Undertaking the DPhil can be a significant financial commitment; you will need to budget for the course fee and living expenses.

We are committed to ensuring that the financial burden of undertaking the DPhil does not discourage the brightest and best applicants from applying to our programmes. In the past few years, the majority of our DPhil students are studying with full scholarship support. The School works very hard with offer holders to secure appropriate funding, we also expect all applicants in need of financial assistance to start exploring all funding opportunities available to them as early as possible. You will find a range of funding opportunities below, but we encourage you to be creative in your search for funding.

Fees

There are two types of expense to budget for when calculating the cost of graduate study - the course fee and living costs.

Course fee

Annual fees for entry in 2025–26

Full-time study
Fee statusAnnual course fee
Home (UK, ROI, Channel Islands and Isle of Man)£27,600
Overseas (including EU)£27,600
Part-time study
Fee statusAnnual course fee
Home (UK, ROI, Channel Islands and Isle of Man)£13,800
Overseas (including EU)£13,800

Further details on the course fee can be found on the Graduate Admissions pages under 'Funding and Costs'. Course fees cover your teaching, and other academic services and facilities provided to support your studies. They do not cover your accommodation or other living costs (see living costs below). You may have seen separate figures in the past for tuition fees and college fees. We have now combined these into a single figure.

Living costs

The estimated living costs for a graduate student at Oxford can be found on the University living costs pages.

Funding

All applicants in need of financial aid should explore all funding opportunities available to them, including through their own governments, private sponsorship, and scholarship or bursary opportunities. You should investigate all possible funding routes available to you as early as possible. In fact, some scholarship schemes have deadlines before the DPhil application deadline, so make sure you check.

Funding from the University

Many of our students have been successful in receiving University scholarships such as Clarendon awards. You will automatically be considered for the majority of University scholarships for which you are eligible.

External funding

There are many different external scholarships or funding schemes available to students, with a diverse variety of eligibility requirements. We are pleased to say that a significant number of our students have been successful in applying for some form of external scholarship or financial award.

Below you will find a list of resources that will help you navigate your fundraising journey. In addition, the Blavatnik School blog features some posts and experiences that might help or inspire your search for the right financial support.

Scholarships

UNIVERSITY-WIDE SCHOLARSHIPS

There are over 1,000 full scholarships available through the University for graduate courses. For most of these, your application is automatically considered as soon as you submit your general course application online. That's part of the reason we strongly recommend that you submit your application early as possible, before the first deadline.

To search which scholarships you are eligible for, including those that require additional applications, please visit the University of Oxford's webpages for graduate students about fees, funding and scholarships.

BLAVATNIK SCHOOL OF GOVERNMENT FUNDING

Through the generous support of our funding partners the Blavatnik School of Government is sometimes able to offer limited scholarship support.

EXTERNAL FUNDING AND SCHOLARSHIP OPTIONS

There are many scholarships, bursaries and grants that might support your studies. These could be from a charity, individual sponsor, research council, employer, the European Union or other professional associations. Many external scholarships are only eligible to applicants of a doctorate degree, so start searching for funding opportunities as early as possible. The Alternative Guide to Postgraduate Funding gives advice about applying for funding from charities and trusts, provides a searchable database of external funders, and advises on how to make a strong application. You may also want to check the University of Oxford external scholarships webpage for links to external funders.

View details of the available scholarships you may be eligible for below:

  • Alfred Landecker Programme DPhil Scholarship
    Region/country: AfricaAsiaEuropeEurope (excluding UK)Latin America and the CaribbeanNorth AmericaOceaniaSouth America
    Scholarship source: Blavatnik School of Government

    The Blavatnik School of Government, together with Wolfson College, is pleased to announce a scholarship to work under the supervision of Professor Jonathan Wolff, Dr Maya Tudor, Professor Dapo Akande, Professor Chris Stone, Dr Thomas Simpson, and/or other Blavatnik School faculty members on the themes of democracy and minority rights.

    The scholarship covers full tuition fees and a stipend for living expenses for students of any nationality enrolled in the DPhil programme at the Blavatnik School. The scholarship is made possible through the Alfred Landecker Programme, which in turn is generously supported by the Alfred Landecker Foundation. The successful candidate will also benefit from membership of Wolfson College.

