Hi,

I'm currently in the midst of applying to several PhD projects one of which is at Oxford. However, i know that fees at oxford comprise of both university and college fees. I know that at other universities the UK research council's funding will cover any university fees and is paid "behind the scene". But am I as a student accountable for the college fees? i.e. do i pay them out of my living expense budget reducing it by by £2-3K? Or is the funding for an Oxbridge PhD typically higher to accommodate for this like it would be in central London? I believe the project will be funded by BBSRC or NERC.

I really appreciate any help and advice you can give me on this. Cheers:-)

Try googling for the research councils in turn plus "college fees". Looks like they will cover it. My funding council, AHRC, certainly does. After my supervisor moved I considered transferring my PhD to Oxford, long-distance, and that was one of the essential things I checked.

I don't know of any instances where college fees are not covered along with the university fees so you should be fine.

usually if you get funding for a PHD at Oxford your college and university fees are paid for. Ive never heard of anyone getting a studentship but having to pay college fees themselves.

The whole college fees thing is a bit nonsense. you have to pay for everything in college: rent and utilities, food, laundry..... and there are these college fees as well!!!! stupid

I used to work in a Student Finance office, which I know is undergrad mostly :p but I am sure in this case its a similar situation. I assume that University fees are for general tuition fees and College fees are specific to your department which may vary, depending on what you are studying. For example, I applied to Leicester and the particular department had additional fees of £5K a year. I would think its safe to assume that if you win a funded place after interview, both of these fees will be taken care of unless stipulated in the invitation offer. Might be worth clarifying with the institute beforehand, though!

The College fee will be covered no worries, of course that doesn't cover charges that Colleges will give you e.g. accomodation, kitchen fixed charge etc. Then you'll just get paid a standard outside of London rate, unless you have a CASE studentship etc.