MPhil/PhD fees and scholarships

Find out more about fees, funding and scholarship opportunities for the MPhil/PhD programme at UCL Laws.

Fees and finance

Tuition fees cover all elements of your tuition, registration and examination. If applicable, any additional research expenses will be specified on your formal offer of admission.

Full details of the tuition fees for each academic year can be found under the fee schedule pages of the UCL Current Students website.

Tuition fees for subsequent years are subject to increase. You should make provision for such increases and this is implicit in accepting the offer of a place at UCL.

You must pay at least 50% of your tuition fee before or at enrolment to be fully enrolled, or provide a letter of sponsorship indicating who should be invoiced for your fee.

Tuition fees for 2024 entry

UK students

(As a guide) UCL’s tuition fees for UK students registered on graduate research programmes at UCL Laws for 2023-24 are £5,860 for full-time students, and £2,930 for part-time students.  These will likely increase for 2024-25.

International students

UCL’s tuition fees for international students registered on graduate research programmes at UCL Laws are £24,200 for full-time students and £12,100 for part-time students for the academic year 2023-24.  These will likely increase for 2024-25.

Tuition fees for 2024-25 may increase. Further information relating to on tuition fees can be found in the fees and funding section of the UCL Current Students website.

Living costs

As well as your tuition fees, you will also need to think about how you are going to meet your living costs – accommodation, food and travel, as well as other costs associated with your studies and everyday life.

Find more information about living costs and managing your money on the UCL Prospective Students website.

Funding and scholarships

There are a number of different scholarships available to fund your PhD. All are awarded on the basis of academic excellence and are competitive.  An application for a place on the PhD programme should precede any application for funding.

Each requires a different application process and deadline so please do read the following information carefully and adhere to the deadlines specified. No late applications will be accepted.

Please see also the UCL guidance on Funding for students on postgraduate research courses, which provides information on other possible funding sources.  

Annual Scholarship opportunities

Faculty Research Scholarships

These scholarships are awarded on the basis of academic excellence, research potential and research area. Candidates must have an outstanding academic track record, an excellent research proposal and strong references as competition for these scholarships is high. Financial need is not an essential criterion but will be taken into account in tie-break cases, namely when there are two equally well qualified candidates on the basis of academic excellence.

A UCL Laws FRS covers the cost of tuition fees, plus a maintenance stipend per annum for full time study. The annual stipend for 2023/24 (as a guide) is £20,622. Costs are pro-rated for part-time students.

Awards are made initially for one year but will be renewed for a second year, subject to satisfactory completion of studies during your first year. They will be renewed for a third year, provided the student has been upgraded to full PhD status and continues to make satisfactory progress in the programme.

How To Apply:
 

All successful applicants to the UCL Laws PhD programme are automatically considered for our prestigious Faculty Research Scholarships (FRS), awarded directly by the Faculty. There is no separate application form that needs to be completed.

To be considered for the scholarship candidates must apply for the PhD programme by 16 November 2023. Further details about applications are available here. 

Four Faculty Research Scholarships, named after distinguished legal figures associated with the Faculty, are typically available each year:

• Orme Scholarship: Eliza Orme was the first woman to earn a law degree in England, graduating from UCL with an LLB in 1888. This followed UCL’s groundbreaking decision to become the first UK university to permit women on an equal footing to men, in 1878. While women at the time were not permitted to qualify as a barrister or solicitor, Orme made a career drafting legal documents from her office in Chancery Lane. She was also involved in the National Society for Women’s Suffrage.
• Lawrence Scholarship: Reina Lawrence was London’s first woman councillor. After receiving her LLB from UCL in 1893, Lawrence served on the Hampstead Distress Committee, helping the unemployed, before the Qualification of Women Act 1907 opened the way for female candidates in council elections. Lawrence stood for Hampstead Borough Council and was elected for the Belsize Ward with a large majority.
• Clarke Scholarship: Ellis Clarke graduated from UCL Laws in 1940, being called to the Bar at Gray’s Inn the following year. Clarke returned to his native Trinidad and Tobago and served as a lawyer and, following that country’s independence from Britain, in a number of government posts including Ambassador to the United States and Ambassador to the UN. Knighted in 1963, Sir Ellis was instrumental in drafting a new republican constitution for Trinidad and Tobago and following its adoption was appointed President, serving in that capacity from 1976 to 1987.
• Elias Scholarship: Taslim Olawale Elias graduated from UCL with an LLB in 1946, being called to the bar at the Inner Temple the following year. Elias completed his LLM and PhD at UCL, becoming the first African to earn a PhD in Law from the University of London in 1949. In the run up to Nigerian independence in 1960, Elias played a key role in drafting the constitution and on its adoption was appointed Attorney General and Minister of Justice. In 1972 he became Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, and served in a number of important international roles including Chairman of the UN International Law Commission, and helping to draft the Constitutions of the Congo and the Organisation of African Unity (forerunner to the African Union). In 1976 he was appointed a judge at the International Court of Justice in the Hague, becoming its President in 1982.

