University Composition Fee
The University Composition Fee (UCF) covers the cost of your teaching and supervision, and access to University and College facilities and support services.
The value of the fee depends on your course and your fee status. The Course Fees table below shows the annual UCF for the 2026/27 academic year.
You're liable to pay the fee for at least the following number of research terms, depending on your qualification and mode of study.
| Qualification | Full-time | Part-time |
|---|---|---|
| PhD, CPGS | 9 terms (3 years) | 15 terms (5 years) at 0.6 FTE 12 terms (4 years) at 0.75 FTE |
| MLitt, MSc | 6 terms (2 years) | 10 terms (3⅓ years) |
| MPhil | 3 terms (1 year) | 6 terms (2 years) |
For part-time students, your annual UCF will be reduced to reflect the proportion of time spent in study. See Part-time fees for more information.
Payment of fees
The University Composition Fee is collected by your College at the start of term (or just before), along with any College-related living costs (eg rent, meals in College etc). Some Colleges will invoice you for the whole year at the beginning of the course. Your College will explain how payments should be made and the relevant deadlines.
Master of Advanced Study (MASt) courses, which are the equivalent of a fourth undergraduate year, are treated as undergraduate courses for fee purposes. Overseas students on these courses are also charged the undergraduate College fee (not included in the table below).