Graduate students in Holywell Annexe gardens at Merton College - © Helen Messenger - www.helenmessengerphotography.com

Graduate Study: Financial information

Course fees

All students (both new entrants and continuing students) are charged a combined course fee.

Course fees cover your teaching, and other academic services and facilities provided to support your studies. They do not cover your accommodation or other living costs. You may have seen separate figures in the past for tuition fees and college fees. We have now combined these into a single figure.

US federal loans

The University of Oxford has produced a guide on applying for and managing a US federal loan as a new or continuing student.

Other charges

Accommodation charge for 2022-23

  • Graduate single accommodation: £6,870 (October-July), charged in three instalments at the beginning of each term.
  • Flats: from £994 per month (let on a 12-month shorthold tenancy; council tax and utilities are the responsibility of the lessee)

Meal charges 2022-23

  • Breakfast - £2.13
  • Lunch - £3.88
  • Dinner - £4.78

See also University advice on living expenses.

Additional financial support from Merton

Merton College provides a range of financial support to its graduate students:

Merton College Prizes

Book token prizes are awarded to students who have achieved a Distinction in the final public examination of a degree and in recognition of being awarded a University prize.

Merton College Awards

Book Grants – graduates may apply for a grant of up to £100 per annum towards the cost of books and other materials (including e-books, e-readers, electronic materials, DVDs, software and sheet music) required for academic work.

Music Awards – awards worth £450 per annum, as a contribution towards the cost of music and instrumental tuition for instrumentalists and singers who study at Merton.

Research Expenses Grants – graduates are offered a set amount of funding to help with travel costs and other research-related expenses incurred during their course. The total sum for which a graduate is eligible is related to the length and type of their degree course, including any agreed extensions, and ranges between £300 for a one-year Master’s course and £1,500 for the DPhil. Graduates are welcome to apply for the grant at any point during their studies, whether as a total block or as individual amounts. If a research trip necessitates absence from Oxford for over a month, graduates may apply for a supplementary travel grant to contribute to accommodation costs.

Gerry Grimstone Travel Awards – grants for students to undertake travel, preferably abroad, in furtherance of a worthwhile purpose/project, which may (but need not) be academic in nature and/or directly linked with the subject being studied. Gerry Grimstone, Baron Grimstone of Boscobel since April 2020, read Chemistry at Merton (1968). In 2020, following a highly successful career in business, Lord Grimstone was appointed unpaid Minister for Investment jointly at the Department for International Trade and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. He benefited hugely from a Travel Scholarship during his time at Merton and has generously enabled others to have the benefit of a similar opportunity.

The Doctoral Completion Bursary Fund enables a small number of annual grants to be made to assist graduates in the completion of their theses. Some of these bursaries will be awarded from the Simms Bursary Fund, available as a result of a generous donation from the Simms family, several of whom are old members of Merton.

Language courses - support is available from the College for those undertaking OPAL or LASR courses at the University’s Language Centre.

Merton makes a limited number of grants to graduates for worthy causes such as music lessons, Blues level sports memberships, and contributions towards conferences arranged by graduates — such as this May 2013 interdisciplinary conference on Performing Medieval Text — that are ineligible for other forms of College financial support.

Merton College Student Financial Support Fund

The College's Student Support Sub-Committee and the University’s University Hardship Fund can make loans and grants to assist graduates who are on course and who find themselves in unexpected financial need.

Reports from previous grant and award holders