Program Overview

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Study

Key information

Award:

MPhil

PhD

Study mode:

Full time

Part time

Campus:

Strand Campus

Duration:

Expected to be MPhil two years FT, three years PT; PhD three years FT, four- six years PT; September to September, January to January or April to April

How to apply

1. Approach the department

Before submitting an application, it is best to make informal email contact with a potential supervisor. Please consult the ‘People’ section of our website for details of staff expertise and publications. Then you can gain some initial feedback on your proposed topic, see who in the Department might be best placed to supervise your project and find out whether they are taking on new students. If you are unsure who to contact, please get in touch with the Postgraduate Research Lead on .

Admission to our research programmes will initially be for the MPhil but we expect students to transfer to the PhD after between 12 and 18 months (or part time equivalent) by agreement with their supervisor and the Departmental Postgraduate and Research Committee. This process is called the ‘upgrading’ and involves submission of a dossier followed by an informal interview with their second supervisor and another member of the Department.

2. Documents to prepare for your application

You will be asked to submit the following documents in order for your application to be considered:

• Personal Statement: A personal statement is required. This can be entered directly into the online application form (maximum 4,000 characters) or uploaded as an attachment to the online application form (maximum 2 pages).
• Research Proposal: Please see guidance below
• Previous Academic Study: A copy (or copies) of your official academic transcript(s), showing the subjects studied and marks obtained. If you have already completed your degree, copies of your official degree certificate will also be required. Applicants with academic documents issued in a language other than English, will need to submit both the original and official translation of their documents.
• References: One academic reference is required. A professional reference will be accepted if you have completed your qualifications over five years ago.
• Writing Sample: Ideally, an essay of no more than 5,000 words, preferably on a topic related to your chosen research topic. If you have completed your MA or BA more than 10 years ago, you will normally be expected to submit a new piece of work.
• Travel Plan: Yes (Joint programme only) If applying for the joint programme, please include the names of your supervisors from both institutions and include a completed travel plan form.
• Other: Optional You may also wish to include a CV (Resume) or evidence of professional registration as part of your application.

3. Tips for writing your proposal

A key part of your application is your research proposal. Here are some guidelines on writing a successful proposal:

• takes time! You should expect to write it over a number of weeks, involving fresh research, feedback from friends and a tutor, and careful polishing. There is no specific format for the proposal, but around 2-4 pages words) is recommended.
• is a crucial part of your application, which is mainly judged on the quality of your ideas, more than on any personal qualities or previous experience. Your independent development of a strong proposal is the first test of your ability to do a successful PhD.
• need only be indicative: you don’t need to have written the book before applying for the PhD. Everyone knows that applicants are expressing an interest in an area rather than mastery of it, and that projects change a lot over the three years of studying. But you should describe a project that excites you personally at the time of applying.

Things to include:

1. Title: is it clear and appealing? Does it contain keywords and suggest your project’s place in a recognisable field of scholarship? Would it point us to a suitable supervisor without too much difficulty?
2. Clear statement on what you want to work on and why it is important and . What questions will you be addressing? Is there a lack in the existing research area that you can identify? Are you showing an ambition to make an intervention in the broader field of English studies?
3. Background knowledge and clear reference to existing research in this area. If you have found a research ‘gap’ you could say where the other relevant debates appear to stop.
4. Some discussion of the methods you might use, and why you are using them
5. An indication of the research strategy and a rough timeframe of key milestones
6. Key primary and secondary references, presented according to an academic convention. This can either be throughout the text, in footnotes, or in a final short bibliography.

Funding

Many of our incoming students apply for AHRC funding via the London Arts and Humanities Partnership. Please see their website ( for more detail of deadlines, application procedure and awards available.

Also the ‘Student Funding’ section of the Prospectus will give you more information on other scholarships available from King’s.

Application closing date

We encourage you to apply as early as possible so that there is sufficient time for your application to be assessed. We may need to request further information from you during the application process.

The final application deadlines are detailed below; on these dates, the programme will close at 23:59 (UK time) and we will open for the corresponding intake in 2026 soon after the same intake has passed in 2025.

• February 2025 entry – 20 October 2024 for Overseas fee status and 20 November 2024 for Home fee status
• June 2025 entry – 20 March 2025 for Overseas fee status and 11 April 2025 for Home fee status
• October 2025 entry – 25 July 2025 for Overseas fee status and 25 August 2025 for Home fee status
• February 2026 entry – 20 October 2025 for Overseas fee status and 20 November 2025 for Home fee status
• June 2026 entry – 20 March 2026 for Overseas fee status and 11 April 2026 for Home fee status

Please note that funding deadlines may be earlier than the application deadlines listed above.

