The University of Oxford has voted against scrapping application fees this week.

Students who are applying to study a Master’s or PhD course are required to pay a £75 application fee for graduate admission.

University academics voted resoundingly against Oxford’s leadership in April 2020 resulting in a resolution that would see the fee scrapped by the 2024-25 academic year.

This has now been voted against by the university this week leaving many connected with the university dismayed and disappointed given that the reversed plans had been in place for years.

The university says that this vote was to restore the fee only to those students who do not meet their access criteria.

Dr Benjamin Fernando of the university’s Department of Physics said: “This is such a disappointing move and sends exactly the wrong message about what kind of institution we want Oxford to be.

READ MORE: Academics ‘furious’ as University of Oxford prepares U-turn on scrapping of fees

Benjamin Fernando is based at the University of Oxford.Benjamin Fernando is based at the University of Oxford. (Image: Benjamin Fernando)

“We are pushing for a postal vote on the matter which will hopefully allow many more academics to share how against this proposal we are.

“The university has had nearly five years to plan for this change and acknowledged several years ago that this was enough time to make the switch.

“It’s disingenuous of those proposing this motion to suggest that it will result in an unavoidable overload of applications - there’s been plenty of time to plan for the change.

“It’s telling that the university’s leadership did not come out in support of this change, probably because they realised that rowing back on a flagship access project was a terrible look.”

Despite the backlash, the University of Oxford has defended the choice to stand by application fees and the U-turn on abolishing them.

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A spokesperson for the institution said: "Oxford is committed to improving access to graduate study for those from the least advantaged backgrounds, and currently under-represented at the university.

“In recent years, Oxford has implemented sector-leading graduate access initiatives, including application fee waivers for under-represented and socio-economically disadvantaged UK students and for students applying from low-income countries.

"The removal of application fees on all graduate applications had been planned for September 2024.

“A meeting of Congregation has now voted to retain the application fee for students who do not meet our access criteria.

“Congregation members still have the option to call for a postal and electronic vote, but if this decision is confirmed, the fee will be retained for those students and the revenue used to support our ambitious priorities for graduate access."

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Radcliffe Camera at the University of Oxford.Radcliffe Camera at the University of Oxford. (Image: Newsquest)

Mike Cassidy, who co-led the campaign whilst at Oxford in 2020, previously said: “Like it or loathe it, but students who graduate from Oxford go on to have a huge influence in society.

“We know that this fee deters talented students who can’t afford a £75 bet on a place at Oxford, which biases the make-up of the graduate population including what influential roles they have in the future.”

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