 

UCL Laws Research Opportunity Scholarship

The UCL Faculty of Laws offers UCL Laws Research Opportunity Scholarships. These scholarships are awarded on the basis of academic excellence, research potential and research area. Candidates must have an outstanding academic track record and excellent research proposal. Financial need is an essential criterion for this award. It is a condition for eligibility for these scholarships that candidates qualify for ‘UK fee status’ as defined here by UCL, and are domiciled in the UK.

A UCL Laws Research Opportunity Scholarship covers the cost of tuition fees, plus a maintenance stipend per annum for full time study. The annual stipend for 2023/24 (as a guide) is £20,622. Costs are pro-rated for part-time students.

Awards are made initially for one year but will be renewed for a second year, subject to satisfactory completion of studies during your first year. They will be renewed for a third year, provided the student has been upgraded to full PhD status and continues to make satisfactory progress in the programme. 

How To Apply:

There is not a separate application form for this scholarship, and all applicants successful at interview will be given the option to provide financial information in order to be considered for the UCL Laws Research Opportunity Scholarship.

To be considered for the scholarship candidates must apply for the PhD programme by 16 November 2023. Further details about applications are available here.

UCL Laws BAME Research Opportunity Scholarship

The UCL Faculty of Laws offers UCL Laws BAME Research Opportunity Scholarships. The scholarships are awarded on the basis of academic excellence, research potential and research area. Candidates must have an outstanding academic track record and excellent research proposal. 

Financial need is an essential criterion for the scholarship. It is a condition for eligibility for these scholarships that candidates qualify for ‘UK fee status’ as defined here by UCL and are domiciled in the UK. The scholarship is only available to ethnic groups currently underrepresented as academic staff members in Law Schools at Russell Group Universities. The Faculty will make an assessment of which groups are currently underrepresented using the latest HESA and National Census data. 

A UCL Laws Research Opportunity Scholarship covers the cost of tuition fees, plus a maintenance stipend per annum for full time study. The annual stipend for 2023/24 (as a guide) is £20,622. Costs are calculated pro rata for part-time students.

Awards are made initially for one year but will be renewed for a second year, subject to satisfactory completion of studies during your first year. They will be renewed for a third year, provided the student has been upgraded to full PhD status and continues to make satisfactory progress in the programme.

How To Apply:
 

There is not a separate application form for this scholarship, and all applicants successful at interview will be given the option to provide the personal information required in order to be considered for the UCL Laws BAME Research Opportunity Scholarship.

To be considered for the scholarship candidates must apply for the PhD programme by 16 November 2023. Further details about applications are available here. 

IBIL Intellectual Property PhD Scholarship

The UCL Laws Institute of Brand and Innovation Law is offering a scholarship in 2024/25. The scholarship will fund one PhD student to undertake research in the field of Intellectual Property, and will provide a stipend of at least £20,622 per year for 3 years. Fees at the Home rate are covered (the scholarship is open to international students as well; if successful, an international student would receive a discount on the international fees equivalent to the value of the Home fees, and would need to cover the difference with their own funds).

The Institute of Brand and Innovation Law would like to thank its sponsors for their generosity, which has made this scholarship possible. Details of IBIL's sponsors can be found on our website.

How To Apply:
 

All applicants to the UCL Laws PhD Programme in the field of Intellectual Property will be considered for the scholarship. There is no separate application form.

To be considered for the scholarship candidates must apply for the PhD programme by 18 November 2023. Further details about applications are available here.

Joseph Hume Scholarship

One scholarship worth £1,000 is available for prospective or current MPhil/PhD research students at UCL Laws. This scholarship is awarded on the basis of academic merit and research potential, taking into account the availability of other sources of funding.

How To Apply:

All successful applicants to the UCL Laws PhD programme are automatically considered for the Joseph Hume Scholarship, awarded directly by the Faculty. There is no separate application form.

To be considered for the scholarship, candidates must apply for the PhD programme by 16 November 2023. Further details about applications are available here. 

UCL Research Excellence Scholarships

UCL Research Excellence Scholarships (RES) aim to attract high-quality students to undertake postgraduate research at UCL. The university usually awards approximately 40 UCL RES annually to prospective and current UCL research students from any country. These are highly competitive scholarships and are awarded only to the most outstanding potential and existing research students from all UCL departments and faculties.