Submit a formal application

To submit a formal application, please register on our online application system King's Apply. If you have applied to King's previously, including via UCAS, you should already have an account. If are unable to access the online postgraduate application form, please contact our King's Advisors for advice. Please find more information here.

Fees or Funding

UK Tuition Fees 2024/25

Full time tuition fees:

• £6,168 per year (MPhil/PhD, English Research)
• £6,168 per year (MPhil/PhD, English Research with Humboldt-Universität Zu Berlin/University of Hong Kong/National University of Singapore)

Part time tuition fees:

• £3,084 per year (MPhil/PhD, English Research)
• £3,084 per year (MPhil/PhD, English Research with Humboldt-Universität Zu Berlin)

International Tuition Fees 2024/25

Full time tuition fees:

• £24,786 per year (MPhil/PhD, English Research)
• £24,786 per year (MPhil/PhD, English Research with Humboldt-Universität Zu Berlin/University of Hong Kong/National University of Singapore)

Part time tuition fees:

• £12,393 per year (MPhil/PhD, English Research)
• £12,393 per year (MPhil/PhD, English Research with Humboldt-Universität Zu Berlin)

UK Tuition Fees 2025/26

Full time tuition fees:

• £6,600 per year (MPhil/PhD, English Research)
• £6,600 per year (MPhil/PhD, English Research with Humboldt-Universität Zu Berlin/University of Hong Kong/National University of Singapore)

Part time tuition fees:

• £3,300 per year (MPhil/PhD, English Research)
• £3,300 per year (MPhil/PhD, English Research with Humboldt-Universität Zu Berlin)

International Tuition Fees 2025/26

Full time tuition fees:

• £27,100 per year (MPhil/PhD, English Research)
• £27,100 per year (MPhil/PhD, English Research with Humboldt-Universität Zu Berlin/University of Hong Kong/National University of Singapore)

Part time tuition fees:

• £13,550 per year (MPhil/PhD, English Research)
• £13,550 per year (MPhil/PhD, English Research with Humboldt-Universität Zu Berlin)

These tuition fees may be subject to additional increases in subsequent years of study, in line with King’s terms and conditions.

Study environment

Base campus

Strand Campus

Located on the north bank of the River Thames, the Strand Campus houses King's College London's arts and sciences faculties.

Study environment

We place great emphasis on pastoral care and are a friendly and welcoming department. Our home in the new Virginia Woolf Building offers many spaces for postgraduate students to work and socialise. Studying in London means students have access to a huge range of libraries from the Maughan Library at King’s to the Senate House Library at the University of London and the British Library. In addition, archives and special collections abound: for instance The Women’s Library at LSE.

The department hosts a number of vibrant research seminars series and symposia open to all graduate students. In addition, there is a student-led graduate seminar series called ‘The Abstract’ and an online journal which allow students to present, discuss and publish their work. We also organise an annual graduate conference attended by students and staff in the department which provides a friendly and supportive forum in which research students can give papers on their work. Students are encouraged to organise their own events, with Departmental and College support.

Postgraduate training

There is a range of induction events and training provided for students by the Graduate School, the Faculty of Arts and Humanities and the English Department.

A significant number of our students are AHRC-funded through the London Arts and Humanities Partnership (LAHP) which also provides doctoral training to all students. All students take the ‘Doctoral Seminar’ in their first year. This is a series of informal, staff-led seminars on research skills in which students can share and gain feedback on their own work.

We run a series of ‘Skills Lunches’, which are informal lunch meetings with staff, covering specific topics, including Upgrading, Attending Conferences, Applying for Funding and Post-Doctoral Awards, etc. Topics for these sessions are generally suggested by the students themselves, so are particularly responsive to student needs.

We have an Early Career Staff Mentor who runs more formal workshops of varying kinds, particularly connected to career development and the professions (for example, ‘Applying for Jobs’ and ‘How to Write an Academic CV’). Furthermore, individual research groups within the department also provide various forms of trainings, including ‘Work in Progress’ sessions, in which students raise research/methodology questions related to their own projects. Through our Graduate Teaching Assistantship Scheme, doctoral students are given the opportunity to teach in the department (usually in their second year of study) and are trained and supported as they do so.

