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Postgraduate Study - PhD and Research Degrees

Standard full-time postgraduate fees

The majority of tuition fees for postgraduate programmes are charged at our standard rate, however many fees are non-standard so you will need to consult individual programme pages to confirm.  If you are unsure if you will pay UK or international fees, fee status provides further details.

For those studying for more than one year, our fees are expected to increase modestly in line with Consumer Price Inflation measured in December each year. More information can be found on our Student Finance webpages.

Research programmes

Research programmes (MbyRes, MPhil, PhD) - 2024/25
  Sciences Humanities and Social Sciences
UK £4,786 £4,786
International Fees vary within the range £22,600 - £27,500
See research topics pages for exact fee charged
£22,600

 

Fees vary for some research degrees so do confirm the cost for your chosen degree by checking the Fees and funding section on the relevant research topic page

› Additonal costs for international students.

When are fees due?

Tuition fees are typically payable in two 50% instalments, normally in September (at the start of your course) and January each year. See our student finance pages for more details.

Other course costs

In addition to tuition fees and living costs, your programme of study may have other costs associated with it, such as laboratory equipment or field trips. 

Should your research be anticipated to incur additional costs then a bench fee may be chargeable; the amount of such a fee and it’s components will be detailed in your offer letter.

The fees charged for study at the University of Exeter fall broadly into two categories:

  • Home
  • International

Your fee status classification depends on whether you meet certain criteria such as having ‘settled status’ in the UK and meeting a three year ordinary residence requirement. Full information can be found on the UK Council for International Student Affairs (UKCISA) website.

From 1 August 2021 the eligibility rules for Home fee status have changed for EU Students. Please refer to the UK Government website to see how this change affects you. Where EU students are not eligible for Home fees, they will be required to pay International fees.

Due to the Common Travel Area arrangement, Irish Nationals living in the UK or Ireland will be eligible for Home fee status; further information around eligibility is available at the above UKCISA link.

Please note that the University is unable to determine the fee status of an individual until after an application has been received and we are in receipt of full information concerning individual circumstances. This will then inform the decision as to whether a fee status assessment should be conducted.

If you have received an offer and you think your fee status is incorrect you have 28 days, from the date of your offer, to query your status. To query your fee status within the 28 day period please contact us at ad-feestatus@exeter.ac.uk stating your full name, Exeter Reference number (or UCAS personal ID), programme for which you have been made an offer and providing details of why you think the fee classification is incorrect.

We base our decisions on an applicant’s residence status at time of application and do not hold applications or make offers conditional on fee status. If you are classified as an international student but your situation changes before you have received a decision on your application or after receiving an offer we will conduct a fee reassessment. You will need to submit your new information before 1 September in the year the programme starts, e.g. evidence of British Citizenship or Indefinite Leave to Remain being granted.

There are some circumstances where fee status can change in subsequent years, however this is very unusual. Please note that obtaining British Citizenship or Indefinite Leave to Remain part way through a course will not on its own result in a change in fee status. Meeting a three year ordinary residence requirement after starting a course is also not possible due to it needing to be the full three-year period before the first day of the first academic year of the course.

Further details about exceptions can be found on the UKCISA website under the heading ‘Becoming ‘home’ after the course has started’.

From the 2021/22 academic year, new and continuing students living in the Crown Dependencies (the ‘Islands’), who come to England solely for the purposes of higher or further education study, will be eligible for home fee status, on the basis of 3 years’ residency in the UK or the Islands. The UK Government confirmed this eligibility in December 2020. For information on support available to you for tuition fees and living costs you should contact your island education offices.

Please visit our Student Finance webpage for Channel Islands students for more information.

If the duration of your chosen programme of study spans more than one academic year, the tuition fees for future years are expected to rise by a modest amount to take account of inflationary pressures. You can view tuition fees for students already studying with us on our Student Finance web pages.