About us

The Department of English at Royal Holloway offers expertise across the full chronological and specialist range of English literary study, forging a reputation as one of the most dynamic departments of English in the UK.

PhD students enjoy a varied and lively research culture based in both our London and Egham campuses. The Centre for Victorian Studies hosts popular lectures by international scholars, usually held in the Royal Holloway Picture Gallery, a superb and renowned collection of 19th-century paintings, while readings and performances from our Creative Writing students and internationally recognised staff are a regular feature of our cultural life. These are just examples of what there is to choose from to enrich your time at Royal Holloway and to bring intellectual engagement and community with your fellow researchers.

From time to time, we make changes to our courses to improve the student and learning experience. If we make a significant change to your chosen course, we’ll let you know as soon as possible.

Research facilities and environment

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.

Assessment

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.

Entry requirements

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.

Your future career

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.

Fees & funding

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

EU and international students tuition fee per year**: £23,400

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 2024/25.

* 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 2024/25. 

Royal Holloway reserves the right to increase all postgraduate tuition fees annually, based on the UK’s Retail Price Index (RPI). Please therefore 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. For further information, please see our terms and conditions.

*** These estimated costs relate to studying this particular degree at Royal Holloway during the 2024/25 academic year and are included as a guide. Costs, such as accommodation, food, books and other learning materials and printing, have not been included. 