Postgraduate Funding
Several funding sources are available to students of the Faculty of Theology and Religion. Applicants are advised to research the funding opportunities available for their course before applying. Most of the scholarships that provide full funding are available only to those starting a new course. Funding opportunities available to students who have already started their course are usually much more limited.
Information about the fees charged for each course can be found on the Graduate Fees and Funding website.
Opportunities to seek employment during term time are normally limited by the full-time requirements of most of the faculty’s courses and course-related commitments during the Christmas, Easter and summer vacations. Please note that the demand for part-time paid work in Oxford often exceeds the amount of paid work that is available, whether academic or non-academic paid work.
University Scholarships for New Students
Every year, a significant proportion of the Faculty’s graduate applicants secure support for their studies from a range of public and private funding bodies and scholarship schemes.
Information about the scholarships available for those applying for, or currently studying, any one particular course or programme of study, including details of the scholarship amount, duration, eligibility and closing date, can be found by using the Fees, Funding and Scholarship search facility.
All applicants who apply by the Early January Application Deadline and are offered a place on a graduate course will be considered automatically for those scholarships for which they are eligible. Some scholarships require additional application materials, and applicants are advised to read the details of the application requirements for each scholarship carefully.
Eligibility for AHRC studentship funding has changed. From 2021/22 onwards, international students will be eligible for UKRI studentship funding. All UKRI-funded doctoral students will be eligible for a full award, both the stipend to support living costs and fees at the UKRI approved rate. Awards to students liable for Overseas fees are capped at 30%.
Any students who started their degree in previous academic years are not affected by this announcement. EU, EEA and Swiss Nationals starting UKRI-funded programmes in the 2020 academic year will remain eligible for funding under the same terms as guaranteed by the Government in July 2019.
For more information please see the Open-Oxford-Cambridge Doctoral Training Partnership website.
Current DPhil students may also be eligible for funding, for more information please click here
All those who wish to be considered for an award should complete and submit the separate application form with their general application, by the 5th January 2024 deadline.
You will be automatically considered for Clarendon if you apply by the relevant January deadline for your course. You do not need to submit a separate application. Clarendon offers fully-funded scholarships covering course fees, as well as a grant for living expenses for the period of fee liability. There are no restrictions on nationality, ordinary residence or field of study. All full-time and part-time DPhil and Master’s courses are eligible. Clarendon scholars are selected for their outstanding academic merit and potential, and are highly competitive.
All applicants for graduate study are eligible for a Clarendon scholarship.
Applicants for most graduate courses in the Humanities may be considered for an Ertegun Scholarship, but in order to be considered, they must complete the Ertegun application form and submit it with their general application by the 5th January 2024 deadline. Ertegun Scholarships are highly competitive, and cover course fees in full. Scholars also receive a generous annual grant for living costs (the rate for 2023-24 is £18,622) which is normally sufficient to cover the living costs of a single student living in Oxford. Ertegun Scholars also enjoy dedicated use of Ertegun House, which provides space for each Scholar for writing and research, as well as opportunities to participate in social occasions, lively lectures, performances and other activities developed expressly for the Scholars. Awards are made for the full duration of a student's fee liability for the agreed course, subject to satisfactory academic progress.
Faculty Scholarships for New Students
A range of postgraduate scholarships will be available for courses in the Faculty of Theology and Religion beginning in October 2022. Funded from a variety of sources including Trust Funds, grants from philanthropic organisations and other benefactors, these awards will partly or wholly cover fees and/or a maintenance stipend.
All awards will be made on the basis of academic excellence as demonstrated by past performance and potential future achievement.
Those applying for admission who wish to be considered for a Faculty scholarship, should add the code ‘THEO’ to the ‘Departmental studentship applications’ section of the University’s online graduate course application form.