    Wolfson College is one of the University of Oxford’s largest graduate colleges and is truly unique in its academic scope and international reach. Founded in 1966 by the philosopher and historian of ideas, Sir Isaiah Berlin, Wolfson is committed to sharing knowledge, inspiring change, and continuing to explore the human condition. The College motto, ‘Humani nil alienum’ – “nothing to do with human beings is foreign to me” – expresses our ideal for intellectual curiosity in the betterment of the human condition.

    The project

    The Alfred Landecker Programme aims to advance the goals of the Alfred Landecker Foundation, by drawing on lessons from the Holocaust and the collapse of European civilisation in the 1930s, and applying them to leadership today.

    The overall aim of the programme is to draw upon cutting-edge research across disciplines to understand how the rights and interests of vulnerable people and groups are under threat through the overreach of authority and other threats to the rule of law, and to recommend and advocate for policies that strike the right balance between the protection of the most vulnerable and the celebration of distinct national cultures, in a way that benefits the integrity of democratic institutions. The Programme is mindful of the fate of Alfred Landecker himself, who like so many Jewish people, was murdered as a result of unchecked Nazi anti-Semitism.

    We are especially interested in supporting work that combines a deep theoretical engagement on the themes of the programme with a concern for public policy. We anticipate that public engagement will be a natural part of the programme of activity undertaken by the scholar.

    The candidate

    Applicants will be assessed through the regular DPhil application process of the Blavatnik School. Please make clear in your DPhil application that you wish to be considered for the Alfred Landecker Programme scholarship. We welcome outstanding applicants from any discipline that can support the aims of the project, and are prepared to consider applications from philosophy, political theory, political science, social science, law and other relevant disciplines. Students are ordinarily only accepted to the Blavatnik School DPhil programme if they already possess a research master’s degree or equivalent training. For any questions, please contact the admissions team. The deadline for applications is the early January University deadline.

  • Black Academic Futures Scholarship
    Region/country: United Kingdom (UK)Europe
    Scholarship source: University of Oxford

    • Amount: Full fees and a set amount to cover living expenses
    • Eligibility: These scholarships are available for applicants who are ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom, who are of Black or Mixed Black ethnicity and who hold an offer for either a taught or research postgraduate degree, starting in the 2025–26 academic year. This includes all full-time and part-time DPhil and master’s courses.
      These scholarships support students across the University and are open to all subject areas, with some funding dedicated to supporting students on specific courses.
    • Application process: To apply for the Black Academic Futures scholarships, all you have to do is submit your completed graduate course application, including ethnicity information, by either the December or January deadline (whichever is relevant for your course) and you will automatically be considered. You do not need to submit any additional documents and there is no separate scholarship application form for these awards.

    If you are eligible for these scholarships, you will be considered automatically regardless of which college (if any) you state as your preference on your graduate application form. However, some of these awards are only tenable at specific colleges and successful applicants will be transferred to the relevant college in order to take up the scholarship if applicable. Selection is expected to take place in May.

  • Blavatnik School of Government-Nuffield College Joint Graduate Scholarship in Public Policy
    Region/country: AfricaAsiaEuropeEurope (excluding UK)Latin America and the CaribbeanNorth AmericaOceaniaSouth America
    Scholarship source: Blavatnik School of Government

    The Blavatnik School of Government-Nuffield scholarship is designed to help the University and Nuffield College attract and recruit outstanding graduate students in Public Policy. All applicants for the Blavatnik School DPhil will automatically be considered for this scholarship. For more information please see the Nuffield College website.

    Please note that other scholarships linked with other colleges may also be available. For this reason, unless you already have funding secured, we recommend you submit an open college application.

  • Blavatnik School Scholarships
    Region/country: AsiaEuropeEurope (excluding UK)Latin America and the CaribbeanNorth AmericaOceaniaAfricaSouth America
    Scholarship source: Blavatnik School of Government

    • Amount: Variable; depending on need and available resources.
    • Eligibility: Any applicant with financial need
    • Application process: The Blavatnik School of Government Scholarship Questionnaire (which will be sent to everyone who receives an offer)
    • These scholarships collect the gifts generously made available by some of our donors who wish to remain anonymous. Please contact the Admissions team if you have any questions relating to the Blavatnik School of Government Scholarships process. Please also be aware that due to other scholarship deadlines, the Blavatnik School of Government Scholarships Committee may not be able to make some decisions until late June.
  • Care-Experienced Academic Futures Scholarship
    Region/country: United Kingdom (UK)Europe
    Scholarship source: University of Oxford

    The Care-Experienced Academic Futures Scholarships offer financial support to pursue graduate study at Oxford to students who have experienced being in care in the UK to pursue graduate study at Oxford.

