The Skoll Scholarship is a competitive scholarship for incoming MBA students to Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, who pursue entrepreneurial solutions for urgent social and environmental challenges. The Scholarship covers the full course fees for the MBA programme, as well as partial living expenses.
The Skoll Scholarship provides funding for entrepreneurs who have set up or have been working in entrepreneurial initiatives with a social purpose or who have pursued an impact career, and who wish to improve their knowledge of market-oriented practices so they can be more effective in their subsequent social change pursuits.
In addition to financial support, the Scholarship provides access to the Skoll Scholar community, a group of leaders who are positively impacting the world through innovation and systems change, as well as exclusive opportunities to meet with world-renowned entrepreneurs, thought leaders, and investors.
The Scholarship is given in recognition that the MBA may represent a significant financial burden, particularly for those who have chosen to work in the social impact/innovation space rather than the purely commercial or public sectors.
The University of Oxford MBA
Oxford University has a rich tradition of developing leaders. The MBA programme builds on this legacy, providing you with a solid foundation in core business principles while developing a broadened mindset and understanding of the role of business in society.
Yu will be challenged to delve deep into the areas that interest you most and gain the strategic skills and insight to lead a successful, purposeful career.
Who is eligible to apply?
The following are the requirements for The Skoll Scholarship:
- Entrepreneurial action
- You have identified opportunities and taken action in order to make positive social impact
- You have spent preferably at least 3 years driving change through entrepreneurial approaches. For example, you could have:
- Started or grown a social venture
- OR created and led the expansion of a social impact initiative within an organisation
- OR been tackling a specific social/environmental issue, through a core thread that unites your work
- Creating Impact with a focus on systems change
- You can demonstrate the outcomes and impact of your entrepreneurial action
- Your impact addresses unjust systems and practises in your area of work
- Personal qualities of a social entrepreneur
- You are a force for positive change
- You are single-minded and persistent, with a willingness to fail and start again
- You have bias toward action
- You have a tendency to explore your environment for opportunities and resources
- You have a willingness to take personal, and sometimes financial, risks
- You develop networks and leverage members to pursue mutual goals
- You have apprenticed with the problem* or experienced the problem you are trying to solve
- The Oxford MBA is critical to your career trajectory
- You can demonstrate why business education is essential in helping to develop your work/impact at this stage
- Financial need
- You are in a position where the cost of the programme is a significant financial burden
- You can demonstrate the need for the Scholarship (for example, due to previous work experiences or personal circumstances)
How to apply for the Skoll Scholarship
To apply for the Skoll Scholarship follow these steps:
- Connect with us to register your interest in the Scholarship and make sure you’re kept up to date with announcements about upcoming deadlines.
- Apply for the Oxford MBA programme directly to Saïd Business School. You need to do this during stages 1 or 2 of the MBA admissions process.
- As part of your MBA application, upload your answers to the Skoll Scholarship essay questions and submit your MBA application! You’ll find the Scholarship essay questions under the “Funding” section of the MBA application. We would advise that you allow yourself about 1-weeks’ time to answer the Skoll Scholarship essay questions.
- The MBA Admissions Team will then assess your application and determine if you are accepted onto the MBA programme or not.
- If you receive confirmation that you have been accepted into the MBA programme, your application will automatically go forward to the Skoll Scholarship Selection Committee.
- Applications for the Scholarship are reviewed after each MBA admissions stage.
- You will receive an update on the status of your Scholarship application and whether your application is going forward to final shortlisting shortly after MBA admission decisions have been made from each stage.
- If you receive confirmation that your Scholarship application is going forward to final shortlisting, keep an eye out for an email from the Skoll Centre with a link to the Logistics and Reference Form.
- Once you have received the email, complete the Logistics and Reference Form. This consists of a series of short questions to confirm your contact details (in case you are invited to interview), how you heard about the Scholarship and your referees’ contact details. Please note, that your referees will not be contacted unless you get to the final stages of the selection process.
For further questions about the application process, please refer to the skoll scholarship FAQs or contact skollscholarship@sbs.ox.ac.uk
