Financial Declaration
- Purpose of the Financial Declaration
- Where to find information about your costs whilst on course
- Points you must consider in your financial planning
- Submitting the Financial Declaration
- Supporting documentation for Year 1 of your University and College fees
- Fees after Year 1, and living costs
- Continuing Students
- A note on any separate financial checks for college accommodation
Purpose of the Financial Declaration
If you receive an offer of a place, your college will require you to complete a Financial Declaration form to meet your financial condition of admission. This aims to ensure that you are fully aware of the expected fees and living costs associated with your chosen course of study at Oxford. It is your opportunity to consider very carefully the financial commitment you are entering into, and to take full responsibility for it. If you cannot pay your fees and living costs, you will not normally be able to continue your studies.
When you complete your Financial Declaration, you will be asked to:
- Show that you have sufficient funding to cover the University and College fees for Year 1 of your course, by providing financial evidence such as a letter from your scholarship sponsor or your bank
- Give your assurance that you are able and willing to meet all University and College fees beyond Year 1, if the duration of your course is longer than a year (no financial evidence is required)
- Give your assurance that you are able and willing to meet your living costs for the duration of your course (no financial evidence is required)
Where to find information about your costs whilst on course
University and college fees
The Fees and living costs section of this website contains the most up-to-date lists of University fees and College fees. You can also use our Fees, Funding & Scholarship Search to search for fees, living costs and funding for specific courses of study in 2014/15.
Continuation charges
The standard period for which you will be liable to pay the University fee and College fee is usually the same as the standard length of your programme. If you complete the standard period of University fee liability and remain on course beyond this period, the University will levy a continuation charge. The College may also levy a continuation charge which will be detailed in your college offer letter.
Living costs
The University’s living costs page explains what living costs you will need to budget for and helps you consider other costs (e.g. cost of dependants, set-up costs) that you may incur. Please note that the likely living costs for the 2014/15 academic year are expected to be published in October 2013.
Points you must consider in your financial planning
University and college scholarships
These are almost always awarded during the application process before you join the University. It is vital that you do not rely on being able to obtain such scholarship funding once you start your course.
Paid work
The University recognises that some graduate students will want to undertake a limited amount of paid work during their studies, whether as part of their academic development (e.g. teaching and demonstrating) or to help to support themselves financially. The University has Paid Work guidelines which you must read. The guidelines aim to ensure that any paid work undertaken does not adversely affect students’ success in their studies or their ability to complete their course on time. In addition, some graduates will have prescribed limits on how many hours’ paid work they can do, which must be observed: for example, graduates funded by research councils and some other scholarships, and those graduates with student visas. Individual colleges may also have guidelines. Students should be aware that demand for part-time paid work in Oxford often exceeds the amount of paid work available, whether it is academic paid work or other forms of paid work. For this reason, graduate students should not rely on the availability of paid work to fund their University and college fees and their living costs when planning how to finance their studies and completing this Financial Declaration.
Specific course-related costs
The living costs set out on this form do not include specific costs which may be related to some courses of study, such as field trips, consumables etc. You should read the information provided by your department to see if any such costs are likely to apply to you, or contact your department if you are unsure. You will need to cover any such costs in addition to the living cost amounts set out on this form.
Exchange rates
If your source(s) of financial support are not in GB pounds (£), your financial planning should allow for variations in the currency exchange rate.
Dependants
The living costs set out on this form are for a single person: you will need to plan how you will fund any dependants whom you plan to bring to Oxford with you. This website also provides advice on the likely costs which might be incurred by any dependants (e.g. a partner, a child) living in Oxford. It is your responsibility to ensure that you have enough funds to meet the living costs of your whole family. Please note that childcare costs in particular can be high.
