; a decision usually within three weeks.

Stage 13. Travel, and your first weeks in Oxford. The leadership course's introduction in September, before term; registration; term from October 2027.

Stage 14. The year, and after it. The leadership course to early July 2028; a 9-month course ends about then, a 12-month course runs to about the end of September 2028. Then home with what you learnt.

The money. To apply: £75 (about ₦134,000) per course, and your transcript. IELTS Academic (₦299,000): book it now if your degree finished before 2025; if it finished later, budget for it anyway and book it the week your offer comes (Stage 4). After an award: the TB test (about ₦125,000), the visa (about ₦995,000) and the health surcharge (about ₦1.38 million or ₦2.08 million), your flight. The scholarship pays your course fee and a grant of at least £21,805 (about ₦38.9 million) (Part 7).

The time. From tonight to your course's date: four to twelve weeks. From your date to the scholarship's answer: to the end of May 2027. From the answer to your flight: about four months. From tonight to your first day at Oxford: about eleven months.

Part 3. Stage by stage

Stage 1. Check that you fit

Back to the short stages

You want a funded master's and you hold a degree. Before you spend a naira or an evening, check yourself against both bodies' lines.

Do.

1. Where you live: you live in Nigeria, out of choice and for a settled purpose. You meet the country line.
2. Your plan: you mean to come back to Nigeria when the course ends, and you can say how your work will improve public life in Nigeria or the region. If you plan to stay in the UK, this scholarship is not for you.
3. Your degree: a bachelor's degree, finished or in its final year. Find your CGPA and your class on your result or transcript.
4. Write down your class and your CGPA as your result prints them (for example Second Class Upper, 4.21 out of 5), and the subject of your degree. With a First, choose on subject; with a Second Class Upper, choose only a course whose line reads "first-class or strong upper second" (Part 1).

Where. The scholarship's page on Oxford's site, Weidenfeld-Hoffmann Scholarships and Leadership Programme, opens in a new tab, its part on who can apply.

What you need. Your result or transcript.

Cost and time. Free. One evening.

You are done when you have written down your class, your subject, and one sentence on what you will do in Nigeria after Oxford.

If it goes wrong. Your class is below a Second Class Upper: Oxford says you are "unlikely to be offered a place" below a course's minimum. This scholarship is not your first move this year; tell us about yourself, opens in a new tab and see the funded options that fit.

Next. Choose your course, the same evening (Stage 2).

Stage 2. Choose your course from the 40, and read its page

Back to the short stages

You fit. Now choose the one course you will put everything into, because each course sets its own date, grade, English level and documents.

Do.

1. Open the scholarship's page and expand its course list: the same 40 as the table at the top of this guide.
2. Pick two or three that follow from your degree or your work. Open each on Oxford's Find your course, opens in a new tab page.

3. On each course page, write down six things:

   • the date: the "Final application deadline for entry in 2027-28" and, where printed, the earlier-decisions date (where it prints one, Oxford advises a visa applicant to aim for it: see "Where the window stands today");
   • the grade: under "Entry requirements";
   • the English level: "standard level" or "higher level" (Stage 4);
   • the documents: under "Completing your application": the statement and its word limit, any written work, any test such as the GRE;
   • the referees: most read "three overall, of which at least two must be academic";
   • interviews: whether the course holds them, and how.
4. Choose the one course whose grade you meet, whose subject follows from your degree or work, and which you can tie, in one plain sentence, to a problem in Nigeria you will work on.

Six course pages as they stood on 3 November 2026, to show you what you will see.

• MSc Clinical and Therapeutic Neuroscience: closes 1 December 2026. "Expected length 1 year", starts 11 October 2027. Overseas fee £46,350 (about ₦82.7 million). Higher-level English. Three referees, at least two academic. "Personal statement (a maximum of 500 words)". Interviews: "The duration of the interview will be 15 minutes, and will be conducted online", "at the end of January". About 20 places; about 176 applications a year.
• MSc African Studies: earlier decisions 13 November 2026, closes 26 January 2027. 9 months, starts 4 October 2027. Overseas fee £40,730 (about ₦72.7 million). Higher-level English. A statement of purpose of 500 to 1,000 words and one essay of up to 2,000 words. "Interviews are not normally held". About 26 places; about 90 applications a year.
• MSc Biodiversity, Conservation and Nature Recovery: earlier decisions 13 November 2026, closes 26 January 2027. 12 months, starts 28 September 2027. Overseas fee £38,340 (about ₦68.4 million). A personal statement of up to 1,000 words and written work of up to 2,000 words. About 27 places; about 185 applications a year.
• MSc Contemporary Chinese Studies: closes 26 January 2027. 9 months, starts 4 October 2027. Overseas fee £40,730 (about ₦72.7 million). A personal statement of up to 1,500 words with an outline of your dissertation idea, and one academic essay of up to 2,000 words. About 23 places; about 144 applications a year.
• MSc Economics for Development: closes 26 January 2027. 9 months, starts 27 September 2027. Overseas fee £43,150 (about ₦77.0 million). A personal statement of 500 to 1,000 words, two essays of 2,000 to 4,000 words each, and the GRE. About 31 places; about 283 applications a year.
• MSc Environmental Change and Policy: earlier decisions 13 November 2026, closes 26 January 2027. 12 months, starts 28 September 2027. Overseas fee £38,340 (about ₦68.4 million). A concept map with a written statement of up to 600 words, and a set essay of up to 1,500 words. "Interviews may be held". About 25 places; about 257 applications in its first year.

