The Jardine Scholarship is a full scholarship, primarily for undergraduates, offered by Jardines for study at the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. It was established in 1982 to commemorate the company’s 150th anniversary and was founded with the objective of developing future leaders, who would give back to the societies in which Jardine Matheson operates. By 2018, 293 Jardine Scholarships had been awarded.
The scholarship is available for study in only four colleges in the University of Oxford and four in the University of Cambridge, with some exceptions. These are Exeter College, Oxford, Oriel College, Oxford, The Queen’s College, Oxford, Trinity College, Oxford, Trinity College, Cambridge, Magdalene College, Cambridge, Peterhouse, Cambridge and Downing College, Cambridge.
It is limited also to the countries in which Jardine Matheson has a significant presence; these include Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, and Taiwan.
The application process for Jardine Scholarship
The application process involves both interviews and tests. There are typically two rounds of interviews and two essays, the latter on the applicant’s career aspirations and on a separately assigned topic. The final interview is with the Scholarship Committee, typically a panel of eight or more experts. Former chairmen of the Scholarship Committee include Duncan Robinson, Sir Ivor Roberts and Geoffrey Grimmett.
The Jardine Foundation specifies four standards against which applicants are to be judged:
“personal qualities and character with particular regard to the extent to which the applicant has demonstrated exceptional qualities of leadership and fellowship”;
“achievements in non-curricular activities, including sports”;
“community involvement and activities”; and
“other attributes which, in the opinion of the Scholarship Committee, indicate that the applicant is likely to become an outstanding citizen with a high commitment to the performance of public duties and/or community involvement.”
