Academics are "furious" as the University of Oxford prepares to backtrack on its scrapping of application fees.

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

A long-time contested issue, university academics voted resoundingly against Oxford’s leadership in April 2020.

This was to endorse a binding resolution which committed to scrapping the fee by the 2024-25 academic year and to prevent further increases in the fee in the meantime.

READ MORE: University of Oxford labelled ‘inaccessible’ after £446 event tickets

Dr Benjamin Fernando has raised concerns.Dr Benjamin Fernando has raised concerns. (Image: University of Oxford)

Now a motion brought to the University’s Parliament to scrap the planned removal of the £75 application fee for graduate admission that was scheduled for September 2024.

The move has surprised and angered many with the motion coming less than four months before the start of the new academic year.

Mike Cassidy, who co-led the campaign whilst at Oxford in 2020 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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The University acknowledged in September 2020 that the four-year timescale for the fee’s removal gave it adequate time to make the necessary financial adjustments.

“The four year period for phasing out the application fee gives us the time to plan for this,” said a university spokesperson at the time.

The University of Cambridge followed Oxford’s lead, scrapping its own fee for PhD admissions in 2022.

Now the class question is being asked as to how students from poorer backgrounds are supported by the university when some will be excluded by the cost of the fee.

READ MORE: University of Oxford labelled 'elitist' over £446 tickets

The University of Oxford.The University of Oxford. (Image: Newsquest)

Dr Benjamin Fernando of the university’s Department of Physics said: “Attempting to schedule this vote at this late hour, and outside of term time, is underhand and dishonest.

“Honestly, I am ashamed at this move.

“It calls into question Oxford’s claims to want to try and recruit more students from underprivileged backgrounds”.

This follows other cost controversies earlier this year at the University of Oxford like when it was revealed that ball tickets would cost a whopping £446.

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What the University of Oxford's website says on the application fee.What the University of Oxford's website says on the application fee. (Image: University of Oxford)

Pembroke College charged the fee for its 400th birthday ball meaning a ticket was more expensive than the average monthly student rent in the UK.

“You wonder why Oxford is so inaccessible for working class students... £446 for one college ball,” said Human Sciences student Chloe Pomfret on X.

The University of Oxford will comment on the motion next week following a vote.

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