General entry requirements

Minimum requirements

65% (or equivalent) in an undergraduate degree in English literature or a related degree. Applicants may be required to provide a writing sample to demonstrate suitability for the course.

English language requirements

You can find out more about our English language requirementsLink opens in a new window. This course requires the following:

• Band C
• IELTS overall score of 7.5, minimum component scores of two at 6.5/7.0 and the rest at 7.5 or above.

International qualifications

We welcome applications from students with other internationally recognised qualifications.

For more information, please visit the international entry requirements pageLink opens in a new window.

Additional requirements

Applicants are required to submit a writing sample, normally an essay from their undergraduate studies. Applicants are encouraged to consult their potential supervisor and/or the Director of Graduate Studies before applying.

Our research

Our research is interdisciplinary and comparative. We have particular strengths in American studies, eighteenth and nineteenth-century studies, environmentalism and ecocriticism, gender studies, the literary and cultural history of the medieval and early-modern period, performance studies, poetics, postcolonial studies, and World Literature.

Our major research groups include the Critical Theory Network, Feminist Dissent, the Centre for Ecopoetics, Poetry at Warwick, and the Warwick Research Collective (WReC).

We also work closely with the Centre for the Study of the Renaissance; the Centre for Research into Philosophy, Literature, and the Arts; the Early Modern and Eighteenth-Century Centre; the Yesu Persaud Centre for Caribbean Studies; the Critical South Asia Group; and the Centre for the Study of Women and Gender.

We particularly welcome research applications in the following research areasLink opens in a new window.

You can also read our general University research proposal guidance.

Find a supervisor

You can ask any academic from our department to be your supervisor. See our staff pages for more details and to see whose research interests align with yours.

You can also see our general University guidance about finding a supervisor.

Research proposals

Students should compose a statement of up to 500 words about their proposed area of study. This should situate a topic within a particular chronological, conceptual or thematic area, and should make specific reference to bodies of theoretical knowledge, texts, or authors which will be studied.

You should also locate the topic within current critical work in this area, perhaps citing a few recent secondary works which have interested, inspired or provoked you. Given the space constraints, we do not require a bibliography or full citations. This is not the place for a personal statement about your past career or future aspirations.

We recognise, of course, that all projects change and evolve during the process of doctoral study, and that it is difficult to define a project in advance of carrying it out. However, it is very important, when assessing applications, for us to have a clear idea of your project and your current thinking.

Candidates are encouraged to contact a potential supervisor and seek their support before submitting their application. You can search for a prospective supervisor on our websiteLink opens in a new window.

In addition to a supervisor or supervisors, accepted students will be assigned a personal tutor (who offers academic and pastoral support) from amongst the academic staff of the Department. Students may have a co-supervisor from within or outside the Department, where appropriate.

Students applying for funding to the Midlands4Cities Open Doctoral Award competition must have two supervisors, with the second supervisor being based either at Warwick or at one of the partner universities.

The Department of English and Comparative Literary Studies at the University of Warwick is a highly regarded research department, with expertise across a broad spectrum of specialisms. We ranked in the top 10 in the UK in the most recent Research Excellence Framework. See our major research groupings on our websiteLink opens in a new window.

Writing sample

The Department of English and Comparative Literary Studies asks all PhD applicants to submit a writing sample alongside their application. Your writing sample would normally be a chapter from your MA dissertation or an essay from your MA coursework or a published article.
 

Tuition fees

Tuition fees are payable for each year of your course at the start of the academic year, or at the start of your course, if later. Academic fees cover the cost of tuition, examinations and registration and some student amenities.

Find your research course fees

Fee Status Guidance

We carry out an initial fee status assessment based on the information you provide in your application. Students will be classified as Home or Overseas fee status. Your fee status determines tuition fees, and what financial support and scholarships may be available. If you receive an offer, your fee status will be clearly stated alongside the tuition fee information.

Do you need your fee classification to be reviewed?

If you believe that your fee status has been classified incorrectly, you can complete a fee status assessment questionnaire. Please follow the instructions in your offer information and provide the documents needed to reassess your status.

Find out more about how universities assess fee status

Additional course costs

As well as tuition fees and living expenses, some courses may require you to cover the cost of field trips or costs associated with travel abroad.

For departmental specific costs, please see the Modules tab on the course web page for the list of core and optional core modules with hyperlinks to our Module Catalogue (please visit the Department’s website if the Module Catalogue hyperlinks are not provided).

Associated costs can be found on the Study tab for each module listed in the Module Catalogue (please note most of the module content applies to 2022/23 year of study). Information about module department specific costs should be considered in conjunction with the more general costs below:

• Core text books
• Printer credits
• Dissertation binding
• Robe hire for your degree ceremony

Scholarships and bursaries

English and Comparative Literary Studies at Warwick

Have the freedom to follow your own path.

We’re fond of freedom at Warwick. Freedom to learn, through an enormous array of modules to suit your interests, and through a range of innovative assessment techniques. You’re also free to explore the award-winning Warwick Arts Centre on campus or you can travel further afield and visit the home of Shakespeare in Stratford or immerse yourself in the poetry scene in Leamington Spa and Birmingham.

In the 2021 Research Excellence Framework, the Department ranked among the top 10 in the country for research environment: a great place for graduate study.

Find out more about us on our website.Link opens in a new window

Our Postgraduate courses

• Critical and Cultural Theory (MA)
• English and Comparative Literary Studies (MPhil/PhD)
• English and Comparative Literary Studies (MA by Research)
• English and Drama (MA)
• English Literature (MA)
• Environmental Humanities (MA)
• World Literature (MA)

How to apply

Applications are now open for courses that start in September and October 2025.

For research courses that start in September and October 2025 the application deadline for students who require a visa to study in the UK is 2 August 2025. This should allow sufficient time to complete the admissions process and to obtain a visa to study in the UK.

How to apply for a postgraduate research course