Entry requirements

UK requirements

• A Bachelor's degree with 1st Class honours in English
• or a Master of Arts in English with High Merit - 65% or higher in the UK system

International Students wishing to apply using their Master's qualifications will have their applications assessed on a case-by-case basis.

Equivalent International qualifications

• Select a country
• Afghanistan
• Albania
• Algeria
• Andorra
• Angola
• Anguilla
• Antigua & Barbuda
• Argentina
• Armenia
• Aruba
• Australasia
• Australia
• Austria
• Azerbaijan
• Bahamas
• Bahrain
• Bangladesh
• Barbados
• Belarus
• Belgium
• Belize
• Benin
• Bermuda
• Bhutan
• Bolivia
• Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Botswana
• Brazil
• British Virgin Islands
• Brunei
• Brunei Darussalam
• Bulgaria
• Burkina Faso
• Burundi
• Cambodia
• Cameroon
• Canada
• Cape Verde
• Cayman Islands
• Central African Republic
• Chad
• Chile
• China
• Colombia
• Comoros
• Cook Islands
• Costa Rica
• Cote d'Ivoire
• Croatia
• Cuba
• Cyprus
• Czechia (Czech Republic)
• Democratic Republic of the Congo
• Denmark
• Djibouti
• Dominica
• Dominican Republic
• East Timor
• Ecuador
• Egypt
• El Salvador
• Equatorial Guinea
• Eritrea
• Estonia
• Eswatini
• Ethiopia
• Falkland Islands
• Fiji
• Finland
• France
• Gabon
• Georgia
• Germany
• Ghana
• Gibraltar
• Greece
• Grenada
• Guatemala
• Guinea
• Guinea-Bissau
• Guyana
• Haiti
• Home Fee Status Students
• Honduras
• Hong Kong SAR
• Hungary
• Iceland
• India
• Indonesia
• Iran
• Iraq
• Ireland
• Israel
• Italy
• Jamaica
• Japan
• Jordan
• Kazakhstan
• Kenya
• Kiribati
• Kosovo
• Kuwait
• Kyrgyzstan
• Laos
• Latvia
• Lebanon
• Lesotho
• Liberia
• Libya
• Liechtenstein
• Lithuania
• Luxembourg
• Macau
• Madagascar
• Malawi
• Malaysia
• Maldives
• Mali
• Malta
• Marshall Islands
• Mauritania
• Mauritius
• Mexico
• Micronesia
• Moldova
• Monaco
• Mongolia
• Montenegro
• Montserrat
• Morocco
• Mozambique
• Myanmar
• Namibia
• Nauru
• Nepal
• Netherlands
• New Zealand
• Nicaragua
• Niger
• Nigeria
• North Korea
• North Macedonia
• Norway
• Oman
• Pakistan
• Palau
• Palestine
• Panama
• Papua New Guinea
• Paraguay
• Peru
• Philippines
• Poland
• Portugal
• Puerto Rico
• Qatar
• Republic of the Congo
• Romania
• Russia
• Rwanda
• Samoa
• San Marino
• São Tomé and Príncipe
• Saudi Arabia
• Senegal
• Serbia
• Seychelles
• Sierra Leone
• Singapore
• Slovakia
• Slovenia
• Solomon Islands
• Somalia
• South Africa
• South Korea
• South Sudan
• Spain
• Sri Lanka
• St Kitts and Nevis
• St. Helena
• St. Kitts & Nevis
• St. Lucia
• St. Vincent & the Grenadines
• Sudan
• Suriname
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• Syria
• Taiwan
• Tajikistan
• Tanzania
• Thailand
• The Gambia
• Togo
• Tonga
• Trinidad and Tobago
• Tunisia
• Türkiye
• Turkmenistan
• Turks and Caicos Islands
• Tuvalu
• Uganda
• Ukraine
• United Arab Emirates
• United Kingdom
• United States of America
• Uruguay
• Uzbekistan
• Vanuatu
• Venezuela
• Vietnam
• Wales
• Yemen
• Zambia
• Zimbabwe

English language requirements

English language band:

C

To study at King's, it is essential that you can communicate in English effectively in an academic environment. You are usually required to provide certification of your competence in English before starting your studies.

Nationals of majority English speaking countries (as defined by the UKVI) who have permanently resided in this country are not usually required to complete an additional English language test. This is also the case for applicants who have successfully completed an undergraduate degree (of at least three years duration), a postgraduate taught degree (of at least one year), or a PhD in a majority English speaking country (as defined by the UKVI) within five years of the course start date.

For information on our English language requirements and whether you need to complete an English language test, please see our English Language requirements page.