    • Amount: These scholarships are open to applicants to all academic subjects and will provide funding packages to assist with course fees and living costs.
    • Eligibility: The Care-Experienced Academic Futures scholarships are open to applications from those who have been in care in the UK at some point in their life, and faced barriers to progressing their education. Applicants must hold an offer to commence a postgraduate degree, starting in the 2025–26 academic year.
      These scholarships support students across the University and are open to all subject areas. Available awards include the Oxford-Rees Graduate Scholarship, which supports Care-Experienced Social Sciences candidates.

    For further information on this scholarship visit the University’s Academic Futures webpage.

  • Clarendon Scholarship
    Region/country: AfricaAsiaEuropeEurope (excluding UK)Latin America and the CaribbeanNorth AmericaOceaniaSouth America
    Scholarship source: University of Oxford

  • Jardine Scholarship
    Region/country: CambodiaChinaHong KongIndonesiaMalaysiaMyanmarPhilippinesSingaporeTaiwanThailandVietnamAsia
    Scholarship source: University of Oxford

    • Amount: Full fees and a set amount to cover living expenses
    • Eligibility: Residents of countries identified by the Jardine Matheson Group, and applicants to specific Oxford colleges
    • Application process: You can apply directly to the Foundation – applicants will also be considered through a separate strand automatically if applying to the MPP.
    • Up to five full scholarships are available for applicants who are ordinarily resident in Cambodia, mainland China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand or Vietnam. The scholarships have been made possible through the support of the Jardine Foundation, an educational trust supporting scholars who have the potential to become outstanding citizens with a high commitment to the community.
    • The scholarship is only tenable at one of the Foundation’s four link colleges: Exeter College, Oriel College, The Queen’s College and Trinity College. All eligible applicants will be considered for this scholarship, regardless of which college (if any) you state as your preference on the graduate application form. However, successful applicants will be transferred to one of the link colleges in order to take up the scholarship.
    • Read about Weijie Tan's experience on the MPP as a Jardine Scholar.
  • National governments
    Region/country: AfricaAsiaEurope (excluding UK)Latin America and the CaribbeanNorth AmericaOceaniaSouth America
    Scholarship source: External

    Many national governments provide funds for their students to study overseas in the interest of fostering the skills and knowledge of their citizens.

    Many of our students have successfully been awarded funding to complete their studies. For example, previous students have been successful in securing scholarship support from the governments of Chile (through the BECAS Chile), India, Indonesia, Singapore, Mexico (through CONACyT), and Qatar.

  • Open Society Foundations
    Scholarship source: External

    The Open Society Foundations award grants, scholarships, and fellowships throughout the year.

  • Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies Scholarships
    Region/country: United Kingdom (UK)AfghanistanAlbaniaAlgeriaAzerbaijanBahrainBangladeshBeninBruneiBurkina FasoCameroonChadComorosCote d'IvoireDjiboutiEgyptGabonGambiaGuineaGuyanaIndiaIndonesiaIranIraqJordanKazakhstanKuwaitKyrgyzstanLebanonLibyaMalaysiaMaldivesMaliMauritaniaMoroccoMozambiqueNigerNigeriaOmanPakistanPalestineQatarSaudi ArabiaSenegalSierra LeoneSomaliaSudanSurinameSyriaTajikistanTogoTunisiaTurkeyTurkmenistanUgandaUnited Arab Emirates (UAE)UzbekistanYemenAfricaAsiaEuropeEurope (excluding UK)Latin America and the Caribbean
    Scholarship source: University of Oxford

    • Amount: Fees and a contribution towards living expenses
    • Eligibility: Various countries with Muslim communities
    • Application process: Attachment of OCIS Scholarships Supporting Statement to university application
    • These scholarships have been established by the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies to allow graduates to pursue studies of benefit to the Muslim world.
  • Oxford-Indira Gandhi DPhil Scholarship
    Region/country: IndiaAsia
    Scholarship source: University of Oxford

