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 University 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.
Open-Oxford-Cambridge Doctoral Training Partnership studentships are open to applicants holding an offer of a place or already enrolled on a DPhil course at Oxford whose main research focus falls within one of the AHRC's primary research subject areas which is supported by the Open-Oxford-Cambridge AHRC DTP. While international students may apply, please note that awards to international students are capped at 30% of overall awards.
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 7th January 2025 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 scholarships 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 7th January 2025 deadline. Ertegun Scholarships are highly competitive, and cover course fees in full. Scholars also receive an annual grant for living costs 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, 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 2025. 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 Fernside Scholarship will be awarded to a graduate demonstrating exceptional academic merit or potential, commencing a DPhil course of study in the New Testament within the Faculty of Theology and Religion in 2025-26. The scholarship will cover full fees and maintenance at the UKRI national minimum doctoral stipend rate for the duration of the student's fee liability.
The electors propose, if suitable candidates present themselves, to award two or more bursaries on this foundation. The statutory conditions require that applicants must have the intention of offering themselves for ordination in the Church of England or any church in communion therewith and be in need of financial assistance for their university education. In addition, the electors have discretion to make bursaries available, after Anglican candidates have been considered, to matriculated students of the University intending ministry in churches with which the Church of England has ecumenical relations, or who as lay men or women intend to serve their church as theologians.
The bursaries are of such annual value as the Board of the Faculty of Theology and Religion shall determine, and are tenable at any college or hall in the University. Candidates shall be required to provide the electors with evidence of their scholastic attainments and financial need together with testimonials to their character and ability. Selected candidates will be interviewed before the elections are made.
Enquiries should be directed to the Convener, the Revd Dr Peter Groves, e-mail:
peter.groves@theology.ox.ac.uk
Application form here
Offered in conjuction with Keble College, a Wills Philpott Shawcross Divinity Scholarship of approximately £14,000 for one year only will be available for entry in 2025 to an applicant for the DPhil in Theology. Eligible applicants who apply by the Early January Application Deadline and are offered a place on the DPhil in Theology course will be considered automatically for this scholarship.
Financial Assistance for Continuing Students
Graduate students currently studying one of the Faculty’s courses who will be on the same course in 2025-26 - 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.studies@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.
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.
