Become a Fellow

Whether you are looking for your next challenge, or planning a wholesale career move, becoming an Oxford Policy Fellow gives you a unique opportunity to apply your legal knowledge within an international development context.

The Fellowship is the start of an exciting new chapter in your career. It opens the door to a career with a range of international agencies, NGOs, development consultancies and governmental organisations.

What is it like to be an Oxford Policy Fellow? Watch the video to see how Fellows describe their experience.

Entrance requirements

The recruitment is open for applicants of all nationalities who are qualified lawyers. We are looking for applicants with excellent academic qualifications and depending on the specific post, a law degree, an LLM, a Master’s in Law, a Master’s in Public Policy, or a related field will be required.

Applicants should have a number of years of relevant legal and/or policy work experience. Work or voluntary experience in low- and middle-income countries is preferred. Strong interpersonal skills and demonstrated interest in International Development is essential to become a Fellow.

Statistics from the 2019 recruitment:

  • The Fellowship received 171 applicants for ten posts with 86% of the applicants from the ‘global South’;
  • The Fellowship Programme Staff conducted 47 first round interviews and 26 panel interviews in Oxford, New Delhi, New York and Nairobi;
  • Governments selected ten Fellows: applicants come from Nigeria(2), Kenya (3), Malaysia, Australia, United States, Botswana, and India; seven are women and three are men.

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The Zanzibar Planning Commission is pleased to be one of the recipients of an Oxford Law & Policy Fellow and to be part of the 2015 pilot. So far, having a fellow with a legal background in the Planning Commission is very helpful as it is increasing our capacity and providing us with an international legal approach to the work we do. Zanzibar is undergoing a lot of change and development from a legal, social and economic perspective. We need all the help we can get now more than ever. We look forward to working with our current Fellow over the next 2 years and receiving more Fellows in the coming years.
Dr Rahma Mahfoudh, Zanzibar Planning Commission