This is the largest real terms increase in the stipend for UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) funded students since 2003.
The changes we are making to the terms and conditions that govern our funding for doctoral training will take effect from the start of the 2025 to 2026 academic year.
These changes include:
- allowing students to take up to 28 weeks medical leave
- making it easier for students who take medical or additional leave to get an extension to their studentship
- removing barriers that might prevent disabled students from getting support
- ensuring that students are treated in a way that is transparent and fair
UKRI is committed to considering changes as part of its work on the new deal for postgraduate research. These reforms will support the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity.
Widening access to diverse and fulfilling careers
UKRI Chief Executive Ottoline Leyser said:
UKRI’s investments in postgraduate students are part of the bedrock of our portfolio. Postgraduate training is critical to building the workforce needed for an innovation-led economy and public sector, and to delivering outstanding research and innovation outcomes.
To capture these benefits, postgraduate training must be accessible to a wide range of people, and to support them to reach their full potential. The increase in the postgraduate stipend and changes in terms and conditions we are announcing today are part of our ongoing work to forge a new deal for postgraduates, widening access to the diverse and fulfilling careers that research and innovation has to offer.
Increasing the minimum stipend
By making this increase to the stipend, we aim to provide an amount at least equivalent to the take-home income from the national living wage over the 2025 to 2026 academic year. The rate of national living wage beyond March 2026 is still not known.
The real-terms increase to the stipend reflects our ongoing commitment to attracting, retaining and developing people.
We are also today publishing a report, which finds broad support from research organisations and grant holders for setting the stipend in line with the national living wage.
We will continue to reflect on the conclusions of the report, changes to the remit of the Low Pay Commission, and UKRI’s future funding settlement.
We will then update on our approach to setting future stipend rates.
We are not planning to reduce student recruitment for the forthcoming year in light of this announcement. We will be contacting research organisations to confirm financial arrangements for the stipend uplift in the coming weeks.
Support for students
UKRI is also publishing updates to the standard terms and conditions of training grants which take effect from the start of the 2025 to 2026 academic year. Research organisations that are in receipt of UKRI funding will need to act now to ensure that they are ready when the new rules are introduced.
As well as allowing additional funding for some students, the reforms will give research organisations more flexibility to support their UKRI funded students, as long as their policies are in line with any relevant legal and statutory requirement.
The new rules will contribute to a system that is better equipped to support students no matter what their background or needs. It follows evidence-led approach that demonstrates better support for students will contribute to improved student outcomes.
The full set of changes and why UKRI is making the reforms are set out in the review of the training grant conditions policy statement.
Other changes
Further changes are expected in 2025. The minimum fee for a UKRI student (drawn by the student’s research organisation from the UKRI grant) will increase by 4.6% to £5,006. This small real-terms increase in value compared to 2024 to 2025 goes beyond our standard approach to reflect a fall in value in recent years.
Later in the year UKRI will recruit a panel of research organisations to the next phase of its work on the full economic cost of training doctoral students.
We are also phasing out the Je-S studentship details functionality (SDF) that research organisations use to submit data to UKRI to manage their grants, due to the transition to the UKRI Funding Service.
Details of the UKRI studentship data portal project, which will replace the Je-S SDF, will be announced in the spring.
Further information
Over the next year, significant changes are being made to the support available to UKRI funded students through our training grant funds and their management.
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