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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 2025 entry

UK students

(As a guide) UCL’s tuition fees for UK students registered on graduate research programmes at UCL Laws for 2024-25 are £6,035 for full-time students, and £3,015 for part-time students.  These will likely increase for 2025-26.

International students

(as a guide) UCL’s tuition fees for international students registered on graduate research programmes at UCL Laws are £25,900 for full-time students and £12,950 for part-time students for the academic year 2024-25.  These will likely increase for 2025-26.

Tuition fees for 2025-26 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

UCL200 Faculty of Laws 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 2024-25 (as a guide) is £21,337. 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 18th November 2024. Further details about applications are available here.

 

UCL200 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 2024-25 (as a guide) is £21,237. 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 18th November 2024. Further details about applications are available here.

UCL200 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 2024-25 (as a guide) is £21,237. 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 18yh November 2024. Further details about applications are available here

UCL200 Laws IBIL Intellectual Property PhD Scholarship

The UCL Laws Institute of Brand and Innovation Law is offering a scholarship in 2025-26. The scholarship will fund one PhD student to undertake research in the field of Intellectual Property, and will provide a stipend of at least £21,237 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 18th November 2024. Further details about applications are available here.

UCL200 Laws 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 18th November 2024. 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 £21,237 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 18th November 2024. The RES application documents can be submitted later though - by a date to be confirmed in January 2025. 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 18th November 2024; and
  2. Apply separately and directly to LAHP to their Open Competition Studentship.

The application window for LAHP Studentships opens in December 2024 (precise date tbc).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. 

Global Centre for Democratic Constitutionalism PhD Studentships

The new Global Centre for Democratic Constitutionalism (GCDC), based at UCL Laws, is offering fully funded PhD studentships, which cover the cost of tuition fees, plus a maintenance stipend per annum for full-time study. The annual stipend for 2024-25 (as a guide) is £21,337. Costs are pro-rated for part-time students.

The Centre seeks to advance scholarly understanding of the relationship between democratic government and the rule of law globally, with a particular focus on identifying the supporting conditions for constitutional resilience in electorally competitive political systems. We are eager to receive applications from candidates interested in advancing scholarship in these areas. 

 The GCDC is commencing operations in the 2024-25 academic year, with the appointment of its Director, Erin Delaney, the Leverhulme Professor of Comparative Constitutional Law, and a formal launch in early 2025. The Centre is preparing a major programme of research activities consisting of internal and external research seminars, an annual lecture, the appointment of visiting fellows and post-doctoral researchers, a range of PhD studentships, and research support for Centre members actively engaged in research on democratic constitutionalism and constitutional resilience. It is expected that PhD students will play a substantial role in the Centre’s intellectual life, while also having appropriate autonomy and support for determining the focus of their own research while at UCL Laws.

Interested candidates should apply via the standard UCL Laws PhD application process by 18 November 2024. We will consider all applications that align with the focus areas of the GCDC, but we also recommend that interested candidates indicate their interest in the GCDC studentships within their application. For more information on PhD studies at UCL Laws and how to apply, please visit https://www.ucl.ac.uk/laws/study/mphilphd. Enquiries about the studentships may be directed to Erin Delaney at e.delaney@ucl.ac.uk