All six ask higher-level English, and each of the six prints "An application fee of £75 is payable for each application to this course." (about ₦134,000).

What you need. Your class and subject from Stage 1.

Cost and time. Free. An evening or two.

You are done when you have one course, its date in Lagos time, its grade, its English level, its list of documents and its referees written down.

If it goes wrong. Two courses fit you equally: choose the one with the later date, which gives you more time, unless the earlier one is the course you truly want. Your course is the MBA or MSc Financial Economics: read Part 1, "The route this guide walks".

Next. Open your application (Stage 3), this week.

Stage 3. Open your Oxford application, and do not submit it

Back to the short stages

You have your course. Open the application now, because it saves as you go and it is where you register your referees.

Do.

1. On your course's page, click Apply now. "You will be prompted to create a new graduate applicant account or log into an existing account."
2. Create your account with an email address you will keep until October 2027: "this address will be used for all correspondence." Each time you log in, Oxford sends a code to that email; check spam if it does not come.
3. Check that the course is right before you go further: "You will not be able to change this after you start your application form or after you apply."
4. Fill your details. In "Nationality" and "Country of ordinary residence", enter Nigeria for both; if you have been Nigerian since birth, click "Use date of birth". Read this part slowly: it decides your fee, the scholarship and your visa.
5. Enter your names exactly as they are on your passport, or on the passport you will get.
6. Save. Do not submit until Stage 8.

Where. The Apply now button on your course page.

What you need. An email address and your course.

Cost and time. Free. One evening.

You are done when you can log in and see your saved application for your course.

If it goes wrong. You picked the wrong course: start a new application for the right one; the wrong one costs nothing until you pay. Someone offers to open the account for you: do not let them. The account must carry "your own contact details".

What runs at the same time. Request your transcript (Stage 4) and call your referees (Stage 5) this same week.

Next. Your transcript and English (Stage 4).

Stage 4. Request your transcript and settle your English

Back to the short stages

Your transcript. Oxford wants an official transcript, which "should come from the institution where you studied", and warns: "Your institution may need several months to produce your transcript, so you should look into your institution's arrangements as soon as you decide to apply." Any transcript, "including screenshots", must show four things: "your name; your institution; your course title; and a breakdown of grades". If your university cannot give one in time, Oxford takes "Screenshot images from self-service portals". If it can give neither, ask your university for written confirmation of your study, with "when you started and finished your degree, your degree title and your final grade". Oxford refuses a transcript you typed or translated yourself, and a degree certificate on its own is not a transcript. A fake ends your application. Request yours from your university's own records office or portal this week, at your university's own price; pay nobody outside it to hurry it.

Your English. Nigeria is not on the UK's list of majority English-speaking countries ("No other countries are considered majority English-speaking countries by UKVI"), so Oxford asks evidence of your English. There are two options.

• A waiver, by your degree. You may ask for one if your degree was "full-time; at least nine months in duration; undertaken at a recognised institution where teaching and assessment throughout the course is undertaken entirely in English; and completed with a gap of no more than 2 academic years to the course to which you are applying." For a course starting in autumn 2027, that means a degree you finished in 2025 or later, or are finishing now. You upload proof that it was taught in English: a link to your university's page that says so, or a letter from your university saying your degree was taught in English (ask the records office for it when you request your transcript). The department decides "if you are offered a place".
• A test. If you finished your degree before 2025, or the waiver is refused, you need a test result, due as a condition after an offer. Oxford takes the British Council and IDP English test (IELTS Academic) at a test centre, the Cambridge C1 Advanced and C2 Proficiency, and the Oxford Test of English Advanced; it does not take IELTS Online or IELTS General Training, and takes the TOEFL iBT only "if it was taken before 21 January 2026". The scores must come from one sitting, taken "less than two years before the start date of the course".

