UK to increase PhD stipend to £21,805 from October

The United Kingdom will increase the minimum stipend paid to PhD students from October 1, raising annual support to £21,805 for the next academic year.

This is according to an announcement by UK Research and Innovation, the country’s national research funding body.

The increase represents another above-inflation uplift and is aimed at easing cost-of-living pressures facing doctoral researchers across the UK.

According to UK Research and Innovation, the new rate raises the minimum stipend from £20,780 to £21,805 for PhD students outside London.

• For students based in London, the minimum stipend will increase from £22,780 to £23,805, reflecting a 4.5% rise.
• UKRI said the uplift forms part of its ongoing efforts to improve financial support for doctoral researchers and make PhD study more sustainable amid rising living costs.
• In addition to stipends, UKRI also announced an increase in the minimum fee it pays universities per UKRI-funded PhD student. The fee will rise by 4.6%, from £5,006 to £5,238.

Beyond financial support, UKRI has also introduced reforms to student welfare policies. These include allowing doctoral researchers to take up to 28 weeks of medical leave, a change designed to make it easier for students to extend their studies when necessary and reduce barriers for disabled PhD candidates.

The decision follows sustained pressure from student groups, particularly in London, over the affordability of doctoral study.

According to a report, students’ unions in the capital last year called for a £2,500 increase in stipends, warning that without stronger financial support, PhD programmes risk becoming accessible only to students from more privileged backgrounds.

UKRI had already implemented a significant increase in the previous academic year, raising the tax-free stipend by 8% in real terms. At the time, the funding body said the move was intended to bring PhD take-home pay closer to the national living wage.

Last year, government advisers in the UK recommended ending visa salary discounts for PhD holders under the Skilled Worker visa system, arguing that there is no evidence that doctorate holders are paid less than other skilled workers.

• This recommendation comes from the Migration Advisory Committee’s review, commissioned after the overall salary threshold for the visa route was raised.
• The committee suggested removing the special lower salary thresholds for PhD holders and moving to a simpler single new entrant salary threshold, reflecting concerns that current discounts are no longer justified.

Recall that in 2023, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and the Wellcome Trust cut back on funding for PhD programmes, reducing the number of Centres for Doctoral Training supported by EPSRC from 75 to around 40 and cutting overall funding from about £441 million in 2018 to roughly £324 million.