We understand that funding is a huge issue for most applicants, but there is a finite amount of funding available through the university and colleges. Funding is very competitive and only a small proportion of offers will be funded (approximately 20% of students from the 2021 intake received university/college funding). You are therefore strongly encouraged to search for external sources of funding.
Funding is available at a university, divisional, and college level. Some awards are available to all students and some have specific criteria such as subject, nationality, type of degree, age, gender, or a combination of these. Not all awards are available every year.
Applying for funding
Most awards do not require a separate application and all offer-holders are automatically considered for all the awards for which they are eligible. However, some awards do require a separate application and you must check before you submit your (course) application:
Information on college awards are found on individual college websites
Some college awards require the applicant to name that college on their application.
Once you have submitted your application, you cannot submit anything further that will influence funding decisions.
Faculty nominations
The first stage of the funding process is for the Faculty to submit nominations for the big (in terms of numbers awarded) awards: AHRC, ESRC, Clarendon, Ertegun. Faculty assessors from each strand make recommendations for funding, which are gathered together by the History funding committee, who decide which candidates to nominate. The Faculty is only allowed to make a certain number of nominations for each award. Nominations from all relevant faculties/departments are considered by a board for each award, who decide which candidates are awarded funding. Successful candidates are notified directly by the funding board.
Faculty nominations for these awards are made by the end of February, and successful candidates notified in April.
For scholarships with specific eligibility criteria, the Faculty will be given a list of eligible candidates and asked to nominate a certain number of candidates from that list. Nominations for these awards are usually made from mid-April onwards.
Funding and colleges
Some colleges have funding awards of their own that are separate from central university funding. You need to check each college individually for these awards and their terms and conditions. The Faculty nominates candidates for certain awards, but there are also awards that do not involve the Faculty and are made directly by the college.
If you have been awarded funding linked to a particular college, you must accept a place at that college. If you have already been made an offer by a different college, you will be moved college.
Have I got funding?
You will be contacted by email if you are awarded funding. The email will come directly from the body awarding the funding, not the Faculty. Notifications are usually sent out between the end of March and the end of May, but could continue into June.
If you have not been awarded funding you will not be contacted.
Early January
applications close, make sure you have made an additional application if needed
Mid-February
Faculty makes nominations for AHRC awards
Mid-February
Faculty interviews for Ertegun nominations
End February
Faculty makes nominations for Clarendon and Ertegun awards
Early March
Ertegun decisions made and candidates notified
Mid-March
Faculty makes nominations for ESRC awards
Mid-March
Clarendon decisions made and candidates notified
Mid-March to May
Faculty makes nominations for university awards with specific eligibility criteria
Mid-March to May
Faculty makes nominations for college awards when asked to do so
Mid-April
AHRC decisions made and candidates notified
Mid-April
ESRC decisions made and candidates notified
End April onwards
other funding decisions made and candidates notified
End June
if you haven’t heard that you have been awarded funding, you have not been successful this year
Please note that you will be informed of funding decisions directly by the funding body, not the Faculty. We don’t know exactly when decisions will be made, or candidates notified!