IELTS Academic at a test centre on computer costs ₦299,000 at IDP Nigeria; choose a date on its test dates and fees, opens in a new tab page. Book it as soon as you have chosen your course if your degree finished before 2025, and the week your offer comes if it finished later: Oxford says "It can take several months to secure a place for an English language test", and the Trust says you must have passed it "to be accepted onto the Programme". Book IELTS Academic, not IELTS for UKVI (₦315,500): Oxford takes either, and for a degree course the visa accepts Oxford's own check of your English.

Your passport. Not needed to apply. You need a Nigerian international passport, valid for your whole stay, for the visa. A fresh one: apply and pay online on the Nigeria Immigration Service's passport portal, opens in a new tab, then go to the passport office you chose "for photograph and biometric data capturing", with your birth certificate from the National Population Commission or an age declaration, a letter of identification from your local government or state of origin, or your National Identity Card, and a guarantor's form. The fee and how long it takes: we cannot tell yet. It should be valid for the whole of your stay: if yours will expire before the end of your course (early July 2028 on a 9-month course, about the end of September 2028 on a 12-month course), renew it now.

Your CV. Oxford: "Most courses do not require a CV (résumé) document to be uploaded to your application, so you should only upload one where this is specified", and "If a CV is uploaded to your application where it is not required, it will be removed from your application". On the six course pages above, the form asks the questions a CV would answer: "You should not upload a separate document." Have your jobs and dates ready to type in.

How to upload. PDF, .jpg or .png, "smaller than 4MB", with no password. "Word documents (.doc or .docx) are not accepted."

Cost and time. Your transcript at your university's own price, from days to weeks. IELTS ₦299,000 (plan on it).

You are done when your transcript is scanned to a PDF under 4MB, and you have either your English waiver proof or an IELTS date.

If it goes wrong. Your transcript has not come ten days before your date: upload portal screenshots that show the four things, or your university's written confirmation. Your name differs between your transcript and your passport: use the name on your passport everywhere and keep the document that links the names.

Next. Your referees (Stage 5), today if you have not called them.

Stage 5. Ask your three referees

Back to the short stages

Oxford reads letters from people who know your work, and your file is not looked at until two of them are in.

How many. "You are required to register three referees as part of your application form. However, once your application has received a minimum of two references, it is possible for the relevant academic department to begin their assessment." Most course pages say "three overall, of which at least two must be academic", and some accept one professional referee (a boss who appraised your work). Your course page says which.

Who never. "Personal references (ie from family, friends or neighbours) are never acceptable." And "References you upload to your application yourself are not permitted and will not be considered authentic."

Do.

1. Call or meet each referee first, before you name them. Tell them the course and its date.
2. In the form, register each with their work or university email: "Where possible, referees must be registered with an institutional or professional email address." If a lecturer has only a personal email, they give their full contact details in the letter and say briefly why.
3. When you have entered a referee's details, tick the box that sends the request and leave the page: "your referee will be sent a notification email." That is the only email Oxford sends them: "After this, we will not contact your referees again." and "We will not send any reminders on your behalf."
4. Send each your transcript, a short CV and a paragraph on why this course, the same day. Oxford tells referees a letter is "typically 500-1,000 words and should not normally exceed two pages", uploaded as a PDF.
5. Track each letter in the form and remind them yourself, by phone, a week before your date.

A message you can send, in your own words:

"Good morning Sir/Ma. I am applying to the University of Oxford for the ___ course, with the Weidenfeld-Hoffmann scholarship. Oxford will email you a request for a reference from its application system, so please look out for it, and check your spam folder. My course closes on ___ at 1 pm Nigerian time. Could you upload it a week before then? I will send you my CV and transcript today. Thank you."

Cost and time. Free. Ask this week; letters in by your date.

You are done when the form shows at least two letters received, and the third asked for.

If it goes wrong. A referee has gone quiet a week before your date: call them. If they cannot write, replace them in the form the same day. A letter that comes after your date means your application "won't usually be considered".

Next. Your course's documents (Stage 6).

Stage 6. Write your course's own documents

Back to the short stages

The department chooses on these. "Your application will be assessed purely on your proven and potential academic excellence and other entry requirements". Whether you have money does not count: "Whether or not you have secured funding will not be taken into consideration".

Do.

1. Open your course page's "Completing your application" part and write each document it lists, to its word limit. A statement that "significantly exceeds the permitted length stated on the relevant course page" is removed and your application counts as incomplete.
2. The statement of purpose or personal statement: why this course, what you have done that prepares you, what you will study, and how it leads to your work in Nigeria. Write it yourself.
3. Written work, if asked: in English, with the word count on its first page. Use an essay you wrote at university if it fits the course's brief; some courses set the topic (Environmental Change and Policy does).
4. Any test: MSc Economics for Development's GRE (Stage 2).
5. Fill the form's questions on your jobs and studies in place of a CV, unless your course page asks a CV.

Cost and time. Free, apart from any test. One to two weeks of evenings.