University student contract
Separate from the Financial Declaration process and in order to enrol as a student, you will be sent a student contract with the University once you have fulfilled the conditions of your offer of study, which you will need to sign. A copy is available for reference only. When you sign the University student contract, you will be entering into a legal obligation to pay the fees and charges due from you to the University. A failure to pay fees when due may lead to your access to University premises and facilities being suspended (section 1, 5, 13(b) of Appendix 1 to the Examination Regulations) and you will not be presented for a degree until you have paid all sums due to the University (part 1, 1.1 of the Regulations for Degrees, Diplomas and Certificates).
College student contract
You may also need to sign a student contract with the College once you have fulfilled the conditions of your offer of study. Your college will advise if this is the case. The College student contract includes the legal obligation to pay the fees and charges due from you to the College. A failure to pay fees and charges when due may lead to the imposition of disciplinary measures by the College, which may include suspension or expulsion.
Submitting the Financial Declaration
Your college will ask you to complete a Financial Declaration form once you have been offered a place. You should then return the form to the point of contact listed on the form. This is a necessary step for your University contract to be issued to you.
If you require a visa to study at Oxford, you can only apply once you have met all the conditions in your University and college offer letters, and once your offer to study becomes unconditional. Submitting the Financial Declaration form is an important part of the process of meeting your college conditions. Please note that the evidence you will need to supply for your visa application may be different from the financial information that you use to complete the Financial Declaration form.
Supporting documentation for Year 1 of your University and College fees
You need to submit copies of documentation detailing any scholarships, loans, savings etc which you will use to meet your University and College fees in Year 1 only of your course. If your funding for your University and College fees for Year 1 is coming from multiple sources, you must provide relevant evidence for each source.
All supporting documentation should be provided in written English; where an original is not available in English, both the foreign language document and a translated copy are required.
Please convert all non-UK currency into GB pounds (£).
Scholarship or Award
An official communication is required from the award sponsor, confirming the specific amount of funding that will be provided towards the Year 1 fees.
Family Funded / Private Sponsor / Self Funded
If a grant or loan is expected from parents or other persons, you should include a letter from them, accepting responsibility for meeting the Year 1 fees costs and confirming the specific amount of funding being provided and the duration it is to be provided for.
This letter should be accompanied by supporting evidence, from an employer or professional adviser, such as a bank manager, accountant, or lawyer, showing that sufficient funds are available and vouching for the ability and willingness to pay of the person writing the letter. In exceptional circumstances where a statement from a professional adviser cannot be obtained, copies of bank statements showing a consistent level of available funding may be accepted at the college's discretion.
If you are self-financing, you should arrange for similar statements and evidence to be sent. Any employment contract for whilst you are studying must fall within the University's Paid Work Guidelines.
Guaranteed income or pension, if this source meets the University’s Guidelines on Paid Work
You should include a letter from your employer confirming the length of contract, and that you will receive a regular salary payment that is at a sufficient level to support your Year 1 fees (a pay slip alone may not be acceptable). For pension funds, you should include a letter from your pensions provider, or provider of similar support, stating the level of payment and timing of payment which will cover your year 1 fees.
University Employee Support
A letter from the Head of Department confirming the level of support provided by the department towards the Year 1 fees is needed. If the employment contract is shorter than the anticipated length of Year 1 of the course, the letter must confirm that the department will cover fees at the stipulated level if the contract is not renewed. If departmental funding does not cover the whole of the Year 1 fees, other funding must be shown to be available to cover any shortfall.
Fees after Year 1, and living costs
You need to plan how you will fund the costs of any fees for any years remaining beyond Year 1 of your course, and your living costs, but you do not need to provide supporting documentation to show how you will meet these.
Continuing Students
If you are a current Oxford student who has been accepted onto a new course of study, you will be asked to complete a new Financial Declaration form and will not be covered automatically by any previous form.
A note on any separate financial checks for college accommodation
The Financial Declaration form is an integral part of the graduate admissions process. Colleges may separately undertake rent assurance processes (e.g. credit control, deposits, payment of rent upfront, tenancy agreements etc) for students who apply for college accommodation. Any rent assurances are undertaken outside the Financial Declaration process and are unrelated to satisfying the conditions of an offer of admission.