MPhil/PhD fees and scholarships

Full Job Description

Find out more about fees, funding and scholarship opportunities for the MPhil/PhD degree course 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

Information on UCL’s tuition fees for UK and international students registered on graduate research degrees can be seen on the UCL Fees and Funding webpage. This webpage outlines the tuition fees for the 2026-27 academic year, and so is just an indication of what the following academic year’s (2027-28) fees will be, with slight increases expected each year..

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 should precede any funding application.

Submitting a PhD application by the deadline of 19 November 2026 will mean that you are automatically considered for the funding opportunities listed below, but please proceed to read the information particular to each award.

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

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 2026-27 (as a guide) is £23,805. 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 19 November 2026. Further details about applications are available here.

Faculty Of 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 2026-27 (as a guide) is £23,805 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 19 November 2025. Further details about applications are available here.

Faculty Of 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.

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 assess which groups are currently underrepresented using the latest HESA and National Census data. The selection panel will select awardees based on financial need (based on socio-economic background) and candidates’ personal statements.

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 2026-27 (as a guide) is £23,805. Costs are calculated pro rata for part-time students.

Awards are made for the standard length of the research portion of the UCL programme of study, which is normally 3 years for a full-time PhD. Please note the funding does not cover CRS/writing up periods. Funding is reviewed on an annual basis and renewed where the candidate has made sufficient academic progress in their research studies.

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 19 November 2026. 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 2027-28. The scholarship will fund one PhD student to undertake research in the field of Intellectual Property, and will provide a stipend of at least £23,805 per year for 3 years plus tuition fees.

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 19 November 2025. 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 £23,805 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.

You do not need to make a separate application for these Scholarships. The Faculty of Laws is able to nominate prospective students for these awards each year. You will be automatically considered for one of these Scholarships if you submit a PhD application by the deadline of 19 November 2026, and if you are selected as one of the Faculty's nominees, then you will be contacted in January 2027 to confirm that and will be asked to provide further paperwork in time for UCL's application deadline.

Further information about these Scholarships can be found online here.

Global Centre For Democratic Constitutionalism Phd Studentships

The Global Centre for Democratic Constitutionalism (GCDC), based at UCL Laws, offers 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 2026-27 (as a guide) is £23,805. Costs are pro-rated for part-time students.

The Centre seeks to advance scholarly knowledge of democratic governance, the rule of law, and constitutionalism. We are eager to receive applications from candidates interested in advancing scholarship in these areas.

The GCDC launched in the 2024-25 academic year, with the appointment of its Director, Erin Delaney, the Leverhulme Professor of Comparative Constitutional Law. The Centre conducts a major programme of research activities consisting of internal and external research seminars, lectures, 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. The next round of applications opens in September 2026. 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 the Centre's manager, Dr Christopher Adams at christopher.adams@ucl.ac.uk.

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Meet Our Alumni

Our talented alumni go on to work in a range of specialist areas and industries. Here we celebrate the achievements of some of our alumni and what they have gone on to do.

The scholarship allowed me to move from a former position in legal practice to take up the place at UCL in September 2017. Since receiving the LAHP scholarship in 2018, the UCL scholarship has allowed this to be topped up.

Natalie Sedacca

Faculty Research Scholarship recipient

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Contact us if you have any questions about the MPhil/PhD degree course or the admissions procedure at UCL Laws.

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