China Oxford Scholarship Fund

This scholarship is available for applicants who are nationals of the People's Republic of China and ordinarily resident in the People's Republic of China, Hong Kong, or Macau, and who are applying to any full-time Master's or DPhil course at Oxford. Continuing Oxford students may also be considered, but preference is given to students who will be starting their first year of graduate studies at Oxford and those applying for this scholarship for the first time.

The application process for China Oxford Scholarship Fund (COSF) awards is completely separate from that of the University of Oxford and you should apply directly to COSF. Full details of how to apply are available on the China Oxford Scholarship Fund website, where detailed information on the fund will be available in December 2025. The opening date for applications is 1st January 2026, and the closing date is expected to be mid-April 2026. We advise that you check the COSF website for exact dates.

Selection

Short-listed applicants will normally be notified in May and will be invited to interview with our Awards Panel in Shanghai, Beijing, Hong Kong or Oxford. Interviews take place from May to July depending on the location.

Successful candidates will be notified in August. Arrangements will be made in September for their scholarship cheques to be held at their college at the University of Oxford. The China Oxford Scholarship Fund will contact award recipients and provide details for the collection of the award payment.

About Us

The China Oxford Scholarship Fund (COSF) was established by a group of business people as a charitable organisation in 1992 to assist Hong Kong students with their postgraduate tuition at the University of Oxford. The Fund has grown substantially since then to include candidates from the People’s Republic of China and Macau. In 2004, COSF was established in the United Kingdom. Our first Patron was the late former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

COSF is a private educational initiative supported by donations, endowments and sponsors. It is run by volunteers in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing and Britain. The Fund’s administrative offices are in Hong Kong and the United Kingdom. Besides awarding scholarships, its target is to raise £25 million in funds to establish endowments that can provide full scholarships to Chinese postgraduate students. It also aims to develop its alumni network and fundraising programmes with its supporters and sponsors. Since our educational initiative began, we have awarded 286 scholarships with total funding worth nearly £1.5 million.

OXFORD UNIVERSITY

As the oldest university in the English-speaking world, Oxford is a unique and historic institution. There is no clear date of foundation, but teaching existed at Oxford in some form in 1096 and developed rapidly from 1167, when Henry II banned English students from attending the University of Paris.

Oxford has a distinctive collegiate structure. Students and academics benefit from belonging both to the University, a large, internationally-renowned institution, and to a college or hall, a small, interdisciplinary academic community.

The colleges and halls

There are 38 Oxford colleges, which are financially independent and self-governing, but relate to the central University in a kind of federal system. There are also six permanent private halls, which are similar to colleges except that they tend to be smaller, and were founded by particular Christian denominations. The colleges and halls are close academic communities, which bring together students and researchers from different disciplines, cultures and countries. This helps to foster the outstanding research achievement that has made Oxford a leader in so many fields.

The colleges and the University work together to organise teaching and research, and many staff at Oxford will hold both a college and a University post.

If you are interested in undergraduate study at Oxford, please consult our information on colleges for prospective undergraduates.

Did you know?

• Oxford was ranked first in the world in the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings for 2017 and 2018.
• There are nearly 24,000 students at Oxford, including 11,747 undergraduates and 11,687 postgraduates.
• Oxford is very competitive: nearly 20,000 people applied for around 3,200 undergraduate places for entry in 2017. That means that Oxford receives, on average, more than 6 applications for each available place.
• The majority of Oxford’s UK undergraduates come from state schools. The latest figures show that, of places offered to UK applicants, over 58% of undergraduate places went to students from the state sector.
• Oxford offers more than 350 different graduate degree programmes.
• International students make up almost 43% of our total student body - over 10,000 students. Students come to Oxford from more than 150 countries and territories. 
• According to the 2014 Research Excellence Framework, the official UK-wide assessment of all university research, Oxford has the largest volume of world-leading research in the country.
• The University, including the colleges and Oxford University Press, is the largest employer in Oxfordshire, supporting around more than 30,000 jobs in the county and injecting more than £2.3bn annually into the regional economy.