Candidates, whether sons of officers or not, were prepared for commissions in the military service, for any profession or business.

Brigade Sergeant-Major Royal Horse Artillery William H. Garlick, for example, was Riding Master at Oxford Military College c.

William John Locke, the novelist, was a master at the Oxford Military College at Temple Cowley in 1889 and 1890.

The college was extended with the addition of an east wing designed by Sir Thomas Graham Jackson.

To qualify for entry via scholarship, the headmaster of the College set a paper, which was decided by the examiners for general proficiency or excellence in one or more subjects.

The scholarships were awarded to boys of good character of 14–16 years of age, whose parents or guardians lived in the Colonies.

Annual prizes were awarded for French, dictation, mathematics, religious instruction (given by Bishop of Oxford John Fielder Mackarness); history (given by Sir Edmund Lechmere, 3rd Baronet M.P.