You are done when each document is a PDF under its word limit and uploaded in its space, and you have read each against the course page once more.

If it goes wrong. You cannot finish a written-work piece in time: choose an essay you already have that fits the course's limit. Do not upload anything the course does not ask: "You should not upload documents that are not specifically required for your course, such as degree certificates".

Next. The scholarship (Stage 7).

Stage 7. Tick the scholarship, and upload its statement

Back to the short stages

This is where the scholarship is asked for. Without the tick, and without the statement in by your course's date, you are not considered.

Do.

1. In your application, open the Funding tab. "On the 'Funding' tab of the application form, you can apply for departmental studentships and Oxford scholarships." In its University of Oxford Scholarships part, select Weidenfeld-Hoffmann Scholarships and Leadership Programme. Oxford: "you must select the Weidenfeld-Hoffmann Scholarships and Leadership Programme in the University of Oxford Scholarships section of the University's graduate application form".
2. Download the statement form from the scholarship's page ("Weidenfeld-Hoffmann Scholarships Statement 2027/28", "Download now").
3. Fill every field (the list is at the top of this guide). For your jobs and volunteering, give the two most significant, with what you did and what changed because of you.

4. Answer the five questions, each in no more than 200 words. Write each from your own life:

   • Why the leadership course now: what you are doing at work or in your community that needs what it teaches.
   • Your leadership: one time you led people to a result, with dates and numbers; and a quality you admire in someone you have watched lead.
   • Business beyond its owners: what a business owes its workers, customers and community, from something you have seen in Nigeria.
   • A challenge in Nigeria: one problem you know closely, what you will do about it with this course, and why you care.
   • Five years after Oxford: the roles and the work in Nigeria, step by step.
5. Save it as a PDF: the form says "Please check that you have converted this document to a PDF format ... before uploading it along with your main Oxford University application." Oxford takes no Word files.
6. Upload it in the scholarship's own space on the "Supporting documents" tab. Oxford: "If a scholarship is marked with an asterisk on the application form (*), you must also submit additional supporting material in order to apply for it", and you upload it on the "Supporting documents" tab.
7. Applying for a second course: upload the same statement with that application too.

How the Trust reads it. Its selection lines: "a genuine commitment to helping their country or community to develop", "tell us about the impact you have already achieved", "people who intend to take new skills acquired at Oxford to benefit their countries or regions after their year in Oxford", and leadership shown through "communication and interpersonal skills", "strategic thinking, enterprise and teamwork" and "initiative, commitment, responsibility, originality, creativity and risk-taking". So the department decides your place on your course statement; the Trust reads this statement and, if you are shortlisted, interviews you.

One application, other awards too. Oxford: "For over two thirds of Oxford scholarships, all you need to do is submit your graduate application by the funding deadline for your course". The same application puts you up for Clarendon, Oxford's own scholarship, with no form: "You will be automatically considered for Clarendon if you apply by the December or January deadline, whichever is relevant to your course." And "by applying for the Oxford-Weidenfeld and Hoffmann Scholarships and Leadership Programme, you also consent for your application being considered for these other schemes" (the Trust's partner awards). The scholarships part of the form goes after your course's date: "The 'Oxford scholarships' section of the application form will be removed after the funding deadline for your course".

Cost and time. Free. A week of evenings.

You are done when the scholarship is selected on the Funding tab and its statement, as a PDF, is uploaded in its space.

If it goes wrong. The scholarship is not in your list: check that your course is one of the 40 and that your residence says Nigeria; if both are right and it still does not show, write to info@whtrust.org with your course and your name before you submit. You have filled the form in Word: save as PDF before you upload.

Next. Pay and submit (Stage 8).

Stage 8. Pay £75 and submit, two weeks before your course's date

Back to the short stages

Do.

1. Check every tab against Oxford's list before you submit: your names as on your passport, your referees' work emails, and every scholarship's required document uploaded.
2. On the Declaration, read and agree, then Pay and Submit.
3. Pay £75 (about ₦134,000). Oxford takes Visa, Visa Debit and Mastercard, charged in pounds as you submit: "You must pay in GBP (£) via credit or debit card and your card will be charged as you submit your application." Your bank may ask you to confirm on its app or by a code. Nigeria is not on Oxford's list of countries whose fee is waived (Benin, Niger and Togo are).
4. Submit two weeks before your course's date. "The processing of your application will usually take a few days, but it can take up to two weeks close to course application deadlines."

Who can pay if your card cannot. A close family member can pay "remotely via the Online Store", noting the order number ("'OXF' followed by seven digits"). "If you do not have access to a credit or debit card, some banks offer a disposable credit card voucher that can be used to make online payments." If your payment fails, Oxford says to try again from another computer on a different internet connection. Ask your bank this week whether your naira card can pay £75 online, and fund a dollar or pound card if it cannot.

