There is considerable opportunity for research students to work together at Royal Holloway.

Both the Poetics Research Centre and the Centre for Victorian Studies run lively event series.

Doctoral students participate in and lead a variety of research seminars, including the Contemporary Innovative Poetry Research Seminar, the Shakespeare Reading Group, the Nineteenth-Century Reading Group, the London 19th Century Studies seminar, and the Finnegans Wake Research Seminar.

Encouragement and support is given to students who wish to present their work at or run conferences.

The Doctoral School runs numerous events and is an important source of information for the Postgraduate Research community at Royal Holloway.

Creative writing and practice-based students also find numerous platforms to disseminate their work. The School of Humanities runs a series of seminars, workshops and lectures for practice-based students. Discipline-specific research training is available through departmental, School and College programmes.

PhD:

• Dissertation not more than 100,000 words
• Viva voce examination.

Practice-based PhD:

Fiction

• 60,000–90,000 words of creative writing;
• 20,000–60,000 words of critical writing.
• Viva voce examination

Poetry and Poetic Practice

• 45–60 pages of poetry or equivalent practice-based output;
• 20,000–60,000 words of critical writing.
• Viva voce examination

MA by research:

• Dissertation of not more than 40,000 words, plus (at the discretion of the examiners) a viva voce examination.

We typically expect students beginning an MPhil or an MPhil leading to a PhD degree to hold at least a 2:1 or equivalent for their undergraduate degree and at least a merit or equivalent at Master’s level. There are minimum English language requirements for overseas students in line with general admission policies to the college.

English language requirements

All teaching at Royal Holloway (apart from some language courses) is in English. You will therefore need to have good enough written and spoken English to cope with your studies right from the start of your course.

The scores we require

• IELTS: 6.5 overall. Writing 7.0. No other subscore lower than 5.5.
• Pearson Test of English: 61 overall. Writing 69. No other subscore lower than 51.
• Trinity College London Integrated Skills in English (ISE): ISE III.
• Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE) grade C.
• TOEFL ib: 88 overall, with Reading 18 Listening 17 Speaking 20 Writing 26.

Country-specific requirements

For more information about country-specific entry requirements for your country please see here.

Many of our PhD graduates have gone on to successful academic careers in tertiary and secondary education. Others have obtained posts at the British Library, Shakespeare’s Globe and a wide variety of museum, curation and arts management projects. Some practice-based graduates now work in Creative Writing posts in academic institutions, and many have published successful (and in many cases award-winning) novels and books of poetry.

Home and EU students tuition fee per year*: £4,345

International students tuition fee per year**: £17,800

Other essential costs***: There are no individual costs greater than £50 per item.