    • Amount: The scholarship covers course fees and a grant for living costs. Awards are made for the duration of fee liability for the course.
    • Eligibility: Applicants must be ordinarily resident in India or have previously studied at an Indian higher education institution. The scholarship is applicable to any DPhil programme in Oxford, but the proposed area of study must be relevant to the Oxford India Centre for Sustainable Development’s agenda of interdisciplinary research on sustainable development and India. The Centre’s core research areas are: sustainable cities, climate change and clean energy, healthcare innovation, environmental sustainability and food and water security, law, governance and human rights are cross-cutting themes. Independent proposals on any India-related theme which fits within the overall aims of the Centre will be considered.
    • Application process: Via University of Oxford application form. This award is only tenable at Somerville. All eligible candidates who have applied for graduate study by the January deadline will be considered, regardless of which college preference (if any) is included in the graduate application. Successful scholars will be transferred to Somerville. There is no separate application process, but shortlisted candidates will be asked to attend a video interview.

    Find out more about the Oxford-Indira Gandhi Graduate Scholarship.

  • Refugee Academic Futures Scholarships
    Region/country: AfricaAsiaEuropeEurope (excluding UK)Latin America and the CaribbeanNorth AmericaOceaniaSouth America
    Scholarship source: University of Oxford

    The Refugee Academic Futures Scholarships offer financial support to pursue graduate study at Oxford to students who are refugees or other people with lived experience of displacement.

    • Amount: Full fees and a set amount to cover living expenses
    • Eligibility: The Refugee Academic Futures scholarships are available for applicants who have been displaced due to conflict, persecution, or other serious human rights violations or deprivations, whether within or outside their country of origin, and who hold an offer for either a one-year full-time or two-year part-time master’s degree, starting in the 2024–25 academic year. In order to be eligible for the award applicants must:
      • Hold an offer to commence a master’s degree at the University of Oxford in 2025–26 for a one-year full-time course or two-year part-time course.
      • Have been displaced within, or beyond, their home country due to conflict or violation of human rights, such as persecution. Further details will be published at the start of the application process for this scholarship.
      • Face barriers to progressing their education and have limitations on the financial support for their university studies.
      • Have not previously completed a degree at the same level (master’s) for which they are making an application.

    For further information on this scholarship visit the University’s Academic Futures webpage.

  • Rhodes Scholarship
    Region/country: AustraliaBermudaCanadaChinaAnguillaAntigua and BarbudaBahamasBarbadosBelizeBritish Virgin Islands (BVI)Cayman IslandsDominicaGrenadaGuyanaMontserratSaint LuciaSaint Kitts and NevisSaint Vincent and the GrenadinesTrinidad and TobagoTurks and Caicos IslandsUgandaTanzaniaRwandaSouth SudanBurundiGermanyHong KongIndiaIsraelJamaicaKenyaMalaysiaNew ZealandPakistanSaudi ArabiaSingaporeSouth AfricaBotswanaLesothoMalawiNamibiaSwazilandSyriaJordanLebanonPalestineUnited Arab Emirates (UAE)United States of America (USA)BeninBurkina FasoCabo VerdeGambiaGhanaGuineaGuinea-BissauCote d'IvoireLiberiaMaliMauritaniaNigerNigeriaSaint HelenaSenegalSierra LeoneSao Tome and PrincipeTogoZambiaZimbabweAfricaAsiaEuropeEurope (excluding UK)North AmericaOceaniaSouth AmericaLatin America and the Caribbean
    Scholarship source: University of Oxford

    • Amount: Full fees and a set amount to cover living expenses
    • Eligibility: Please see the Rhodes Trust website.
    • Application process: Separate application process through the Rhodes Trust – follow link for details
    • The Rhodes Scholarships are postgraduate awards supporting exceptional students from around the world to study at the University of Oxford. Rhodes's vision in founding the Scholarship was to develop outstanding leaders who would be motivated to fight 'the world's fight' and to 'esteem the performance of public duties as their highest aim' and to promote international understanding and peace.
    • Read Rafiullah Kakar's experience on the MPP as a Rhodes Scholar.

In addition, we are aware that students from the US coming to the DPhil would be eligible for the Fulbright Scholarship, the Marshall Scholarships and Truman Scholarships.

This is not an exhaustive list – if you know of publicly funded scholarships for studying at the University of Oxford in your country, please let us know.

If you are in contact with an external funding body who would like to liaise with us directly please contact the Admissions team, who will be happy to give advice or provide a letter of support for an external funding application.

There are also a number of scholarships available through specific colleges. Use the Graduate fees and Funding search to see which awards you are eligible for.