The scholarships consist of tuition fees (for home or overseas students) plus a maintenance stipend of at least £20,622 for full-time study (benefits are calculated 'pro rata' for part-time students). The scholarship also includes additional support for research costs of up to £1,200 per year for the stated duration of the programme. Awards are normally tenable for years 1, 2, and 3 of a full-time research degree programme (or years 1-5 of a part-time programme), subject to annual review and renewal. 

How To Apply:
 

All further information and required materials for application can be found online here. There is a separate application form which must be sent to phd-law@ucl.ac.uk. You must also have applied to the PhD programme by 16 November 2023. The RES application documents can be submitted later though - by 12 January 2024. Further details about applications are available here. 

London Arts & Humanities Partnership (LAHP) and Arts & Humanities Research Council Studentship

We are partnered with the AHRC-funded London Arts & Humanities Doctoral Training Partnership. These are studentships that normally cover fees and maintenance allowance (stipend). 

Candidates should be aware that the LAHP studentship competition is a twin-track process, and they will need to:

1. Apply first for a place on the UCL Faculty of Laws PhD programme by 16 November 2023; and
2. Apply separately and directly to LAHP to their Open Competition Studentship.

The application window for LAHP Studentships opens on 27 November 2023, and the deadline to apply is 26 January 2024.The application process for these Studentships is run entirely by LAHP.  UCL's Faculty of Laws is not involved in the process at all. If you are intending to apply for an LAHP studentship, please make note of this on your online application form when you apply for a place on the PhD programme. 

Other scholarships 

For Spring 2024: AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Partnership (CDP) studentship

Law & Equity in Flux: The Court of Chancery during the Civil War & Interregnum (c. 1640-1660)

Start date: 1^st October 2024

Application Deadline: 24^th June 2024

We expect interviews to take place online, via Zoom, week commencing 8^th July 2024

University College London and The National Archives are pleased to announce the availability of a fully funded Collaborative doctoral studentship from 1^st October 2024, under the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Collaborative Doctoral Partnership Scheme.

It will be jointly supervised by Dr David Foster and Dr Daniel Gosling. The student will be expected to spend time at both University College London and The National Archives. PhD students of UCL’s Faculty of Laws are provided with Research Skills training throughout the PhD programme, most intensively in year 1 of the programme.  The recipient of this Scholarship will form part of UCL Faculty of Laws’ 2024-25 PhD cohort. They will also become part of the wider cohort of CDP funded students across the UK, with access to CDP Cohort Development events.

The studentship can be studied either full or part-time.

It is important to us that our organisations are more diverse, so we encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and identities. We especially keen to hear from candidates from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds as they are currently underrepresented at this level in this area.

Students should have a Master’s Degree in a relevant subject or be able to demonstrate equivalent experience in a professional setting.

Project Overview:

The project will investigate the records of the Court of Chancery during the English Civil War and Interregnum (c. 1640-1660). This period had a profound impact on law and society in England and Wales. Charles I went to war with his subjects and lost, heralding a decade without a monarch. For English law, old creeds associated with the royalist regime crumbled and the entire system was recast in republican garb. Although the restoration of the monarchy in 1660 swept away many of these changes, the effect of the previous twenty years was felt across society. Yet, despite the significance of this period in history, the core collections of legal records, held at The National Archives, remain understudied. The records of the Court of Chancery are particularly useful to researchers because of the high level of detail they contain on litigants’ lives and the way they arranged their legal affairs. This project will plug the gap in the existing literature and uncover new research agendas – historical, legal, archival, and digital – in this underused but highly valuable record set.

The key aims of this project are to better understand how the Court of Chancery was being used by litigants between 1640 and 1660, and to unlock the records of this court through original research and cataloguing. This project has intentionally broad research aims to allow the student to develop their own research questions and answers based on discoveries in these collections. Their initial investigation of these records will provide them with case studies, which can be approached in a variety of ways depending on the student’s interests, for example from the perspective of a social historian analysing female litigants in Chancery, or from a digital archives perspective of reuniting virtually records from the same case.

The richness of the records, the high stakes of the litigation, and the political uncertainty of the period promise to make this project an insightful and important archival study which will serve as a benchmark for future studies.

Research questions include:

1. How did the Court of Chancery function during this tumultuous period?
2. How and for what reason did litigants use this court?

The successful candidate will approach these questions from a variety of disciplinary perspectives (based on the expertise of the supervisors), to come up with answers grounded in legal history, social history, and archival practice.

Details of Award:

CDP doctoral training grants fund full-time studentships for 48 months (4 years) or part-time equivalent.