What Oxford needs by your date. "If your application isn't submitted and complete by the deadline, with all mandatory supporting documents and at least two submitted reference letters, it won't usually be considered." "late applications will not be accepted for the deadline."

Cost and time. £75 (about ₦134,000), not refunded: "Your application fee cannot be refunded, even if you later decide to withdraw your application." One evening.

You are done when Oxford's confirmation email comes. It "does not mean your application is complete and ready for assessment": watch your email for a note of anything missing, and check that two letters are in.

If it goes wrong. A letter is still missing on the day: call the referee; the department may begin with two. The card is refused on the day: a family member pays through the Online Store the same day.

Next. The waiting: the department's answer (Stage 9).

Stage 9. The department's answer

Back to the short stages

What happens. "You will usually receive a decision from the academic department about 8 to 10 weeks after the deadline you applied by." For a January course, Oxford says "you would usually hear around late March to early April". "Your academic department may want to hold interviews by video call, by phone or in person", and may ask for more documents, "a third reference if there are only two in your application".

The rule that ends the scholarship here. Oxford's scholarship page: a course application "held over after the December or January deadline to be re-evaluated against applications received by the March deadline", or one "put on a waiting list", is out of the scholarship. A place offered later, from the March round or a waiting list, comes without this scholarship.

Do.

1. Check your email, and spam, every day from your course's date.
2. If invited to interview, accept the first time you can keep, from a quiet room with steady internet.
3. When the offer comes, download your certificate of offer from Self-Service. "The certificate of offer will give full details of your offer and any academic conditions". Note its two dates: the date to accept, and the date to meet the conditions.
4. Start your conditions the same week (Stage 11), even before the scholarship's answer.

You are done when you hold your certificate of offer.

If it goes wrong. More than ten weeks have passed with no word: "contact the academic department directly via the contact details on the course page." A no: "it is a University policy that we do not provide feedback on unsuccessful applications", and "If you are unsuccessful, you will no longer be considered for college places or funding." You can apply again for autumn 2028 (Part 8).

Next. The scholarship's answer (Stage 10).

Stage 10. The scholarship's answer

Back to the short stages

What happens. From those offered a place by a December or January date, the Trust shortlists: "Candidates for the Scholarships and Leadership Programme are contacted by the Weidenfeld-Hoffmann Trust and virtual interviews for shortlisted candidates take place." "If you are shortlisted for the scholarship, you will be required to participate in an interview, which is likely to be held online in April 2027." The panel is "made up of University academics from partner Colleges and Departments, and WHT staff/advisors and alums."

The interview. The Trust's own advice: show "Clear motivation", "Social commitment" ("a strong social commitment to the development of their country, community or region"), "Proven leadership", and "Scholarship understanding" ("an understanding of Weidenfeld-Hoffmann Trust's commitment and activities"). "Interviews are conducted online. Reliable internet, a working camera on the computer, and a quiet and uninterrupted environment with good light ensure that the interview goes smoothly. We recommend you check all AV equipment and practise before the interview."

Do.

1. If the Trust writes to you, answer the same day and book the earliest time you can keep.
2. Prepare from your statement: each of your five answers, said aloud in two minutes, with one example each.
3. Read the Trust's leadership course pages before the interview, so you can say what you will give to it and take from it.
4. Test your camera, light and data the day before; have a second network ready.

The answer. "In May, successful applicants are informed by the University of Oxford." Oxford: "Decisions are expected to be made by the end of May 2027. If you have not heard from us by this time, then please assume that your application has been unsuccessful." The news comes by email: "Self-Service will not show any funding you have been awarded. This will be received by email to your registered email address."

You are done when you hold the award email.

If the answer is no. You still hold a place, and Clarendon or another Oxford award may still reach you through the same application. A place with no funding is one you must pay for; if you cannot, decline it in Self-Service and apply again for autumn 2028 (Part 8). Oxford gives no feedback.

Next. Your conditions (Stage 11).

Stage 11. Accept, and meet your conditions

Back to the short stages

Accept. In Self-Service, by the date on your certificate of offer. Offer holders also complete "the Criminal Convictions Declaration in Self-Service".

Your college. An offer from your department also brings a college place: Oxford says that with an offer you will receive one, at another college if your choice is full. For this scholarship, the college may change: "successful candidates will be transferred to a partner college in order to take up the scholarship." The Trust names its partner colleges as Keble, Lincoln, Mansfield, St Edmund Hall, Trinity, Worcester and St Antony's, "with St John's joining the WHT from 2026-27". "If you decline the college offer made to you, you are also declining the offer of the place on your course."

Your conditions, one by one.

