Rhodes Trust plans to increase scholarships for Indian students studying at Oxford by 2028

The priority now is to try to get some additional scholarships for places where the number of scholars per head of population could be higher and India is one of those places, according to Sir Richard Trainor, the trust's CEO

New Delhi: The Rhodes Scholarship Trust, which offers the prestigious scholarship for studying at University of Oxford, is aiming to increase number of scholarships for Indians from 2028 to align with the country’s population strength, according to Sir Richard Trainor, the trust’s CEO.

Trainor, who was in India ahead of the announcement of applications for 2026 academic session, said that presently six scholarships are offered to Indian candidates annually.

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“The priority now is to try to get some additional scholarships for places where the number of scholars per head of population could be higher and India is one of those places. So, we have six scholarships a year for India, which is good, but there are a billion and a half people in this country, as you know, so there should be more scholarships,” Trainor, who is also the interim warden of the Rhodes House, said.

“We are trying to raise money for additional scholarships, because the trust needs to have that money in the endowment in order to pay the fees to the University of Oxford and to pay the living expenses of the scholars,” he said.

The other countries on radar for increasing the number of scholarships are China and Africa. At present four scholarships are offered to candidates from China and 21 from Africa.

“We would like to have some additional scholars in each of these three areas by the time of the 125th anniversary of the scholarship scheme, which is 2028. We are going to have a big push on fund raising between now and the 125th anniversary,” he said.

Trainor, who himself was a Rhodes Scholar back in 1970, says people often talk about the Rhodes Scholarship transforming their lives. “…it also transformed mine. I had barely been out of the United States at the time that I took up the scholarship and, you know, it broadened my view of the world and led to my becoming a historian of another country and then making my career in another country and so on.

“So, and then having this series of academic leadership jobs which have been very international in scope. So….Rhodes Scholarships was totally beyond my background and aspirations at that stage,” he said.

The Rhodes Scholarship is given to outstanding students to undertake two to three years of study, depending on the academic curriculum taken, at the University of Oxford. Students aged 18–23 (up to 27 in particular circumstances) are eligible to apply.

The Rhodes Scholarship is among the world’s pre-eminent and oldest graduate fellowships, based at the University of Oxford since 1903. Administered by the Rhodes Trust in Oxford, the programme awards 106 fully funded scholarships to students from anywhere in the world with proven academic excellence who also show exceptional character, leadership, achievement in extra-curricular activities and a commitment to solving humanity’s challenges.

The applications for the 2026 session began on June 3 and are open till July 23. Noted Rhodes Scholar from India include economist Montek Singh Ahluwalia, writer Girish Karnard, environmental law expert Lavanya Rajamani, political commentator and psephologist Mahesh Rangarajan and Olympian Ranjit Bhatia among others. PTI