Black Academic Futures Scholarships — Master's Scholarship

The University of Oxford runs the Black Academic Futures Scholarships to fund UK Black and Mixed Black students through graduate study at Oxford. Awards are open in every subject, for taught and research master’s courses and DPhils, full-time or part-time.

The scheme is one strand of Oxford’s Academic Futures programme, which also has separate streams for care-experienced and refugee students. There is no scholarship form: eligible course applicants are considered automatically.

Benefits & funding

Full course fees, paid for the whole period of fee liability on your course.
A grant for living costs over the same period.
Some awards can only be held at particular colleges, so a successful applicant may be moved to one of them.

Eligibility

Of Black or Mixed Black ethnicity.
Ordinarily resident in the UK, and for the three years before the course start date; residence mainly for full-time education does not count, while time abroad for temporary employment is an allowed exception.
Holding an offer for a full-time or part-time master’s or DPhil course at Oxford, in any subject.
Course application submitted by that course’s November, December or January deadline, with the ethnicity question completed.

Can you apply?

Here's who can apply

Decoded from the official rules. A free account checks them against your passport, degree and age in seconds.

Residence required
UK
Education required
Bachelor · Master

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Application process

1
Pick your Oxford master’s or DPhil course and check its own deadline on the course page.
2
Submit the full graduate application by that November, December or January deadline, answering the ethnicity question.
3
Send nothing extra: your department assesses the course application and decides on an offer.
4
Eligible offer holders go into a cross-divisional selection based on academic merit and potential; successful candidates are told by email.

Program timeline

September 2026
Oxford opens graduate applications for 2027–28 entry.
Course application deadline, which is also the scholarship route.
November, December or January (varies by course)
After the deadline
Department assesses the application and makes course offers.
The majority of scholarship offers are sent by email.
By mid-June