1. English. Your test result at your course's level by the date in your offer, unless your department granted a waiver. If you narrowly miss (no more than 0.5 below overall and 1 below in any part, within two years), Oxford's six-week online pre-sessional English course "could be used to meet your English language condition".
2. Your final transcript. "you will normally be required to arrange for your institution or accredited e-transcript provider to submit an official transcript with your final results by 31 August (or earlier, depending on the department's requirements)." Ask your university to send it directly, or post the original to your department.
3. The money form. "If you receive an offer of a place, your college will ask you to complete a Financial Declaration form to meet your financial condition of admission." It asks you to show you can pay your living costs "at least at the lower amount" of Oxford's range (£1,475 a month, about ₦2.63 million, for 2027-28). What a scholar on a full award writes on it: we cannot tell yet. Keep your award email and letter: "Your scholarship award letter contains detailed information about your scholarship, and contact details for colleagues in Student Fees and Funding who can advise on queries."
4. The leadership course. It is written into your scholarship offer letter, which "successful applicants receive in August". Accept it as part of the award.
5. A passport. Once you hold an offer and need a visa, "contact Graduate Admissions with the relevant details (ie passport number, country of issue, issue and expiry date) once you have a valid passport".

You are done when Self-Service shows your conditions met and you get Oxford's email about enrolling: "Once you've fulfilled all your offer conditions and confirmed that you intend to take up your place, you will receive information by email about enrolling".

If it goes wrong. Your IELTS score falls short: book again at once, early enough for the result to reach Oxford by your offer's date. Your transcript has not gone by mid-August: call your university's records office and ask for the e-transcript to be sent directly.

Next. Your CAS and visa (Stage 12).

Stage 12. Your CAS and your UK student visa

Back to the short stages

Why. To study in the UK for a year you need a Student visa, decided by UK Visas and Immigration. To apply you need the reference number Oxford sends for your visa (its official name is the Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies, CAS), which comes once Oxford has offered you a place and your offer is unconditional (gov.uk: "You must have an unconditional offer of a place on a course with a licensed student sponsor."). When Oxford sends CAS numbers to offer holders: we cannot tell yet.

Your money for the visa. The UK asks a student to show her living money, unless "an official financial sponsorship" (for example "from a national government or university") pays for her. A university scholarship counts: "You need the reference number sent by your education provider. This is shown on your Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS). If your financial sponsorship is not recorded on your CAS, you also need to show a letter of confirmation from the financial sponsor." The letter must show the date, the sponsor's name and contact details, how long the sponsorship lasts, and the amount or "confirmation they will pay all your fees and living costs". When your CAS comes, look at its money lines; if the scholarship is not on it, ask the contacts in your award letter for the sponsor's letter before you apply.

Do.

1. The tuberculosis (TB) test. Nigeria is on the UK's list, so you need a TB certificate from a clinic the UK approves. The International Organization for Migration's health assessment centres (IOM) in Abuja, Benin City and Lagos (Ikeja) charge 94 US dollars (about ₦125,000), "made prior to the medical examination in Naira at the UN exchange rate"; Q-Life Family Clinic (Victoria Island), St. Nicholas Hospital (Lagos Island) and The Consultants Practice (Ikoyi) charge ₦120,000. "At busy times you may have to wait 10 days for an appointment, especially during the UK student visa peak season between June and September." The certificate is "valid for 6 months from the date of your x-ray". The list is on gov.uk's Tuberculosis testing in Nigeria, opens in a new tab page.
2. A security clearance, only if your offer names it. Some science and technology courses need a UK security clearance (the Academic Technology Approval Scheme, ATAS), and Nigeria is not exempt. It takes "at least 30 working days (6 weeks)", with "no 'fast track' service", and you must have it before you apply for the visa. Apply the week your offer names it.
3. Apply online on gov.uk's Student visa, opens in a new tab pages, from Nigeria, with your CAS number, no earlier than "6 months before you start your course" and within 6 months of getting the CAS. "Once you've started your application, you can save your form and complete it later."
4. Pay the visa fee and the health surcharge on the form. The visa: "£558 to apply for a Student visa from outside the UK" (about ₦995,000). The health surcharge, which gives you the UK's health service: "£776 per year for students". Your visa runs a month before your course and, after it, two months for a course under 12 months or four months for a course of 12 months or more, and any part year over six months is charged as a full year. So a 9-month course pays £776 (about ₦1.38 million); a 12-month course pays one and a half years, £1,164 (about ₦2.08 million). Oxford: "this will be a 1.5 year health surcharge payment for a 12 month Master's". It is paid at once: "the Home Office does not offer any instalment options or annual payment option."
5. Proving who you are. "How you do this depends on where you're from and what type of passport you have", and "You'll be told what you need to do when you apply." It is one of two: the "UK Immigration: ID Check" app, or "have your fingerprints and photo (biometric information) taken at a visa application centre", taking your passport, which you collect the same day. "You must apply for your visa before you can make an appointment at a visa application centre." Plan on the centre until the form tells you. The centres in Nigeria and their extra fees: we cannot tell yet.
6. Wait for the decision. "You'll usually get a decision on your visa within: 3 weeks, if you're outside the UK". Priority costs £500 (about ₦892,000) and super priority £1,000 (about ₦1.78 million) more, where offered: "You will be told when you apply if a priority service is available."
7. Your eVisa. "You'll get an eVisa (a digital record of your identity and immigration status)." You set up a free UKVI account to see it, and "You can travel with your eVisa after you add your passport or travel document details."

