Postgraduate Funding

The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) is the UK’s largest organisation funding research on social and economic issues. The University, in collaboration with Brunel University London and The Open University, hosts the Grand Union Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP) which offers funding and training to postgraduate students in specific subject areas.

Information about ESRC studentships at Oxford and the application process can be found on the Grand Union DTP website. Please note that these studentships are only open to candidates applying to start a new programme, rather than for current students already enrolled.

Clarendon is Oxford’s flagship graduate scholarship scheme, open to all applicants for DPhil and Master’s courses. Clarendon scholarships are competitive, prestigious and highly sought-after. Like all fully-funded Oxford scholarships, Clarendon covers course fees, and provides a grant for living expenses. If you apply by the funding deadline for a full or part-time Master's or DPhil course at Oxford, you will automatically be considered for a Clarendon Scholarship. Funding deadlines can be found on individual course pages on the Graduate Admissions website. 

The Weidenfeld-Hoffmann Scholarships and Leadership Programme provides outstanding university graduates and professionals from developing and emerging economies with the opportunity to pursue fully-funded graduate studies at the University of Oxford, along with a comprehensive programme of leadership development, long-term mentoring and networking. The majority of eligible programmes are based in Social Sciences Departments. There are additional steps you must complete in order to be considered for these scholarships. Details on eligibility and the application process can be found on the University's Weidenfeld-Hoffmann Scholarships and Leadership Programme page.

The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) provides public funding in support of research into the arts and humanities. This includes some subjects formally based in the Social Sciences Division at Oxford, including Law, Archaeology, Anthropology and Politics. Oxford participates in the Open-Oxford-Cambridge AHRC Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP), providing a number of scholarships each year for doctoral students. Information about applying for AHRC scholarships at Oxford can be found on the OOC DTP website.

There is a wide variety of funding available at Oxford for graduate study. Details on funding available to candidates applying to start a new course can be found on the University’s Graduate Fees and Funding pages.

Please be aware that the majority of Oxford scholarships are open to new graduate students only, and funding options for on-course students are extremely limited. The University offers some tips on securing extra funding on its Other Graduate Funding Sources page.

The inaugural award of the Oxford-Rees Scholarship will be awarded for 2023 entry. It will support care-experienced Social Sciences candidates.

For the purposes of selection, ‘care experienced’ means having been looked after by the state or your local authority, or as a looked-after child. This could include:

• living with foster carers under local authority care;
• living in a residential children's home;
• being 'looked after at home’ under a supervision order; or
• living with friends or relatives in kinship care – either through a formal arrangement (such as a Special Guardianship order) or an informal arrangement, without local authority support.

You do not have to meet the legal definition of being a care leaver to be considered for this scholarship. 

Support is being provided by funding partners across the University and colleges. These scholarships are open to applicants to all academic subjects and will provide funding packages to assist with course fees and living costs.

How to apply