Application fee waivers

Applying from a low-income country

If you are resident in a low-income country, in the list of eligible countries below, and you are not able to pay the application fee, you can request a waiver of this fee.

This must be done within your online application form. You should select ‘Standard’ on the ‘Application type’ tab.

To be eligible for this application fee waiver, you must meet all of the following criteria:

1. Your country of ordinary residence is one of the eligible countries below.
2. You would be unable to apply to Oxford without an application fee waiver.
3. You meet the entry requirements for your chosen course, as published on the course page.

If you indicate on the application form that you are resident in one of the eligible countries below, you will be asked additional questions relating to this waiver scheme. If your answers to these questions indicate that you are eligible for this waiver, you will not be directed to the payment screens when you submit your application.

Countries eligible for this application fee waiver

• Afghanistan
• Angola
• Bangladesh
• Benin
• Burkina Faso
• Burundi
• Cambodia
• Central African Republic
• Chad
• Comoros
• Democratic Republic of Congo
• Djibouti
• Eritrea
• Ethiopia
• Gambia (The)
• Guinea
• Guinea-Bissau
• Haiti
• Kiribati
• Korea (DPR)
• Lao People’s Democratic Republic
• Lesotho
• Liberia
• Madagascar
• Malawi
• Mali
• Mauritania
• Mozambique
• Myanmar
• Nepal
• Niger
• Rwanda
• São Tomé and Príncipe
• Senegal
• Sierra Leone
• Solomon Islands
• Somalia
• South Sudan
• Sudan
• Syria
• Tanzania
• Timor-Leste
• Togo
• Tuvalu
• Uganda
• Yemen
• Zambia 

Refugees and displaced persons

If you are, or were, a refugee; stateless person; asylum seeker; or have been otherwise forcibly displaced within or outside your country of origin, you are eligible for an application fee waiver as long as you meet the minimum entry requirements for the course.

To request this waiver, answer ‘yes’ to the question asking whether you are a refugee, stateless person, or asylum seeker, or have been otherwise forcibly displaced within or outside your country of origin on the ‘About You’ tab of the application form.

You must also confirm that you meet the published minimum entry requirements for the course you are applying to.

UK applicants from low-income backgrounds

Eligibility

Applicants who completed their undergraduate studies after January 2021 and who received at least the following levels of support from their regional funding body, or equivalent bursary, during their degree may request that the graduate application fee be waived.

The minimum qualifying support levels for each year for the different regions are set out below.

If you completed a part-time undergraduate degree during this period, contact Graduate Admissions for information on eligibility thresholds.

In addition, UK-resident asylum seekers and refugees are also eligible for an application fee waiver.  

England

Students who began their undergraduate course from 2016-17

Students who began their undergraduate course before 2016-17

Northern Ireland

Final year maintenance grant of at least £689.

Scotland

Final year Young Student bursary of at least £500.

Final year Independent Student loan of at least £9,900 in 2024-25, £7,500 in 2023-24, £6,600 in 2022-23 or at least £6,250 in 2021-22 or earlier.

Wales

Students who began their undergraduate course from 2018-19:

Students who began their course from 2012-13 to 2017-18 inclusive: 

Final year grant of at least £1,142

Applicants are also eligible for an application fee waiver if they are currently in receipt of one of the following benefits from the UK Government, and were not in full-time education in the 2023/24 academic year:

• Income Support
• Jobseeker’s Allowance
• Employment Support Allowance
• Pension credit guarantee credit
• Universal Credit (UC).

How to request a UK low-income application fee waiver

To request a waiver, please upload a scanned copy or screenshot of your most recent bursary or Student Finance letter that shows the financial support package you receive(d) for the final year of your undergraduate degree (detailing any loan/grant in addition to the standard government loan that all UK-resident students are eligible for). Please ensure that any screenshot/letter includes:

• the name of the Student Finance body, eg Student Finance England;
• your name;
• the final year of study; and
• the amount of maintenance loan/grant/bursary that you received and were entitled to.

If you are instead submitting a needs-based bursary letter, you must provide evidence that the eligibility criteria require a household income below £35,000 per year. 

If you are applying on the basis of currently being in receipt of benefits and/or financial support from the UK Government, please upload a scanned copy or screenshot of your entitlement letter showing you are in receipt one of the above benefits and/or financial support from the Government. Please ensure that any screenshot/letter includes:

• your name;
• the title of the benefit/financial support; and
• the entitlement period.

Upload supporting document

Once we have processed your request, we will send you a code that you can enter into the application form to avoid having to go through the payment screens when submitting your application. If you are applying for more than one course, this code will work for multiple applications that you submit, but may not be used by other applicants. This code can be applied after starting a ‘standard’ application, so there is no need to wait for the code before starting your application.

When to request it

You must submit your request two weeks ahead of the deadline you are applying to in order to ensure that you receive the code in good time. Where a late request is submitted, it will not be possible to extend the application submission deadline. 

UNIQ+ Applicants

Eligibility

Applicants who applied to UNIQ+ at the University of Oxford in the past two years (for the 2023 or 2024 programmes) and met the eligibility criteria may request that the graduate application fee be waived.

How to request a UNIQ+ fee waiver

To request a waiver, please contact [email protected] as soon as you have started your application for graduate study, noting that you applied to UNIQ+. Where possible, please use the email address that you used to apply to UNIQ+ so that we can verify your request against our records. This waiver code can be applied after starting a ‘standard’ application, so there is no need to wait for the code before starting your application.

When to request it

You must submit your request two weeks ahead of the deadline you are applying to in order to ensure that you receive the code in good time. Where a late request is submitted, it will not be possible to extend the application submission deadline.

Applying for readmission

If you are currently studying for an Oxford graduate taught course and applying for a research course with no break in your studies, you may be eligible to apply for readmission. You must meet the same deadlines and requirements as other applicants, but you won't be required to pay an application fee. Find more information about readmissions status in this Application Guide. 

Applying to closely related research courses

Approximately 20 research courses that are Centres for Doctoral Training (or DPhils that are similarly structured), are taking part in a scheme that will enable you to be considered for up to three courses with the payment of a single application free. These courses, which are listed below, are offered by the Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences (MPLS) and Medical Sciences divisions:

After you have submitted an application for one of the courses shown above, you can request an application fee waiver for up to two further eligible courses. We recommend that you use your application fee waiver to apply only for eligible courses that are closely related in research area to the course you have chosen.

To be considered eligible for an application fee waiver, each additional course must be:

• doctoral level eg a Doctor of Philosophy (DPhil) or Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) course; and
• offered by one of the departments in the MPLS Division or one of the departments in the Medical Sciences Division.

Please refer to the instructions on the relevant course page for further details about how to request an application fee waiver.