The award pays tuition fees up to the value of the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) full-time home rate for PhD degrees. The UKRI Indicative Fee Level for 2024/25 is £4,786 for full-time home students.

The award pays full maintenance for all students, both home and international students. The National Minimum Doctoral Stipend for 2024/25 is £21,237 for students of London Universities, such as UCL.  There is also a CDP maintenance payment of £600/year.

Further details can be found on the UKRI website.

The student is eligible to receive an additional travel and related expenses grant during the course of the project courtesy of The National Archives worth up to £1000 per year for 4 years (48 months).

CDP students will also have access to training and development opportunities throughout the course of their PhD, supported and facilitated by the CDP Consortium itself, University College London and The National Archives. CDP4 students would be expected to undertake a work placement or development opportunity for a minimum of a 3-month period (or equivalent). Funding and the possibility for extension is available (as above).

Please note: the project can be undertaken on a full-time or part-time basis.

Eligibility:

This studentship is open to both Home and International applicants.

To be classed as a Home student, candidates must meet the following criteria:     

o   Be a UK National (meeting residency requirements), or

o   Have settled status, or

o   Have pre-settled status (meeting residency requirements), or

o   Have indefinite leave to remain or enter

Further guidance can be found on the UKRI website.

We want to encourage the widest range of potential students to study for a CDP studentship and are committed to welcoming students from different backgrounds to apply. We particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds as they are currently underrepresented at this level in this area.

Applicants should ideally have or expect to receive a relevant Masters-level qualification or be able to demonstrate equivalent experience in a setting involving knowledge of and critical reflection on relevant topics, such as Legal History, Constitutional History, and Political History. Suitable disciplines are flexible but might include Law or History.

·Applicants must be able to demonstrate an interest in the archives sector and potential and enthusiasm for developing skills more widely in related areas.

As a collaborative award, students will be expected to spend time at both the University and The National Archives

All applicants must meet the UKRI terms and conditions for funding.

Project details and how to apply:

For more information about the project, please contact Dr David Foster (David.foster@ucl.ac.uk) or Dr Daniel Gosling (Daniel.Gosling@nationalarchives.gov.uk)

To apply, the following documents must be emailed by 24^th June, 5.00pm to phd-law@ucl.ac.uk:

1. A completed application form (4 pages);
2. Your CV/Résumé;
3. Transcript of Master’s degree (if applicable);
4. Transcript of undergraduate degree;
5. Any other attachments that you think will enhance your application.

Any questions or concerns about the application form and/or process should be directed to UCL’s Faculty of Laws PhD team at phd-law@ucl.ac.uk.

Applications will be considered following the 24^th June application deadline, initially to be short-listed for interview.  All applicants will be informed of the outcome of their application – i.e. whether or not they have been selected for interview - by 8^th July at the latest.

Reasonable adjustments and support for applicants:

Should you require any reasonable adjustments or support throughout the application process, please contact UCL’s Faculty of Laws PhD team at phd-law@ucl.ac.uk or research@nationalarchives.gov.uk.

Support or adjustments may include (but are not limited to):

• Opportunity to speak with supervisors about the project and the process;
• Opportunity to speak with contacts within University College London and/or The National Archives regarding institutional support systems (e.g. Neurodiversity, Racial Diversity and LGBTIAQ+ networks, mental health support, support for carers, and more);
•  Access to the topics covered within the interview and insight into the interview process;
• ·Opportunity to visit the relevant building and room prior to interview, as well as on-site guidance (demonstrating accessible routes and/or familiarity with building layouts for example).
• Opportunity to speak with active CDP students at The National Archives to ask questions regarding student experience as part of the CDP scheme

The National Archives aims to be an inclusive organisation, reflecting the diverse needs and aspirations of employees and researchers and promoting equality of access for all. We are committed to tackling barriers to participation by creating a culture that encourages respect and values difference.  For more information on our commitment to equality and diversity, please see our policy: Equality and Diversity Policy.

UCL Faculty of Laws is consistently ranked as a leading Law School, both nationally and internationally. To maintain that reputation, we are absolutely committed to ensuring that the doors at UCL are open to the best and most academically able students from across the globe regardless of background.  The Faculty was the first Law School in England to admit students whatever their religious background, and in 1888 Eliza Orme, the first woman to obtain a law degree in England, graduated from UCL Laws.  At UCL, we believe equality of opportunity and academic excellence go hand-in-hand. The purpose of our scholarships is to promote equality of opportunity regardless of family circumstances, race, sex, sexual orientation or disability. If you have the talent, UCL is the place for you. 

UCL’s policies on equality and diversity can be viewed here: Policies: equality and diversity | Students - UCL – University College London.