General entry requirements

Minimum requirements

A good Master's degree (or equivalent) in Law or a related subject plus a strong research proposal. Those with a good first-class undergraduate degree may also be considered for entry.

English language requirements

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

• Band B
• Overall IELTS (Academic) score of 7.0 and minimum component scores of two at 6.0/6.5 and the rest at 7.0 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

There are no additional entry requirements for this course.

Our research

Eleven research clusters:

• Contract, Business and Commercial Law
• Comparative Law and Culture
• Development and Human Rights
• Gender and the Law
• International and European Law
• Law and Humanities
• Legal Theory
• Governance and Regulation
• Empirical Approaches
• Migration
• Arts, Culture and Law

The Law School’s research is rooted in the twin themes of law in context and the international character of law.

Explore our research areas on our Law web pages.Link opens in a new window

Find a supervisor

Find your supervisor using the link below and discuss with them the area you'd like to research.

Explore our School of Law Staff Directory where you will be able see the academic interests and expertise of our staff.

You are welcome to contact our staff directly to see if they can provide any advice on your proposed research, but will still need to submit an application and meet the selection criteria set by the University before any offer is made.

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

Research proposals

You should make contact with a potential supervisor before submitting your application.

You will be required to submit a Research Proposal with your application. This should be 2000-2500 words (MPhil or PhD) or 1000-1500 words (LLM by Research), and contain the following:

• Proposed research title and rationale, and a working hypothesis or research questions
• Research methodology, including any proposed field work
• Survey of the relevant literature and a clear expression of the originality of the proposed work
• List of publications (where appropriate) and research experience

Find out more about our research proposal requirements on our websiteLink opens in a new window.

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

School of Law

From the first intake of students back in 1968, Warwick Law School has developed a reputation for innovative, quality research and consistently highly rated teaching. Study with us is exciting, challenging and rewarding. Pioneers of the 'Law in Context' approach to legal education, and welcoming students and staff from around the world, we offer a friendly, international and enriching environment in which to study law in its many contexts.

Get to know us better by exploring our departmental website.Link opens in a new window

Our Postgraduate courses

• Advanced Legal Studies (LLM)
• International Commercial Law (LLM)
• International Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation (LLM)
• International Development Law and Human Rights (LLM)
• International Economic Law (LLM)
• LLM by Research
• MPhil/PhD in Law

How to apply

Important Dates for Law MPhil/PhD Applicants

Warwick Law School now operates two admission rounds for MPhil/PhD applicants. Admissions round 1 is for those applicants who wish to be considered for scholarships administered by the School of Law, the University, or national funding bodies such as the ESRC or AHRC. Admissions round 2 is for those applicants who plan to either self-fund their studies or those who have (or those who hope to secure) a scholarship from outside the UK.

Admissions Round 1

Admissions are open from 6 October 2024. The deadline for applications is 13 December 2024. This departmental deadline applies to all applicants wishing to be considered for:

• Chancellors International Scholarships
• The Law School Scholarships
• ESRC DTP studentships
• AHRC M4C studentships
• China Scholarship Council
• University of Warwick Scholarships
• Monash-Warwick Alliance Joint PhD Scholarships

Please note: Scholarship applicants must have been made an offer by the department before they can be considered for a scholarship. In most instances, scholarship applicants will need to submit a separate scholarship application to the relevant administering body. Deadlines for this separate application will vary. More information about the administration of relevant scholarships is available here. The departmental deadline of 13 December 2024 is in place to give the department time to process applications before scholarship selections and nominations take place.

Admissions Round 2

Admissions are open from 6 October 2024. The deadline for applications is 6 June 2025. In some circumstances, with the support of the proposed supervisor, applications after this deadline might still be considered. If you wish to apply after 6 June 2025, please contact the Law School Director of Postgraduate Research to discuss your application before submitting it. Any applications submitted after 1st August 2025 will not be considered.

Applicants who are applying for Sanctuary or CARA scholarships may apply at any time of year. If you wish to apply for these schemes outside the two admission rounds outlined above, please contact the Law School Director of Postgraduate Research to discuss the application before submitting.

How to apply for a postgraduate research course