The Faculty of Theology and Religion intends to offer a nine month studentship for an MSt in the Study of Religions, for a candidate proposing to study the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, and/or Islam), in any combination. The studentship will be tenable from Michaelmas Term 2022, and is expected to cover annual fees in full and provide a maintenance stipend. Both overseas and home candidates will be eligible for consideration, and no additional application materials are required. The successful candidate will have a good first degree in a relevant subject, or will have completed all the elements of such a degree by September 2022. S/he will be expected to make, or to have made, an application for the MSt in the Study of Religions by Friday, 7 January 2022, and to have met the usual criteria for acceptance
The Board of Electors to the Grinfield Lecturership intends, if a suitably qualified candidate can be found, to offer a one-year studentship funded by the Grinfield Trust, for an M.St. or M.Phil. with a proposed dissertation on any aspect of the Greek Septuagint translation of the Hebrew Bible. The studentship will be tenable from Michaelmas Term 2022, and is expected to cover annual fees up to a total of £12,000. The successful candidate will have a good first degree in a relevant subject (undergraduate or graduate), or will have completed all the elements of such a degree by September 2022. He or she will be expected to make, or to have made, an application for the M.St. or M.Phil. in either the Faculty of Theology and Religion or the Faculty of Oriental Studies by Friday, 7 January 2022, and to have met the usual criteria for acceptance.
The successful candidate will pay the usual fees to college and university. The award is non-renewable, and will be terminated if matriculation for the M.St. or M.Phil. course is suspended for any reason.
The awarding Board of Electors will have access to candidates’ application materials submitted to either of the two Faculties and therefore will not require additional documentation. Applicants should, however, ask their three referees to speak directly to their qualification for this studentship in the references submitted in support of the application for the M.St. or M.Phil.
The Hall Houghton Trust intends to offer 1-2 studentships of up to £10,000 for an MSt/MPhil or DPhil student in the New Testament subject area starting in Michaelmas 2022, if suitable candidates can be found.
To be considered for this award you must have submitted your application to the MSt Theology, MPhil Theology, or DPhil Theology and Religion courses by the midday 7th January 2022 deadline, and intend to study with the New Testament subject area.
The Zayed Foundation intends, if a suitable candidate can be found, to offer a one year studentship award of £6000 to an MSt Study of Religions student starting in Michaelmas 2022 with Islam as one of their two chosen religions. To be considered for this award you must submit your MSt Study of Religions application by the Early January Deadline of midday (UK Time) on 7th January 2022
Financial Assistance for Continuing Students
Graduate students currently studying one of the Faculty’s courses who will be on the same course in 2022-23 - i.e. taught postgraduate students in the first year of two, or continuing DPhil students - may apply to the Faculty for financial assistance using the Application form for Financial Assistance. Most applications are usually considered in early March, but we will send all students information about any other deadlines through the year. Applicants must also ask two referees to email an academic reference on their behalf to the Faculty’s Graduate Studies Administrator at graduate.enquiries@theology.ox.ac.uk.
Criteria for the awards are:
- Academic Excellence
- Financial hardship due to a change in circumstances or, in the case of DPhils, overrunning the funded years of their course.
Other Funding Sources
Applications for awards (of up to two thousand pounds) from the Crewdson Trust are invited from Oxford students doing advanced degrees in Theology. The aims of the trust are to promote study and research in Christian theology relevant to the production of contemporary re-statements of the Christian faith or its application, and also to encourage research into the role of religion in eliminating violence and promoting peace. Further information can be found here.
These financial assistance awards are available primarily to applicants who have the intention of offering themselves for ordination in the Church of England or any church in communion therewith. Deadlines fall in November and April each year and will be advertised in advance. Further information can be found here.
Regent’s Park College is offering a postgraduate studentship worth up to £4000 for a student who is currently engaged in, or has been accepted for, postgraduate study at the University of Oxford. Reflecting the distinguished contribution to scholarship of the late Professor Anderson (1955-2017), preference will be given to applicants in the fields of feminist philosophy or feminist philosophy of religion, or, failing that and as an absolute requirement, to a person working on philosophy of a kind that encourages the place of women in philosophy. The studentship will be tenable for as long as the selection committee deems appropriate, subject to the condition that it shall not be tenable beyond the duration of the student’s postgraduate studies at the University of Oxford. The holder of the scholarship is required to be, or to become, a member of Regent’s Park College, Oxford.
Further information can be found here.
A new resource on the Fees and Funding website is now available to help current graduates in their quest for funding. The 'Alternative Guide to Postgraduate Funding' is an independent guide written by two UK-based PhD students who have between them won over £45,000 in funding from the charity/voluntary sector. The Guide shows where to find charities, how to approach them, and how to complete strong applications in the correct manner. It contains model personal and financial statements, and over 100 links to voluntary sector funding sources. The Guide, which is a password protected pdf document, and instructions on how to obtain the password, are available here.