Rekoja's desk. The application above is yours to do, and every step is on gov.uk. If you want help with the visa file and its documents, Rekoja's desk can prepare them with you while you are in Nigeria, paid in naira, with official fees passed through at cost. The desk never touches your Oxford application or the scholarship, and nobody is charged for help with those.

You are done when your eVisa shows your Student visa and its start date.

If it goes wrong. Refused: read the decision letter, tell Oxford at once, and ask whether it will give you a new CAS for a fresh application. Your visa comes less than a month before your course: it then starts "7 days before the intended date of travel", so you can still fly in time.

Next. Travel (Stage 13).

Stage 13. Travel, and your first weeks in Oxford

Back to the short stages

When you can fly. "You can arrive before your course starts. This can be either: up to 1 week before, if your course lasts 6 months or less; up to 1 month before, if your course lasts more than 6 months". And "You must not travel to the UK before the start date given on your visa, no matter when your course starts." Your passport "should be valid for the whole of your stay."

The leadership course comes first. "Shortly before the start of the academic year, the Weidenfeld-Hoffmann Scholars come together as a cohort in Oxford for an intensive few days as an Introduction to the Leadership Programme. This is a compulsory part of the Scholarship award and accommodation/expenses should be covered by the stipend (living allowance)." When the grant is first paid: we cannot tell yet, so bring money of your own for these days. Its date comes with your award; book your flight to arrive before it.

Your flight. No award page lists it. Its price: no set price; buy it yourself once your visa is granted.

Where you live. Oxford does not promise its graduate students a room. Try your college first, then University housing, then the college accommodation service, then a private room. Oxford estimates rent at £880 to £1,025 a month (about ₦1.57 million to ₦1.83 million) for 2027-28. A private landlord may ask "an amount up to 5 weeks' rent" as deposit and someone in the UK who will pay the rent if you do not. Never pay for a room you have not seen through a source your college names.

Your first weeks.

1. The leadership course's introduction.
2. Enrolment: Oxford emails you about it once your conditions are met.
3. "Most of our graduate courses begin in Michaelmas term (October)." "Visa presentations are also held at the start of term."
4. You do not register with the police: "The police registration scheme ended on 4 August 2022."
5. Keep some money of your own for the first weeks: Oxford's living-cost range for 2027-28 is £1,475 to £2,175 a month (about ₦2.63 million to ₦3.88 million). When your grant's first payment comes: we cannot tell yet.

You are done when you have attended the introduction, enrolled, and your course has begun in Oxford. You have arrived.

Stage 14. The year, and after it

Back to the short stages

The leadership course. About 200 hours across the year, "from a date in mid-September to early July": the philosophy seminar each term, the Enterprise Challenge and its pitch, the communication training. The Trust's team supports scholars "on a range of issues, academic and pastoral".

Work. A full-time student at degree level may work "20 hours per week during term-time (full- time employment permitted outside of term-time)", not self-employed and not "engage in business activity".

After the course. The scholarship is for people who mean to go home: "The Weidenfeld-Hoffmann Trust supports those individuals who intend to return to their home country or region and to work to make a difference in their chosen field." Your answer to question 5 of the statement is the plan you follow.

Part 4. What can stop you

Your deadlines

What stops people, and what you do

• Working to "January". Six courses close in December. Read your course's own date (the table at the top).
• No statement uploaded, or a Word file. Upload the PDF in its space with each course application.
• The scholarship not selected on the Funding tab. Select it before you submit.
• A grade below the course's line. Choose a course whose line you meet, before you write a word.
• A referee who never writes. Oxford emails once and never reminds. You remind, and you replace a silent one in time.
• A family member or friend as referee. "never acceptable".
• A slow transcript. Request it this week; portal screenshots with the four things count.
• An English test left to the summer. Book it as soon as you choose your course if your degree finished before 2025.
• A place from the March round or a waiting list. It comes without this scholarship.
• Paying someone. No agent, no consultant. Oxford has no agents and you complete the application yourself.
• A statement written the night before, or by AI. Give it a week, written by you.
• No money for the visa. The visa fee, the health surcharge, the TB test and your flight are yours (Part 7); start saving the month you submit.

