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. 

Before applying we recommend securing a supervisor in order to apply for your research project.

We advise getting in touch with the Director of Postgraduate Education making an informal enquiry for your chosen research degree to inquire whether there is any other additional material they require you to submit in your application.

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 (UK) students tuition fee per year*: £4,786

EU and international students tuition fee per year**: £25,500

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

…How do I pay for it? Find out more about funding options, including loans, grants, scholarships and bursaries. 

* and ** These tuition fees apply to students enrolled on a full-time basis in the academic year 2025/26.

* Please note that for research courses, we adopt the minimum fee level recommended by the UK Research Councils for the Home tuition fee. Each year, the fee level is adjusted in line with inflation (currently, the measure used is the Treasury GDP deflator). Fees displayed here are therefore subject to change and are usually confirmed in the spring of the year of entry. For more information on the Research Council Indicative Fee please see the UKRI website.

** This figure is the fee for EU and international students starting a degree in the academic year 2025/26.  

Royal Holloway reserves the right to increase fees for overseas fee-paying students annually. Be aware that tuition fees can rise during your degree (if longer than one year’s duration), and that this also means that the overall cost of studying the course part-time will be slightly higher than studying it full-time in one year. The annual increase for continuing students who start their degree in 2025/26 will be 5%.  For further information see fees and funding and the  terms and conditions.

*** These estimated costs relate to studying this particular degree at Royal Holloway during the 2025/26 academic year and are included as a guide. Costs, such as accommodation, food, books and other learning materials and printing, have not been included.