Update on the Bishops Rhodes Scholarship

The Rhodes Scholarship, one of the most prestigious scholarships worldwide, was started in the early 1900s by Cecil John Rhodes with a view to sending scholars to study at Oxford University. Before formally establishing the scholarships, Rhodes tested his ideas by funding scholarships for two boys from Bishops in 1901.

The initial scholarships were for (what was then called) Rhodesia, which was awarded two scholarships; the four schools (Bishops, St Andrew’s, SACS and Paul Roos), which were each awarded one scholarship each; and (what was then called) Natal, which was awarded one scholarship.  (There were also scholarships for Germany, which subsequently lost them through an Act of Parliament in the First World War.) Sometime thereafter, scholarships were awarded to the remaining three provinces of South Africa (Transvaal, Orange Free State and the Cape Province), with those provincial scholarships, in turn, later being replaced by a SA-at-Large pool of scholarships. The scholarships were awarded on an annual basis by selection committees in each region (or country) and at each named school. The Rhodes Scholarship has also over time been extended to various other countries around the world, with eligibility often based on applicants coming from a discrete territory (i.e., a province or a state).

Since the early 1970s, there have been concerns from the Rhodes community and the Rhodes Trust about discrimination created by the school scholarships.

The Bishops community is dedicated to contributing actively to a more just society and it is within our core values to avoid any discrimination.

Thus, starting 33 years ago, to address specific concerns around gender discrimination, the four schools partnered with various other schools to broaden access to the scholarships to girls/women. In the case of Bishops, partnerships have been set up with St Cyprian’s, Herschel, St George’s and LEAP I in Langa.

In early 2023, Bishops and the other three schools received a formal communication and legal opinions from the Rhodes Trust indicating that it intended to abolish the schools’ Rhodes Scholarships because of indirect racial discrimination, a complex equality law concept, which in this case is informed by the UK Equality Act. In essence the Rhodes Trust alleges that the schools’ applicant pools and Rhodes Scholarship winners have been significantly less racially diverse than those for South Africa at Large.

In the ensuing months, it became clear that the schools needed expert legal advice in the UK and engaged Bates Wells, a law firm which specialises in such matters, together with two UK Counsel, Robert Pearce KC for charity and trust law aspects, and Catherine Casserley for equality law aspects.

The four schools have acted in unison and incurred very substantial UK legal costs which have been shared equally. Bishops has been well represented in all the important interactions.

During 2023 and early 2024 there were a number of meetings as well as detailed legal exchanges between the Rhodes Trust and the schools.

In May 2024, the Rhodes Trust applied to the Charity Commission under Section 280A of the UK Charities Act to approve a change to the Rhodes Trust Scholarship Fund which would replace the schools’ Rhodes Scholarships with an equivalent number of scholarships for South Africa at Large. The basis for the application was that the schools’ Rhodes Scholarships were unlawful because of indirect racial discrimination.

At the same time, the Rhodes Trust suspended the schools’ Rhodes Scholarships on the grounds of unlawfulness.

The schools then made several detailed submissions and counter-submissions to the Charity Commission. Eventually, in March 2025, the Charity Commission withheld its consent to the Rhodes Trust’s request on the basis that it does not have jurisdiction to determine 2 key aspects, one of which was the question of unlawful indirect discrimination as it relates to the schools’ Rhodes Scholarships, and that these aspects should first be determined by the courts. The Charity Commission had effectively agreed with the schools’ submissions.

Subsequently the Rhodes Trust requested a Decision Review which was unsuccessful.

The Rhodes Trust has since notified the Charity Commission that it will be seeking a Judicial Review to compel the Charity Commission to approve the replacement of the schools’ Rhodes Scholarships with South Africa at Large Scholarships (i.e. to make a decision without the courts first determining the 2 key aspects).

Citing that a Judicial Review will take a considerable period of time and be expensive, the Rhodes Trust proposed that a physical meeting between the parties should be held under the auspices of a mediator. This meeting occurred from 28 to 30 May in Cape Town. The parties agreed that they should together explore ways in which the applicant pools for the Schools Scholarships could be broadened in a manner which would be acceptable to the schools whilst also removing any grounds for challenge of unlawfulness. Both parties confirmed that the legal process will not be suspended and will continue in parallel.

The Bishops Council and Executive have received numerous suggestions from stakeholders on how best to move forward and we appreciate this input. To enable us to make informed decisions we would now like to invite our community to provide any further comment or input on this matter by Monday 30 June 2025 by submitting an email to the following address with the subject line “Comment on Rhodes Scholarship”:

principal@bishops.org.za

Kind regards,

C Haw                                              

Chair of Council.                                              

A Reeler

Principal.