If this is not for you

• You plan to stay in the UK after the course: the scholarship asks that you mean to return.
• You want a doctorate: not this scholarship ("The Scholarships do not support applications for Doctorates (DPhil)").
• Your degree is below the grade of every course on the list: other funded master's on Rekoja ask different grades: tell us about yourself, opens in a new tab and see the ones that fit.

Part 5. If you already did some of this

• You have chosen your course: open your application tonight (Stage 3).
• Your application is open: register your three referees today (Stage 5).
• Your course's documents are written: fill and upload the scholarship's statement (Stage 7).
• You submitted without the scholarship ticked or the statement uploaded: Oxford says "You will not be able to upload revised versions once your application is ready for assessment", so act the same day. Before your course's date, write to the scholarship's contact, info@whtrust.org, with your name, your course and your application number. Do not send your statement or your application to the Trust: "Please do not send your application to the Weidenfeld-Hoffmann Trust." After your course's date the scholarships part is gone.
• You hold an offer: start your conditions (Stage 11) and wait for the Trust (Stage 10).
• You hold the scholarship: accept, meet your conditions (Stage 11), then your CAS and visa (Stage 12).

Part 6. The time, stage by stage

• Stage 1, check that you fit: one evening.
• Stage 2, choose your course: an evening or two.
• Stage 3, open your application: one evening.
• Stage 4, your transcript and English: days to weeks for a transcript; an IELTS date can take months.
• Stage 5, your referees: ask this week; two letters in by your date.
• Stage 6, your course's documents: one to two weeks of evenings.
• Stage 7, the scholarship's statement: a week of evenings.
• Stage 8, pay and submit: one evening, two weeks before your date.
• Stage 9, the department's answer: usually 8 to 10 weeks after your date.
• Stage 10, the scholarship's answer: interviews likely in April 2027, decisions by the end of May 2027.
• Stage 11, your conditions: from your offer to the dates in it, the final transcript by 31 August 2027.
• Stage 12, CAS and visa: the visa usually within 3 weeks; ATAS, if named, at least 6 weeks before it.
• Stage 13, travel and arrival: September 2027, before the introduction; term from October 2027.
• Stage 14, the year: the leadership course to early July 2028; a 12-month course to about the end of September 2028.

Part 7. The money, all of it

What you pay yourself, from tonight to your flight, for one course: £75 (about ₦134,000) to apply; ₦299,000 for IELTS, which this guide asks you to plan on (Stage 4); then, after an award, about ₦125,000 for the TB test and £1,334 (about ₦2.38 million) for the visa and surcharge on a 9-month course, or £1,722 (about ₦3.07 million) on a 12-month course; your passport if you have none; and your flight. Line this money up from the month you submit: every cost above falls before you leave Nigeria, and when the grant is first paid: we cannot tell yet.

For scale, Oxford estimates a single student needs £1,475 to £2,175 a month (about ₦2.63 million to ₦3.88 million) to live in Oxford in 2027-28.

Part 8. If the window has closed: the closed plan

The window for autumn 2027 closes with the last course dates, 26 and 27 January 2027. After your course's date you cannot be considered for this scholarship on that course this year. Oxford: "If your application is unsuccessful in the current admissions cycle, you are welcome to apply again to the same course in the next admissions cycle (for study in 2028-29). The application form will be available from September 2027." The Trust's yearly cycle: "September": "Applications are open for postgraduate entry to the University of Oxford and for the Weidenfeld-Hoffmann Scholarships."

What you do now, so that next September you apply in one evening:

Stage C1. Check your fit for the next window

Back to the short stages

Read Part 1 again against your result and transcript. Write down your class, your subject, and the course you aim for.

Stage C2. Request your transcript and start your passport now

Back to the short stages

Your transcript (Stage 4) and your international passport.

Stage C3. Settle your English

Back to the short stages

If your degree finished before 2026, the waiver by degree will not reach you for a course starting in autumn 2028: sit IELTS Academic once you are ready, at your course's level; a result counts for two years before your course's start.

Stage C4. Choose your course and read its page

Back to the short stages

Read the course page now (Stage 2); when it reopens in September 2027, check its date again.

Stage C5. Line up your three referees

Back to the short stages

Tell two lecturers and one boss now that you will ask them next autumn.

Stage C6. Draft your five answers, and do something worth writing

Back to the short stages

Draft the statement's five answers (Stage 7) now, yourself. Use the year: lead something at work or in your community that you can describe with dates and numbers, on the Nigerian problem you named in question 4.

Stage C7. Watch the window

Back to the short stages

Open the scholarship's page on Oxford's site in September 2027 for the 2028/29 statement form and the course list.