Entry requirements for postgraduate research programmes
Source: https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/study/postgraduate-research/entry/ Parent: https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/study/postgraduate-research/
Before applying to study a postgraduate research programme at the University, you must meet the entry requirements for your country, and the following School-specific requirements:
Qualifications
Faculties of Arts and Divinity
A good Masters degree related to your area of research.
Faculty of Science
A good first degree with Honours at 2.1 (UK) or the overseas equivalent.
School of Medicine
For the Doctorate in Medicine (MD) degree, you must have a medical qualification recognised by the UK General Medical Council.
Supporting documents and references
You must provide the following documents when you apply:
- CV, including your personal details with a history of your education and employment.
- Research proposal.
- Sample of academic written work in English.
- Two original signed academic references.
- Academic transcripts and degree certificates. These must be certified copies with official English translations if applicable. Do not send original documents as they cannot be returned.
- English language certificate to provide evidence of English proficiency if English is not your first language.
Research proposal and written work sample
- Research proposal: up to 500 words in English, for PhD, DLang, MPhil, MSc (Res) or MSt (Res) study
- Written work sample:
- Faculty of Arts: 2,000 words
- Faculty of Divinity: 2,000 words
- Faculty of Science: not required
Applicants who cannot provide a written work sample should contact the appropriate School for guidance.
The following School exceptions apply:
School of Art History
Research proposal:
- MSt (Res) programmes: 800 to 1000 words
- PhD programmes: 1000 to 1500 words
Where appropriate, proposals should include captioned images. All proposals must include a substantial bibliography listing relevant publications.
School of Classics
- Research proposal: 1,000 words and personal statement of up to 600 words.
- Written work sample: 2,500 to 5,000 words.
School of Chemistry
No research proposal or writing sample is required, but we would encourage applicants to specify what research projects they are interested in, or their preferred supervisor.
School of Computer Science
Read the School’s how to apply page to check requirements for the research proposal.
School of Divinity
Research proposal for Sacred Music MPhil: 300-word summary of research interest.
School of Earth and Environmental Sciences
No research proposal is required, but you should submit a personal or motivation statement of around 1,000 words and include:
- why you have chosen St Andrews and the particular project
- how your current study and future career plans fit with the project.
The selection committee and external funding bodies put great emphasis on this statement, so it is important it clearly applies to your chosen project. If you apply to more than one project, you must provide a personal statement for each.
University of St Andrews Business School, Department of Economics and Finance
- Research proposal: 2,000 words.
School of English
- Research proposal: 2,000 words, including draft title and chapter outlines where possible.
- Written work sample: 3,000 to 5,000-word critical essay. This can be an extract from a previous project or essay, or part of your dissertation.
Department of Film Studies
- Research proposal: 1,000 words
School of Geography and Sustainable Development
- Research proposal: 1,500 words
- Personal statement: up to 600 words
- Written work sample: your undergraduate or Masters dissertation, a published article, or similar.
School of International Relations
Research proposal for PhD: 1000 words (excluding bibliography and footnotes)\ Personal statement: please contact the School of International Relations to confirm the word count.
University of St Andrews Business School, Department of Management
- Research proposal: 1,500 words, excluding references.
- Written work sample: 3,000-word piece of academic work in the area you intend to study.
School of Modern Languages
Research proposal: 2,000 words.
School of Music
Research proposal for Sacred Music MPhil: 300-word summary of research interest.
Department of Philosophy
- Research proposal:
- For PhD: 1,000 words.
- For MPhil: 200-word summary of research interest, and the name of a proposed supervisor at the University of St Andrews or University of Stirling.
- Written work sample: 2,000 to 4,000 words.
School of Physics and Astronomy
A one-page personal statement is required. Read the Physics and Astronomy Postgraduate research page for more details and a list of research projects.
References
You must provide the details of two referees with your application, including their:
- name
- university or business
- country of their university or business
- university or business email.
The online application system will automatically send an email to the referees when you submit your final application. You will then receive a notification that we have contacted your referees requesting a reference.
We will require one reference from each referee.
Your referee will be emailed a link to a web form to complete a reference online or to upload a document. You and your School will receive a notification when each referee has successfully uploaded a reference.
Referees who do not provide a reference within two weeks of the first request will be automatically emailed once more. After this, it is your responsibility to ensure that your referees provide references.