Pershing Square Scholarship 2027: Fully Funded Oxford

Oxford Pershing Square Graduate Scholarship 2027 in the UK: Fully Funded Master's + MBA at the University of Oxford — Deadline 6 January 2027

Here is one of the most generous graduate awards in the world: the Oxford-Pershing Square Graduate Scholarship funds two full degrees at the University of Oxford — a one-year specialist Master's degree followed by the one-year Oxford MBA at Saïd Business School — with full course fees for both years plus a living-cost grant of at least £21,805 for each year of study. Only five scholarships are awarded each year, so this is a fiercely competitive award, but if you are an outstanding graduate with a serious plan to tackle a world-scale social challenge, it is one of the very few scholarships that pays for everything. The date that matters is Wednesday 6 January 2027, when your Oxford 1+1 MBA application must be in.

Key deadline: apply for the Oxford 1+1 MBA by 6 January 2027, and for your chosen Master's programme by its own deadline in December 2026 or January 2027. There is no separate scholarship application — your 1+1 MBA application, including a 500-word scholarship essay, is how you are considered.

What the scholarship offers

The Oxford-Pershing Square Graduate Scholarships are funded by the Pershing Square Foundation in partnership with the University of Oxford, and they support the Oxford 1+1 MBA — a two-year route in which you spend your first year on a one-year Master's degree in a partnering Oxford department, then your second year on the MBA at Saïd Business School. Each award covers:

• Full course fees for both degrees — the fees for your Master's programme in year one and the Oxford MBA in year two are paid in full
• A living-cost grant of at least £21,805 for each year of study — at least £43,610 across the two years at the currently published rate, to cover accommodation, food and personal expenses
• Five awards a year — up to five exceptional scholars are selected annually for the 1+1 MBA intake
• A scholar community and on-course programme — mentorship from the Pershing Square Foundation community and Oxford Saïd, access to prestigious conferences and global forums, termly events hosted by the MBA Director, and an invitation to the Foundation's New York "trek" of meetings and workshops with leading innovators and change-makers
• Funding in perpetuity — the Pershing Square Foundation's gift of £7.8 million has endowed the scholarships permanently, with a further £5.2 million from the University under the Oxford Graduate Scholarship Matched Fund, taking total funding to £13 million

Who is eligible?

The scholarship is considered in order of priority, and the official page sets no nationality restriction — exceptional applicants from any country, including Nigeria, can apply. The priority order is:

• 1. New applicants to the Oxford 1+1 MBA programme — you must be admitted both to a 1+1 MBA partnering programme and to the MBA before being considered; applicants on a waiting list will not be considered
• 2. Applicants admitted to both a full-time one-year Master's course that is not currently on the official list of 1+1 MBA partnering programmes, and to the MBA (as a separate application)
• 3. Current Master's students who have been admitted to the MBA and were not considered for the scholarship in the previous year

Selection is based on a demanding set of criteria, and Oxford advises you to show them clearly in your 1+1 MBA application, your scholarship essay and your interview answers:

• A genuine intention to focus on addressing world-scale social challenges in your career, either in an existing organisation or by developing a new enterprise
• The ability to envision scalable and sustainable solutions to those challenges
• Leadership potential, demonstrated through experience and motivation
• Academic achievement, shown through degree results, GMAT or GRE score, previous university prizes and awards, and other academic achievements
• Strong personal character, integrity and commitment
• An articulated vision of how the Oxford 1+1 MBA will allow you to fulfil your objectives

How to apply

1. Choose a partnering Master's programme — pick one of the Oxford 1+1 MBA partnering programmes (spanning subjects such as public policy, computer science, education, law, health, environment and area studies) and check its own application deadline on the relevant course page of Oxford's Graduate Admissions website; deadlines fall in December 2026 or January 2027 depending on the programme.
2. Apply separately to both courses — submit a complete application for your chosen Master's programme through Oxford's graduate admissions system, and a separate complete application for the Oxford MBA, selecting the 1+1 option. You must receive full offers for both before you can be considered for the scholarship.
3. Upload the scholarship essay in the "Funding" section of your 1+1 MBA application — answer the following question in no more than 500 words: "How do you intend to change the world and what does this tell us about you as a person?" This essay is the heart of your scholarship case, so use it to show the challenge you want to solve, how you would solve it at scale, and what in your life drives you.
4. Submit the 1+1 MBA application by 6 January 2027. Do not wait for the later March 2027 MBA admissions round — that round is too late for Pershing Square consideration.
5. Prepare for shortlisting and interview — shortlisting is planned for early April 2027, with candidates invited to interview in late April or early May 2027.

Key dates for the 2027 intake

• December 2026 or January 2027: Your chosen Master's programme application deadline (check the specific course page on Oxford's Graduate Admissions website — each partnering programme sets its own date)
• 6 January 2027: Oxford 1+1 MBA application deadline, including the scholarship essay — the main Pershing Square deadline
• Early April 2027: Shortlisting of scholarship candidates
• Late April or early May 2027: Interviews for shortlisted candidates
• September 2027: Studies begin — Master's year first, then the MBA year at Saïd Business School

How this differs from Oxford's other big scholarships

Oxford runs several famous fully funded awards, and it is easy to confuse them. The Clarendon Scholarship is Oxford's main graduate scholarship, awarded automatically to applicants across all graduate courses with no separate application and no essay — but it funds a single degree, not two. The Reach Oxford Scholarship is for undergraduates from developing countries. The Pershing Square Scholarship is different from both: it is tied specifically to the 1+1 MBA, it funds two full degrees back to back, it requires the 500-word essay on changing the world, and it is awarded to just five people a year. If your ambition is to combine deep subject expertise with business training to build something that scales, this is the Oxford award built for you — but only if you apply to both courses by the January deadlines.

Why this one is worth noting

Five awards a year, two fully funded Oxford degrees, and a living grant on top — the numbers alone explain why the Pershing Square Scholarship is one of the most sought-after graduate awards in the UK. The trade-off is the bar: Oxford is looking for people who can already point to leadership, academic strength and a credible plan for solving a large-scale problem, and who can make that case in 500 words. There is no minimum GMAT score published, no required undergraduate subject and no age limit, so the judgement is genuinely holistic. The practical trap to avoid is the double deadline: the Master's programme and the MBA are separate applications with separate deadlines, and missing either one ends your chances even if the other is in on time. Get both applications in — Master's by its December or January date, and the 1+1 MBA by 6 January 2027 — and the essay does the rest of the talking.

Official links

• University of Oxford, Saïd Business School — Oxford-Pershing Square Graduate Scholarships (official page)
• University of Oxford, Saïd Business School — Oxford 1+1 MBA (official programme page)
• University of Oxford — Graduate Admissions (official website, for partnering programme deadlines)

Details verified against the University of Oxford Saïd Business School's official Oxford-Pershing Square Graduate Scholarships page on 5 November 2026. Award values, deadlines and requirements can change, so always confirm them on the official pages before you apply.